The Four Fields of Music

In our society, we use the word "music" to encompass all types of music listening/playing, when in fact there are different kinds of music.  It is more useful to divide what we think is a single art form into four fields--participatory, presentational, high fidelity, and studio audio art.

Participatory music has no distinction between the artist and audience, and the quality of the music is judged on the level of participation.  There is no hierarchy of skill, and often leads to flow and social bonding.  This is an advantage because everyone can participate in and benefit from the music regardless of skill level.  However, this also means that there isn't much room for creativity, such as soloing or extensive variations of the melody.  Participatory music indexes a culture that values social bonding and collective music making.
This video of a mbira in Zimbabwe is a good example of participatory music; everyone joins in at some point, and it combines musicians of all different skill levels.  Here, the quality of the mbira was probably not judged on the music, but rather on the level of participation.

Presentational music involves one group providing music for another group; there is separation between the artist and the audience.  This form provides more interest to the audience, allows for transparent textures and creativity, and is a chance for fans to see an artist in person.  The audience is not expected to participate, and this limits the social bonding and flow that might occur.
This video of Fuzz playing live shows how presentational music is for listening--the audience might cheer or clap but ultimately the band is creating the entertainment themselves.  Fuzz is an American band, which explains the presentational setting as our culture values more rehearsed, closed form types of music.

High fidelity music indexes live music--it is a recording that represents a live performance.  In this form, individual virtuosity and variation is valued.  Also, the artist can have more control over the finished product.  However, like presentational music, it is unlikely that social bonding will occur.  Almost always, these recordings are created to be sold for a profit.  The fact that this is the most popular form of music in the U.S. represents our capitalist society: we value money over social bonding (unlike some societies that value participatory music).  

This song, "Caring Is Creepy" by the Shins, is an example of high fidelity music.  This song could be played live, and the recording probably sounds very similar to the live performance.

Studio audio art is music that is not intended to be played live and is not expected to be authentic.  This form gives the artist complete control over the finished product and therefore allows for individual self-expression.  But, it is very impersonal and involves very little human interaction.  I think the increase in popularity of studio audio art represents our growing interest in technology in our society.  It's becoming more and more common to hear songs that are completely computer-generated which is perhaps a reflection of our technology-centered culture.

The song "You" by Gold Panda is studio audio art as it can't be played live.  It is very abstract and I think is completely computer-generated.