Neoliberal Reason, Contemporary Music, and Proximal Critique

Theodor W. Adorno suggested that music is mediated by socially derived forms of reason, a provocation here considered with respect to neoliberalism. Drawing on work undertaken after Michel Foucault, vis-à-vis neoliberalism as ‘a specific and normative mode of reason’ (Wendy Brown), I address the characteristic flexibility and productivity of the neoliberal subject, and relate this to immanent features of music and processes of its composition. This critical attention to music’s formal, aesthetic register enables me to go beyond the more well-established (although nonetheless valuable) frameworks for discussing music and neoliberalism, which focus on music’s relation to labour conditions and creative industries. A range of music and sonic art is discussed, work by Chino Amobi, Brian Eno, Bryn Harrison, Sarah Hennies, Johannes Kreidler, Wolfgang Rihm, Marina Rosenfeld, and John Zorn. I ultimately argue that some core features of Adorno’s conception of critical art and music need reformulating for the neoliberal age.