Music Is Power: How We Respond (Pacific Standard)

In a Pacific Standard opinion piece, Professor of Music Steve Swayne reflects on the recent “loud music” trial in Florida, the way music can make listeners feel powerful,  and the effect of “second-hand” sound.

“Public nuisance and zoning laws are hamstrung in a world that is supersaturated with second-hand sound,” writes Swayne, a Dartmouth Public Voices fellow. “What is needed instead is a greater awareness of how and when we are the perpetrators of such sound, be it from our cars when we drive around with the windows down or from our homes and offices where our choices of music—and the volume at which we play it—are imposed upon others without their express consent.”

Read the full opinion piece, published 3/5/14 by Pacific Standard.