Micro Music Genre: The Political Economy of Music by Attali Jacques

The Political Economy of Music by Attali Jacques proposes the argument that music as a cultural form is tied up by the production method within any given society. Within the book he discusses his belief that music has gone through four cultural stages sacrifice, representing, repeating and post-repeating. These stages are connected by the mode of production as each stage has its own technologies for producing, recording and disseminating music. 

Sacrifice:

Sacrifice refers to an era before modern music which can be dated back to around 1500 AD a time when music was purely oral tradition. This period of music exists in the memory of the people generally in oral songs and folktales. Attali defines this era of music as being contrast to the noise of nature allowing music to stand in contrast to the natural forces that threaten man and his cultural heritage. The purpose of music at this stage is to preserve and spread cultural heritage by reinforced memory through music. This chapter is called Sacrificing because according to Attali this era of music is a ritualised, structural sublimation of violence of nature.

Representing:

Representing music refers to an era of printed music around 1500-1900 AD in which music becomes tied to physical medium therefor becoming a commodity that can be sold in the marketplace. Attali refers to this era as being a spectacle that is a contrast to silence. Furthermore music is no longer purely vocal, sound of the peasant workers, but  a mechanical process performed by specialist. Attali refers to this chapter as representing as its the performers job to represent the music to the audience, bring it out of absence into the present by showcasing the intent of the composer from the page.  

Repeating:

Repeating music refers to the recording and broadcasting of music which can be dated back to 1900 AD and is still relevant today. During this period notation was replaced by recording allowing more genres to develop as this marked the movement away from the belief that music should sound a certain way. Furthermore during this area music becomes more about how flawlessly musicians can perform sound rather than to reinforce a memory. Attali refers to this chapter as repeating as each piece of music that is produced is based on something that came before. 

Post-Repeating:

Attali hints to post-repeating in the chapter composing, however its never fully developed. However many believe this era refers to the resampling, remixing and electronic manipulation. 

Attali also refers to concept of exchange-time and use-time. Exchange-time refers to the time spent earning the money needed to purchase the music with use-time being the time spent by the user listening to the music.

Cultural Stages of Music in relation to Football chants:

In many respects football chants are largely based on the principles of the sacrifice area as its focused on re-enforcing memory through vocal sounds as there are no instruments involved. The nostalgia associated with certain chants such as 'we're going to Wemberleee' resonates and invokes different memories within different fans depending on events within matches. However some chants and songs have moved into the representing era as they have been recorded to preserve the songs rather than for musical perfection. Furthermore football chants could be said to belong to the repeating era as they are often based on songs from previous eras and other musicians.