Music Graduate Colloquium Series: Why We (Still) Love Analog

Mark Katz
John P. Barker Distinguished Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Analog is supposed to be dead, long ago swept into obscurity by digital technologies. But it never did die, and in fact the past decade has seen a remarkable resurgence of analog music technologies and media. This talk offers two case studies, one on vinyl records and one on cassette tapes, to offer insights into the analog revival. The broader purpose of this lecture is to explore the intersections of music, technology, and culture, and to understand culture as a crucial force that shapes our musical engagement with technology.

Mark Katz is John P. Barker Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His most recent book is Rap and Redemption on Death Row (2024), coauthored with incarcerated musician Alim Braxton. His other books include Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music (2004, rev. 2010), Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ (2010); Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World (2019), and Music and Technology: A Very Short Introduction (2022). He was co-editor of Music, Sound, and Technology in America: A Documentary History (2012) and served as editor of the Journal of the Society for American Music (2012–15). He is the Founding Director of the U.S. State Department hip hop cultural diplomacy program, Next Level (established 2014). In 2015 Katz was recognized by the Hip-Hop Education Center in its inaugural awards ceremony, and in 2016 he was awarded the Dent Medal by the Royal Musical Association for his contributions to musicology. In 2025 he launched the Carolina Prison Music Initiative, which brings songwriting and performance opportunities into North Carolina’s carceral spaces. Katz is a former music department chair and served as Director of UNC’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities. He is currently preparing a third edition of his first book, Capturing Sound.

This event is part of a 2-day residency, made possible by the Moscovich Fund for Innovation in Music, which was established with a visionary gift from Jim and Barbara Moscovich.

Location: Room 101, Talbot College, Western University

The Don Wright Faculty of Music's Graduate Colloquium and Workshop series includes lectures and practical workshops by distinguished guests, our own faculty and staff, and senior graduate students on all fields of research and creative activity in music. For more information visit https://music.uwo.ca/graduate/colloquia.html

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