From Songlines to Spotify: The Polyphonic Story of Aboriginal Music and Song in the 21st Century

My research looks at where traditional Aboriginal music comes from; Songlines, and to where Aboriginal music is now, a consumer lead society streaming music through Spotify. Songlines are “an embodied Knowledge system: Knowledge is carried by the human body and transmitted to others, primarily through performance prompted by actual and visualized features of the country” (Neale & Kelly, 2020, p. 84) where in comparison, Spotify is an on-demand music streaming service which is influenced by the user (Zhang et al.) and heavily reliant on the algorithmic data from the user which creates personalized playlists for the listener (Adrian & George, 2022). My research does not depict Spotify as a tool which is corrupting contemporary Aboriginal music in the twenty-first century. Instead, I explore its potentiality; how utilising it brings the modern world to Aboriginal music and how it changes the way that music is presented and heard. The challenge I ask myself is how to be a composer today and keep my identity true and show self-respect in my creative practice, given the assumption of my position to Knowledge and to discover past Culture. As a First Nations Aboriginal Kamilaroi musician, I feel it is important to explore the then before the now, as I did not grow up with a lot of exposure to my Culture. Reconnecting with my past and grounding my studies with what I learn will allow me to stay true to my Cultural identity.