WRITING 2

Writing 2: Scales of Social Space

The article No Dead Air! The iPod and the Culture of Mobile Listening written by Michael Bull examines how mobile sound technologies like  Apple iPods have provided users with the opportunity to personalize their listening pleasures. Bull discusses how iPods and other mobile sound technologies have allowed users to inhabit the spaces within which they move by allowing them to be in the space, but to also personalize their experience by blocking out the outside noise with music of their choice. The phrase “no dead air” was used by a 35 year old bank executive who described how she would listen to songs on her playlist while going to work in New York. Bull explains that the iPod expands the possibilities of use, from the playing of music through the user’s home hi-fi device, to plugging it into the automobile radio, to connecting it to the computer at work, giving the user unprecedented ability to weave the disparate threads of the day into one uniform soundtrack (p.345). The iPod has given its users the ability to create their own space of freedom but still connects them to the consumer culture. Therefore, they are a part of the culture/environment while still enjoying the freedom of their personal enjoyment through their music. Bull describes our world as a sound-consuming culture as our daily lives are consumed by many mechanically reproduced sounds like iPods, radios, or alarms. He states that music follows us everywhere we go like work, when we’re shopping, or at theme parks. Those are sounds that are created out of our control. With all of these sounds that surround people daily, the iPod users are able to create a personalized soundworld on their iPods which gives them a feeling of freedom, control and empowerment where they may feel they may not otherwise have those opportunities. Although I have never owned an iPod, I can relate to Bull’s concept on how the iPod helps its users personalize and have freedom over what they listen to. I have created Apple Music playlists on my iPhone. My playlists are under the categories of hip hop, gospel, and R&B. I listen to the playlists that fit my mood at the time. I am constantly adding songs to my playlists. I listen to them at home, in the car, and the gym, and when I’m walking on campus to class. It is my way to add enjoyment to whatever the task is at the time by listening to music that I really like and that can also help motivate me if I need it at the time. I can remember when I played basketball, I would always listen to music before my games to motivate me and energize me to get ready for the game. We usually had a long drive to the tournaments, so it gave me a lot of time to connect to the music and mentally prepare for the game. I also listen to my playlist on my long drive to and from Arizona to California. My choice of music helps to distract me from the very long drive, and it makes it more enjoyable especially because there are stretches of road where there is not much to see. 

The concept of creating your own personal space is seen in Bull’s article with the use of iPods and in the documentary Style Wars. It may seem like there are no similarities at first, but the connection is that both iPod users and graffiti artists are in some way by inhabiting the space in which they move by being in the space but personalizing their experience at the same time. The iPod users personalize it by their music choice that fits their desire, their mood, and brings them joy. The graffiti artists personalize it by creating their art in an open space that in a sense becomes their own space as they express what they are feeling through their artistic display. The difference is the iPod users are the only ones that hear their music, but the graffiti can be seen by all who enter the space where it appears. However, both have given themselves the freedom to create a form of media that brings them joy and are not concerned with the opinions or thoughts of others. In the video, one of the graffiti artists stated that he didn’t care if people could see it. He stated that he was doing it for himself. The use of the iPod and the graffiti art as seen in the video spanned across cultures. iPods were used by all races and cultures. In the video, it showed that the graffiti artists were not just from one race or culture. It may be perceived that they would be young Black boys, but the video showed that there were Black, Hispanic, and Caucasian boys doing graffiti. It shows that just as music can be universal and unite us, art can do so as well even if it is controversial art like graffiti art. Both the article and the video described how forms of media can provide us with the freedom to express ourselves as well as create our own personal joys and moments of solitude while still being apart of the public space.