New Books in Music David Arditi, "Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok" (Anthem Press, 2026)
Apr 7, 2026
David Arditi, an associate professor of sociology at UT Arlington and author on music tech histories. He traces moral panic narratives from home taping and Napster to streaming and TikTok. Short takes cover how formats drove industry profits, indie tape cultures, high-profile litigation, streaming economics, and TikTok’s effects on song length and attention.
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Piracy Is A Panic Narrative Not A Legal Term
- Piracy is a culturally loaded term the industry uses to label copyright violations and create moral panic.
- David Arditi tracks the rhetoric from Sousa's warning about recorded music to modern file sharing claims that fans are "stealing" from artists.
Labels Pay Salaries While Musicians Eat Advances
- Record labels structurally profit while musicians are paid as independent contractors who must recoup advances.
- Arditi explains labels staff salaries versus musicians who receive advances that must be paid back from sales, often leaving artists with no recording income.
Format Shifts Drive An Album Replacement Cycle
- New playback formats trigger an album replacement cycle that the industry exploits for sales.
- Arditi shows how transitions (78s to LPs, mono to stereo, CDs) drove repurchases, while cassettes enabled tape trading that threatened labels' control over independent artists.
