SOUND RESEARCH LOG: Architecture of Sound (Italian Dance Floor Edition)

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

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“Balere” is the Italian term for a popular public dance floor. These spaces are the subject of a photo essay by Gian Luca Perrone, just published at domusweb.it. His interiors, devoid of people, have a Gursky-esque breadth, and Kubrick-quality ornate blankness.

From a brief essay accompanying the Domus photos:

They are part of the lives, past and present, of a certain number of Italians who have driven local decisions and growth. This work prompts critical reflection on social change in Italy, where leisure-time preferences and habits also have life cycles. These are places where the ephemeral has dialogued with all ranks of society ”“ from blue-collar workers to entrepreneurs and the middle classes ”“ with no ghettos; on the contrary, they have encouraged entire regions and provinces (from Emilia Romagna to the northern Marche, Tuscany, Liguria and Veneto) to socialise. This has made them the glitzy shrines of an aesthetic and a social growth where the dance ritual broke the weekly work routine.

The photos are currently on display, through September 10, at Galleria Gallerati galleriagallerati.it in Rome; curator: Camilla Boemio camillaboemio.com.

SOUND RESEARCH LOG: Music Wars, Discovery Versus Inactive Listening

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Over at venturebeat.com, Dwayne De Freitas weighs in on the purchase of Songza by Google. As De Freitas notes, the purchase comes at a time when “digital music sales volume is declining.” Songza, he argues, provides a “hassle”-free listening experience, with none of the effort required with other services. Ultimately, that’s arguably more about music as background listening than music “discovery,” which always seems to suggest more active listening.

“The key here is that when it comes to listening, users can set it and forget it. While services like Spotify and Rdio give users incredibly tailored experiences with access to hot indie tracks and an inexhaustible supply of songs to choose from, services like Beats and Songza are simpler — allowing the user access to the same or similar music with none of the set-up hassle associated with creating the playlist themselves. At the same time, users gain more control over what they’re listening to than they would with Pandora’s Music Genome algorithm.”

SOUND RESEARCH LOG: Music Wars, Shock and Awe

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Samsung has a music service. It’s called [Milk](www.samsung.com/us/showcase/milk/). They brought in some heavy hitters — especially heavy in combination — to assert this, via [venturebeat.com](http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/02/samsungs-new-milk-commercial-is-packed-with-music-artists-video/):

>While the majority of people may be happy with the plethora of options available when it comes to streaming music, Samsung would like to remind you about its own service, Milk Music.

>Case in point, Samsung is debuting a new TV commercial today to help promote Milk. And as you can see from the video embedded below, it contains a handful of popular music artists performing their songs, including Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover) in his underwear, Chromeo, John Legend, Iggy Azalea, Cold War Kids, Lady Antebellum, and Little Dragon. The commercial itself probably cost a boatload of money to produce, as is customary for Samsung.