Toward a Philosophy of Popular Music

Authors

  • Alessandro Carrera University of Houston, Texas

Abstract

Is there a "philosophy of popular music"? And, if it doesn't exist yet, is it possible it will exist in the future? For this to happen, we need to go a step further than sociology and aesthetics. A philosophy of music is not the same as an aesthetics of music. Likewise, a philosophy of popular music must grapple with a subject whose vastness cannot be conceptualized with theories that apply to historically stratified forms or the rules that determine various musical genres. Popular music is a planetary experiment, where the term "planet" must be distinguished from the term "world." The world can be owned, but the planet cannot be owned. Similarly, popular music must be distinguished from celebrity music. Celebrities own their music, while popular music, even if it is bound by market rules, is “owned” by no one. Its categories, necessarily unconventional, are the Mouth, the Throat, the Kernel of the Real, the Weaving of the Carpet, and Planetarity.

Author Biography

Alessandro Carrera, University of Houston, Texas

 

Alessandro Carrera is Chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Houston, Texas. He has published in various fields, such as Italian and Comparative Literature, Philosophy, cinema, and the arts. His main publications in the music field are Musica e pubblico giovanile (Feltrinelli, 1980; expanded edition, Odoya 2014), La voce di Bob Dylan. Una spiegazione dell’America (Feltrinelli, 2001; expanded edition, 2011), Parole nel vento. I migliori saggi su Bob Dylan (edited by A. Carrera, Interlinea, 2008), Music and Society in Italy (edited by A. Carrera, special issue of “Forum Italicum”, Vol. 49, No. 2, 2015), La memoria delle canzoni. Popular music e identità italiana (edited by A. Carrera, Puntoacapo 2017), La voce di Bob Dylan. Un racconto dell’America (Feltrinelli, 2021), and Polvere di stelle. Dall’armonia delle sfere ai concerti negli stadi (Mimesis, 2023). He is in the Editorial Board of “The Dylan Review” and is editor-in-chief of “Gradiva. International Journal of Italian Poetry” (Olschki).

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Published

2025-09-15

How to Cite

Carrera, A. (2025). Toward a Philosophy of Popular Music. Gli Spazi Della Musica, 13, 100–111. Retrieved from https://ojsunito33.archicoop.it/index.php/spazidellamusica/article/view/12587