Making music behave: Metadata and the digital music commodity

Abstract

This article offers a case study of the Compact Disc Database and ID3 tags, two instrumental information technologies for digital music on computers. Using an interpretive analysis of the technical and cultural features of the Compact Disc Database and ID3 tags as well as press releases and journalistic accounts detailing the rise of these services, this article places digital metadata within the broader history of recorded music specifically and digital objects more generally. Started as hobby projects, the Compact Disc Database and ID3 tags have evolved into central components of the digital music ecosystem. As keystone technologies, they contributed to the emergence of a digital music commodity. Since both technologies derive much of their value from user contributions, this article also contributes to current theorization on the role of users in the production of digital commodities.