Music Information Retrieval, Memory and Culture: Some Philosohpical Remarks

The burgeoning field of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) raises issues which are of interest within traditional areas of discussion in philosophy of music and of philosophy of culture in general. The purpose of this paper is twofold: the first goal is to highlight and briefly discuss a selection of these issues, while the second is to make a case for increased mutual awareness of each other on the parts of MIR and of humanistic research. Many traditional debates within the latter receive infusions of new perspectives from MIR, while research within MIR could be fruitfully pointed in directions suggested by questions of interest within traditional research in the humanities, e.g. the relationship of individual memory to cultural memory, issues regarding crosscultural understanding and the importance of authenticity in artistic contexts.