Imperial lag
Some spatial-temporal politics of music streaming’s global expansion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12918121 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Darci Sprengel (0000-0001-8115-8456, King's College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 243-249 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Communication Culture and Critique (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1753-9137 • E-ISSN: 1753-9129 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ccc/tcad024 |
| OpenAlex | W4386527012 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 24 |
This article takes the music industry in Egypt as an empirical case study for understanding some imperial politics of music streaming’s global expansion. Based on accounts of industry professionals, it suggests that the digitization of the music industry in line with the logics of global streaming technologies is characterized by a spatial-temporal regime of “being behind,” which I refer to as “lag.” Lag is marked by a perpetual striving for that which is always just out of reach, and it demonstrates how streaming can act as a technology of temporal recalibration. I argue that lag is the lived experience of imperial power by showing how it is rooted in longer histories of colonial dominance and control in Egypt. Most broadly, this article suggests that theorizing digitization from the Global South invites greater attention to history and culture to avoid universalizing theories of streaming that uphold Western histories and ideologies as normative
Aesthetics · Art · Digitization · Dominance (genetics · Ideology · Lag · Media studies · Music industry · Normative · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Telecommunications · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Copyright and Intellectual Property · Music History and Culture · History · Law
Music and Marx
Global Pop
Music streaming platforms and self-releasing musicians
Entrer dans la danse
Promises and Pitfalls
(Big) Data and the North- in -South
Twists and turns in the 360 deal
In the Meantime
Nationalism, Nationalization, and the Egyptian Music Industry
Digitality and Debordered Spaces in the Era of Streaming
How Silicon Valley sets time
Folk theories of algorithmic recommendations on Spotify
The Role of Mediators in the Transmission of Al-Musiḳa al-'Arabiyyah in Twentieth Century Cairo
Ethnomusicology and Modern Music History
Traditional Arab Music Ensembles in Egypt since 1967
Digital colonialism
Playing Spotify's game
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |