Songs In The Key of MP3

It's 2013. Picture yourself as a teenager, eyes strained as you peer into your laptop during the quiet of the night, toggling between iTunes, YouTube, and PirateBay. With a simple click, an endless array of artists becomes accessible. This digital transformation offers fresh pathways for discovering music, moving beyond the confines of radio, HMV, or even the most comprehensive record collections. You've found yourself in a new realm where almost anything seems achievable. In "Songs in the Key of MP3: The New Icons of the Internet Age", Liam Inscoe-Jones delves into the stories of five modern artists who redefined musical norms, aesthetics, and the larger music industry: Devonté Hynes (of Blood Orange), FKA Twigs, Oneohtrix Point Never, Earl Sweatshirt, and SOPHIE. Initially fringe figures, they gradually reshaped pop culture to mirror their visions. Through these unique artists and a diverse ensemble of many others, Inscoe-Jones illustrates the dynamic soundscape of the past decade, examining how their spectacular music has impacted pop culture and digital landscapes. This book, blending criticism, biography, and music history, and including interviews with notable figures like Caroline Polachek, Daniel Lopatin, and Nicolás Jaar, is a continuous exploration of curiosity and amazement; a thoughtful effort to define pop culture in this rapidly shifting era.