Musical Fetishism
Within this section of "On the Fetish Character of Music," Adorno suggests musical fetishism eliminates sensuous, or use, valuations of music and replaces them with exchange valuations. Adorno explicates this point, in part, by looking at the relationship between the singer and his voice, noting "In earlier epochs, technical virtuosity, at least, was demanded of singing stars, the castrati and prima donnas. Today, the material as such, destitute of any function, is celebrated. One need not even ask about capacity for musical performance" (36-7). Prior to music fetishism, the value of the voice was linked to the body, the "material" that produced the voice. Contemporarily, however, "One need not even ask" or concern oneself with the body that produced the voice because voice has been disembodied in becoming a commodity. What Adorno is suggesting is that part of the sensuous (use) value of music is related to, or comes from, its connection the "material" (bodies) that produce it.
This is not to say that the sensuous (use) value is erased, but rather eliminated as it was known before. The sensuous value is itself alienated in the same way the voice is from the body. "If the moments of sensual pleasure in the idea, the voice, the instrument are made into fetishes and torn away from any functions which could give them meaning, they meet a response equally isolated, equally far from the meaning of the whole..." (37). The "sensuous pleasure" of the voice is "torn away" from the uses it once had such that its new value is one based on exchange value associated with all commodity: its monetary value.
"The consumer is really worshipping the money that he himself has paid for the ticket to the Toscanini concert" (38). The value of seeing Toscanini conduct an orchestra is determined by the value of the money paid for the tick such that the consumer is "worshipping" the exchange value of the money spent on the ticket. That is, the consumer insofar as he is consuming the concert performance as a commodity worth X amount of dollars (the cost of his ticket) he is valuing the performance on level of the exchange value, how much it cost him and not the level use (sensuous) value.
Pink Floyd was one of the first groups, along with the Rolling Stones, to introduce VIP ticket packages that corresponded to better treatment and better seats at their concerts. The irony of their song "Money" is not to be lost. The lyrics (posted below), present a satirical look at the fixation of money as a value in itself.
Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team
Money get back
I'm alright Jack keep your hands off my stack.
Money it's a hit
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit
I'm in the hi-fidelity first class travelling set
And I think I need a Lear jet
Money it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away
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