We are increasingly likely to find ourselves in places with background music. No composers have thought to write for these modern spaces, which represent 30% of our musical experience.
Brian EnoRead
Whenever you listen to a piece of music, what you are actually doing is hearing the latest sentence in a very long story you’ve been listening to - all the pieces of music you’ve ever heard.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music is a continuation of a personal story shaped by all past experiences with sound.
Brian Eno's quote suggests that every time we listen to music, we are not just experiencing a standalone piece; instead, we are connecting it to a broader narrative of our life that includes all the music we have ever encountered. Each song adds to our individual story, enriching our understanding and appreciation of new pieces based on past experiences. This perspective invites us to appreciate music not just for its intrinsic value but also for its role in the tapestry of our personal histories.
Themes
MusicStoryExperienceHistoryNarrative
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about the impact of music on emotions, one could use this quote to highlight how our musical experiences shape our perception.
More from Brian Eno
All quotes →I think that technology is always invented for historical reasons, to solve a historical problem. But they very soon reveal themselves to be capable of doing things that aren't historical that nobody had ever thought of doing before.
Brian EnoRead
When I first started making ambient music, I was setting up systems using synthesizers that generated pulses more or less randomly. The end result is a kind of music that continuously changes. Of course, until computers came along, all I could actually present of that work was a piece of its output.
Brian EnoRead
People do dismiss ambient music, don't they? They call it 'easy listening,' as if to suggest that it should be hard to listen to.
Brian EnoRead
In the future, you won't buy artists' works; you'll buy software that makes original pieces of 'their' works, or that recreates their way of looking at things. You could buy a Shostakovich box, or you could buy a Brahms box. You might want some Shostakovich slow-movement-like music to be generated. So then you use that box.
Brian EnoRead
Ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting.
Brian EnoRead
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