Professor of Theory Virginia L. Murchison Regents Professor in Fine Arts
About
Eric Drott received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2001, where he taught prior to coming to The University of Texas at Austin. His research spans a number of subjects: contemporary music cultures, music platforms, music and protest, genre theory, digital music, and the political economy of music. His first book, Music and the Elusive Revolution (University of California Press, 2011), examines music and politics in France after May ’68, in particular how different music communities (jazz, rock, contemporary music) responded to the upheavals of the period. His second book Streaming Music, Streaming Capital (Duke University Press, 2024) examines the political economy of music streaming platforms. It received the Wallace Berry Award from the Society for Music Theory for distinguished book in music theory and received an honorable mention for the Greg Tate Award at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, US Branch, for outstanding book in popular music studies. He is also co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Protest Music with Noriko Manabe (Indiana University).
Drott has presented papers at national and international conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, the American Musicological Society, the International Musicological Society, the International Conference on Music and Artificial Intelligence, and the Society for Ethnomusicoogy. Articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Cultural Politics, Music Theory Online, the Journal of the Society for American Music, Critical Inquiry, the Journal of Music Theory, Twentieth-Century Music, as well as several collections of essays.
Drott is a recipient of a research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2020 he received the Dent Medal from the Royal Musical Association for his contributions to music research.
Courses
UGS 303
Recording and the Record Industry
MUS 331
Musical Economies
MUS 321J
20th-Century Musical Analysis
MUS 388M
Foundations of Music Theory
Recent Publications
The Oxford Handbook of Protest Music. Oxford University Press. Co-edited with Noriko Manabe. Oxford University Press, 2027.
“The Privatization of Music AI Regulation and the Assetization of the Voice.” Music and Data 1 (2026): 168-189.
“Music and the Aesthetics of the Asset Form.” Music Theory Online 32 no. 3 (2026).
Streaming Music, Streaming Capital. Duke University Press, 2024.
“From Studies of Protest Music to Protest Music Studies: Mapping a Field that Doesn’t Exist (Yet).” Music Research Annual 4 (2023).
“‘Is your baby getting enough music?’ Musical interventions into gestational labor.” Co-authored with Marie Thompson. Women and Music 26 (2022).
“Music and the Cybernetic Mundane.” Resonance 2 no. 4 (2021).
“Copyright, Compensation, and Commons in the Music AI Industry.” Creative Industries Journal (2020).
Eric Drott received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2001, where he taught prior to coming to The University of Texas at Austin. His research spans a number of subjects: contemporary music cultures, music platforms, music and protest, genre theory, digital music, and the political economy of music. His first book, Music and the Elusive Revolution (University of California Press, 2011), examines music and politics in France after May ’68, in particular how different music communities (jazz, rock, contemporary music) responded to the upheavals of the period. His second book Streaming Music, Streaming Capital (Duke University Press, 2024) examines the political economy of music streaming platforms. It received the Wallace Berry Award from the Society for Music Theory for distinguished book in music theory and received an honorable mention for the Greg Tate Award at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, US Branch, for outstanding book in popular music studies. He is also co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Protest Music with Noriko Manabe (Indiana University).
Drott has presented papers at national and international conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, the American Musicological Society, the International Musicological Society, the International Conference on Music and Artificial Intelligence, and the Society for Ethnomusicoogy. Articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Cultural Politics, Music Theory Online, the Journal of the Society for American Music, Critical Inquiry, the Journal of Music Theory, Twentieth-Century Music, as well as several collections of essays.
Drott is a recipient of a research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2020 he received the Dent Medal from the Royal Musical Association for his contributions to music research.
UGS 303
Recording and the Record Industry
MUS 331
Musical Economies
MUS 321J
20th-Century Musical Analysis
MUS 388M
Foundations of Music Theory
The Oxford Handbook of Protest Music. Oxford University Press. Co-edited with Noriko Manabe. Oxford University Press, 2027.
“The Privatization of Music AI Regulation and the Assetization of the Voice.” Music and Data 1 (2026): 168-189.
“Music and the Aesthetics of the Asset Form.” Music Theory Online 32 no. 3 (2026).
Streaming Music, Streaming Capital. Duke University Press, 2024.
“From Studies of Protest Music to Protest Music Studies: Mapping a Field that Doesn’t Exist (Yet).” Music Research Annual 4 (2023).
“‘Is your baby getting enough music?’ Musical interventions into gestational labor.” Co-authored with Marie Thompson. Women and Music 26 (2022).
“Music and the Cybernetic Mundane.” Resonance 2 no. 4 (2021).
“Copyright, Compensation, and Commons in the Music AI Industry.” Creative Industries Journal (2020).
Contact Information
Email address
drott@
Website
Theory Division Website
512.471.3478
MRH 3.730
Teaching Areas
Music Theory
Research Areas
Contemporary Music Cultures
Streaming Music
Music and Protest
Genre Theory
Digital Music
Political Economy of Music
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
Yale University
Bachelor of Arts
University of Pennsylvania