In Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, Theodor Adorno argues that original artwork has a greater value within society than a duplicate because of the "aura" that is derived from "its presence in time and space." This "aura" could be better defined as the perception of the artwork from a particular society based on the authenticity of it being an original and from a particular source. A duplicate of a Picasso would never be viewed as important or as valuable as an original due to the meta-data that surrounds the artwork like its estimated date of creation, that it was made by hand, and that it is the only one with these unique details. This meta-data contains the true value to a society, while the actual function of the artwork is negligible to its price.
In the digital age, we now have the "CyberAura" which eliminates the importance of the meta-data because society does not value the original copy of a digital work. The first copy of an MP3 file that is output from Eminem's studio has no higher worth than the one-millionth. Even if there was an authentication method, the greater public would not care because the perception of its value would remain the same due to it having the same level of usefulness. If an artist attempted to sell a one-of-a-kind track to an individual customer for a high price, then there would be fear on both sides of the transaction that the track would be duplicated, leaked, and/or shared, which would stop any further similar deals from occurring. However, there is a market for "works in progress" and alternative versions that could not exist in the past. Musical artists sell instrumental versions, alternative versions, and remixes of their tracks to their fans who want to get the full experience. This gives a perception of owning "exclusives" but it is also well-known that even these files will eventually be copied and distributed to the greater public.
Adorno also argues that our culture has been mass-produced by the "Culture Industry" and that there is little choice between products, services, and especially media. A key point is that this enforced culture produced the "intellectualization of amusement" and placed it over past values such as a strive for a better society. However, the existence of games and story-telling throughout time shows that people just like to have fun and are not always worrying about improving the world. Maybe the entertainment industry allows consumers to witness the same entertainment as each other, which is less-individualized, but this is not a mass enforced value system. Additionally, the rise and fall of niches and businessmen throughout industrialized society greatly hurts his overall argument because it shows that market demand creates new mainstream products and not industrial conglomerates. This can further be seen in the "CyberIndustry" where the marketplace for ideas, products, and media is world-wide and accessible by anyone regardless of status. Amazon.com offers a "long-tail" of products because customers can now find the niche merchandise that they are looking for. In media, anyone can now upload songs, videos, and other art to the internet and find a potential audience, which could lead to an artist becoming mainstream.
Works Cited:
Adorno, Theodor. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002
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