Listening to the artist’s identity: Music, artist, and hegemony

This paper argues that musical reception is not merely an aesthetic experience but a sociomusical process shaped by the artist’s identity and political stance within hegemonic relations. For Frith (1996), listeners’ emotional alliances formed with the performer and the performer’s other listeners are crucial for understanding how the bond with the artist is constructed. In conditions of heightened political intensity, the artist’s political stance, articulated through their practices and statements as part of their public image, directly influences musical reception. Following Shiner’s (2001) account of the “invention of art,” it demonstrates that the concepts of art and the artist are historically linked to the rise of the bourgeoisie, highlighting how the connotations of “genius” and “freedom” have served as ideological foundations defining the artist’s social role. In this regard, the paper examines anecdotes about the image of the artist, which Kris and Kurz (1934/1979) trace back to antiquity. By focusing on “listening to the artist’s identity,” this paper demonstrates how the artist’s political position transforms musical reception itself. The artist emerges as a symbolic center of power, shaped through discursive processes that extend beyond the individual subject, carrying historical and social meanings and representing political positions. Within the framework of Gramsci’s (1947/2021) theory of hegemony, it is argued that artists have the potential to produce either “consent” or “resistance” within the hegemonic order, as organic or traditional intellectuals. This paper presents a theoretical/critical review based on an interpretive reading of key literature and publicly available materials. Finally, it concludes that, because of the historical and ideological construction of the concepts of art and the artist, the artist’s political stance can influence the listener’s aesthetic experience. The paper highlights that the political alliance in which the artist, as a hegemonic subject, participates structures the emotional alliances listeners form with the artist. Thus, from a Gramscian perspective, artists – who are intellectuals by nature – can become key subjects influencing musical reception by assuming the organic or traditional intellectual roles within the hegemonic order.