Adorno analogizes singing voices to branded commodities to critique absolute voice

Evidence

Adorno draws an analogy between singing voices and ‘factory-brands’ (Fabrikmarken) or ‘commodity-brands’ (Warenmarken) – that is, commodities – in order to articulate the objective inadequacy of the absolutist view of singing voices promoted by commodity fetishism. According to him, concertgoers who hold this view do not perceive voice as an instrument for performing the particular content of a particular piece, but rather measure voice out of context against an idealised ‘absolute’ voice. In this way, voice is ‘torn away from [all] functions which could give [it] meaning’. The audience in turn judges the quality of a voice solely by it virtuosity – as if this were a value in itself – and the quality of a musical composition by its success. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 419

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is Adorno’s move: reading musical voice through the commodity-fetish lens, where voice detached from function becomes an ‘absolute’ fetishized value.
• XREF: connects to: Adorno’s commodity critique of music rests on homology, not mere analogy — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 485

Broader Connections

• Adorno’s commodity critique of music rests on homology, not mere analogy #qualifies (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 485