Kyle Devine

Academic Interests
The questions I ask are about how culture works, and the work culture does, in big capitalist societies. I try to understand the inner workings and outward effects of musical culture in particular, together with its social structures, ecological bases, economic systems, technical media, and histories of thought.
I wrote a book called Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music (2019). It's about what recordings are made of, and what happens to recordings when they are disposed of. Common sense suggests that the history of recorded music has been a story of dematerialization—an evolution from physical discs to invisible digits. Decomposed shows that recorded music has always exploited natural and human resources, and that its reliance on those resources is more damaging today than ever before. The book received an IASPM International Book Prize, an IASPM-Canada Book Prize, and a PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers. It was an Honorable Mention for the IASPM-US Woody Guthrie Award.
There's a sequel in preparation. It's about how the contemporary musical world is restructuring itself in response to climate crisis. These changes are happening not in terms of songs or styles but, rather, in the general technosocial conditions that define how music is made and heard in the first place. The book is called Recomposed.
I coedited a related book called Audible Infrastructures: Music, Sound, Media (2021). It looks at the social life and social death of various musical commodities in terms of three phases: resources and production, circulation and transmission, failure and waste. We ask how these phases influence and respond to musical conventions, environmental realities, and political-economic conditions in industrializing and industrialized parts of the world.
Most of my other publications are about histories, cultures, and theories of sound reproduction. I coedited Living Stereo: Histories and Cultures of Multichannel Sound (2015) and I coauthored work on gender and social inequalities in music technology for Twentieth-Century Music (2015) and the Contemporary Music Review (2016).
Music sociology is my other main interest—especially the field's pasts and prospects—and here I coedited The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music (2015).
Teaching and Supervision
I’m always happy to hear from prospective students working in my main fields of interest: music studies, sound studies, media studies, infrastructure studies, sociology of music, cultural sociology, material culture, science and technology studies. I encourage projects that are conceptually adventurous, politically engaged, and empirically grounded. Some of my teaching contributions include:
- The Political Ecology of Music
- Music, Technology, and Society
- Musikkvitenskapens forskningsfelt
- Music and Cultural Studies
- Research Seminar in Popular Music
- Metodologisk emne: Musikk, kultur, samfunn
- Popular Music and Dust: Archives, Memory, Heritage, Historiography
- Thesis Seminar in Musicology
- Film Music
Background
Before joining the University of Oslo in 2015, I taught at City University of London and Worcester College, University of Oxford. At Oxford, I also worked with the Music and Digitization Research Group.
Publications
Devine, Kyle. 2019. Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Devine, Kyle, and Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier, eds. 2021. Audible Infrastructures: Music, Sound, Media. New York: Oxford University Press.
-
Devine, Kyle (2022). Run of the Mill: Economies of Music Before Production and After Consumption. In Morcom, Anna & Taylor, Timothy D. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Ethnomusicology. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780190859633. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190859633.013.9.
-
Devine, Kyle & Shepherd, John (2021). On Popular Music Studies in Canada: An Interview with John Shepherd by Kyle Devine. MUSICultures. ISSN 1920-4213. 48, p. 276–291. Full text in Research Archive
-
Brennan, Matt & Devine, Kyle (2020). The cost of music. Popular Music. ISSN 0261-1430. 39(1), p. 43–65. doi: 10.1017/S0261143019000552.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Musicology Without Music. In Braae, Nick & Hansen, Kai Arne (Ed.), On Popular Music and Its Unruly Entanglements. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 978-3-030-18099-7. p. 15–37. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-18099-7_2.
-
Devine, Kyle (2017). Desert Island Discomorphoses: Listening Formations and the Material Cultures of Music. In Brown, Julie; Cook, Nicholas & Cottrell, Stephen (Ed.), Defining the Discographic Self: Desert Island Discs in Context. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780197266175. p. 67–82. doi: 10.5871/bacad/9780197266175.003.0005.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). L’intensité matérielle de l’écoute musicale sous forme de données. In Le Guern, Philippe (Eds.), Où va la musique? Numérophose et nouvelles experiences d’écoute. Presses des Mines. ISSN 9782356714077. p. 47–64.
-
Born, Georgina & Devine, Kyle (2016). Introduction: Gender, Creativity, and Education in Digital Musics and Sound Art. Contemporary Music Review. ISSN 0749-4467. 35(1), p. 1–20. doi: 10.1080/07494467.2016.1177255. Full text in Research Archive
-
Devine, Kyle; Théberge, Paul & Everrett, Tom (2015). Introduction: Living Stereo. In Devine, Kyle Ross; Théberge, Paul & Everrett, Tom (Ed.), Living Stereo: Histories and Cultures of Multichannel Sound. Bloomsbury Academic. ISSN 9781623565510. p. 1–34.
-
Devine, Kyle & Shepherd, John (2015). Music and the Sociological Imagination—Pasts and Prospects. In Devine, Kyle Ross & Shepherd, John (Ed.), The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music. Routledge. ISSN 9781138856363.
-
Devine, Kyle Ross (2015). Decomposed: A political ecology of music. Popular Music. ISSN 0261-1430. 34(3), p. 367–389. doi: 10.1017/S026114301500032X. Full text in Research Archive
-
Born, Georgina & Devine, Kyle (2015). Music technology, gender, and class: Digitization, educational and social change in Britain. Twentieth-Century Music. ISSN 1478-5722. 12(2), p. 135–172. doi: 10.1017/S1478572215000018. Full text in Research Archive
-
Devine, Kyle Ross (2014). A Mysterious Music in the Air: Cultural Origins of the Loudspeaker. Popular Music History. ISSN 1740-7133. 8(1), p. 5–28. doi: 10.1558/pomh.v8i1.5. Full text in Research Archive
-
Devine, Kyle Ross (2013). Imperfect Sound Forever: Loudness Wars, Listening Formations and the History of Sound Reproduction. Popular Music. ISSN 0261-1430. 32(2), p. 159–176. doi: 10.1017/s0261143013000032. Full text in Research Archive
-
Devine, Kyle & Boudreault-Fournier, Alexandrine (2021). Audible Infrastructures: Music, Sound, Media. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190932640. 304 p.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262537780. 328 p.
-
Devine, Kyle Ross & Shepherd, John (2015). The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music. Routledge. ISBN 9781138856363. 386 p.
-
Devine, Kyle Ross; Théberge, Paul & Everrett, Tom (2015). Living Stereo: Histories and Cultures of Multichannel Sound. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781623565510. 304 p.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Streams and Clouds: The Political Ecology of Music in a Digital Era.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Decomposed: Political Ecologies of Music — Past, Present, Future.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Digital Transformations and Environmental Challenges in Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Decomposed: Political Ecologies of Music — Past, Present, Future.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Political Ecology of Music Workshop.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Music and the Green Economy: What Do We Want to Sustain?
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Recomposed: Sustainability and Musical Culture.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). How Environmentally Damaging is Music Streaming? [Newspaper]. The New Statesman.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). NACHHALTIGKEIT IN MUSIKWELT: Music for Future. [Newspaper]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). CD, винил и стриминг: какой музыкальный носитель самый экологичный. [Newspaper]. RBC Group.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Greening the Net. [TV]. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/greenin.
-
Devine, Kyle (2021). Building Back Better. The Wire. 443.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). The Hidden Costs of Streaming Music. [Radio]. Radio New Zealand: Sunday Morning.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Decomposed: Political Ecologies of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Renewable Heritage: Footprints of the Future.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Decomposed: Political Ecologies of Musical Culture.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Drecksmusik. [Journal]. enorm—Magazin für gesellschaftlichen Wandel.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Emissions Possible: Streaming Music Swells Carbon Footprints. [Newspaper]. Al Jazeera.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Polluted Streams: The Environmental Costs of Analog and Digital Formats.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Tutkimus: Musiikin kuuntelu striimattuna jättää isomman hiilijalanjäljen kuin cd- tai vinyylilevyt huippuaikoinaan. [Newspaper]. Yle.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Disco Downer. The Guardian Weekly. ISSN 0958-9996. 202(8), p. 24–25.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Carbon Footprints of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Rethinking Music Ecosystems.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). What is the Human and Environmental Cost of Music? [Internet]. New Books in Critical Theory Podcast.
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). The Vinyl Revival is Hurting the Environment, says Canadian Musicologist. [Radio]. Q (CBC Radio One).
-
Devine, Kyle (2020). Nightmares on Wax: The Environmental Impact of the Vinyl Revival. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
-
Devine, Kyle; Kraugerud, Emil; Jones, Ellis Nathaniel & Størvold, Tore (2019). First Things First.
-
Jones, Ellis Nathaniel; Kraugerud, Emil; Størvold, Tore & Devine, Kyle (2019). Dragging the Lake.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). UiO-forsker: Musikkstrømming er enda verre for miljøet enn CD-platen. [Internet]. Ballade.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Ohne Energie und Arbeit könnte es Streaming nicht geben. [Newspaper]. SPEX—Magazin für Popkultur.
-
Devine, Kyle & Brennan, Matt (2019). The Terrifying Miracle of Recorded Sound.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Decomposed: Political Ecologies of Jazz and Popular Music.
-
Devine, Kyle & Brennan, Matt (2019). The Terrifying Miracle of Recorded Sound.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Political Ecologies of Music (and Dance?).
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Vinyl: More Sustainable Than You Think?
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). The World Remade. [Internet]. Reasonably Sound (podcast).
-
Devine, Kyle; Brennan, Matt & Collinson Scott, Jo (2019). The Cost of Music.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). E-mails, applications mobiles, centres de données : le numérique, un véritable glouton énergétique. [Internet]. L'Orient-Le Jour.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Vinyle ou streaming : quel support musical pollue le plus la planète ? [Internet]. Télérama.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). The Slow Violence of Music: An Infrastructural History of Sound Reproduction.
-
Brennan, Matt & Devine, Kyle (2019). Music streaming has a far worse carbon footprint than the heyday of records and CDs—new findings. The Conversation. ISSN 2201-5639.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Noise pollution: What you need to know about the carbon footprint of streaming music. [Internet]. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Streaming Music Shamed for its Inadvertent Carbon Output. [Internet]. Gizmodo.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Digital Music Consumption Has Led to Increase in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, New Study Finds. [Internet]. Billboard.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Emissions From Music Consumption Reach Unprecedented High, Study Shows. [Internet]. Pitchfork.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Is streaming music worse for the environment than buying CDs and records? [Internet]. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
-
Devine, Kyle (2019). Is Streaming Music Dangerous to the Environment? One Researcher Is Sounding the Alarm. [Internet]. Rolling Stone.
-
Devine, Kyle (2018). Musicology Without Music?
-
Nielsen, Nanette; Devine, Kyle; Hagen, Per Ole & Gadir, Tami (2017). How We Got into Academia, and How to Get (More) Out of It: Ideas Entrepreneurship in Action.
-
Devine, Kyle (2017). Making Infrastructures Audible: An Introduction.
-
Devine, Kyle (2017). Recorded Music and the Capitalist World System.
-
Devine, Kyle (2017). Plastic Makes Perfect: Popular Music Before Production and After Consumption.
-
Devine, Kyle (2017). Recorded Music: Theory and Plastic.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Music, Materiality, Infrastructure.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). Bugs, Rocks, Oil, and Light: Material Politics and Recordings as Cultural Artifacts.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). Organized Sound: Music, Media, Infrastructure.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). Even in the Quietest Moments: Loudness and Power in “Speaker Culture”.
-
Devine, Kyle & Everrett, Tom (2015). Solid Sound? Staging, Perspective, and Practice in the History of Stereo.
-
Devine, Kyle (2015). The Material Intensity of Listening to Music as Data: Ruptures and Continuities.
-
Devine, Kyle (2016). Sound Media Research Report. Canada Science and Technology Museum.