Music: A Thing, An Event, or Data?
Chapter from the book: Onuk Natonski, Ö. (ed.) 2025. Contemporary Trends in Music Education Research.

Özlem Onuk Natonski
Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University

Synopsis

The digital streaming era is fundamentally transforming the traditional ontological understanding of music. Whether defined as an abstract type, a concrete event, or a purely mental experience, none of these traditional approaches can holistically explain how music exists in today's digital ecosystem. This article argues that streaming platforms deconstruct music as a fixed substance, transforming it into a hybrid entity that exists within a continuous network of processing and relational dynamics. This hybrid entity is shaped by three fundamental dimensions: the data-potential, where music exists as raw data in a state of constant transformation; the streaming-event, where each listening instance constitutes a singular digital performance; and the platform-dependent being, where music's very existence becomes contingent upon the economic, legal, and algorithmic structures of platforms. This new ontological condition leads to consequences such as the erosion of the original work concept, the threat of digital decay, and the reduction of music to a "content" meta-category, while simultaneously fundamentally altering the human-music relationship. This shift from a culture of ownership to one of access, from passive listening to active data production, and from shared musical experiences to personalized algorithmic universes raises broader questions about the meaning of being human in the digital age, extending beyond merely understanding the digital ontology of music.

How to cite this book

Onuk Natonski, Ö. (2025). Music: A Thing, An Event, or Data?. In: Onuk Natonski, Ö. (ed.), Contemporary Trends in Music Education Research. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub1112.c4492

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Published

December 29, 2025

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