How do composers use the Web as a creative medium for music? Jovino Santos Neto

Photo by Lara Hoefs

As a tool and a medium for musicians and composers, the Internet comes close to the nature and the essence of music: it is invisible, immaterial and non-linear. These attributes, plus the possibility of worldwide instant communication, trace an interesting parallel with music itself. The musical vibration, with its moment-based creation and diffusion, has already been providing what the Internet seems to be inaugurating now for centuries.

As a composer and a performer, I have been satisfied with the Internet as a tool, not so much for the sale of products (live performances work best for that), but rather for the fast diffusion of announcements and ideas related to my music. I also am able to share music notation files and samples of works in progress with other musicians via email. As I develop my skills with the new medium, I intend to make more of my work available for free download. I do not feel threatened by someone sharing my music online. The future will hopefully bring a restructuring of our present product-based concept of music towards a process-based attitude, closer to the reality of the musical flow. This already happens on live performances, and the Internet gives us the possibility of expanding this space to reach listeners and fellow musicians more effectively.