Beyond the Notes: How Carnatic Music Belongs to Its Practitioners

If you consider the music you hear on a radio, you might think about lyrics jotted down on a piece of paper or musical notes captured in ink, all under the protection of copyright law. That seems straightforward—until you explore an art form like Carnatic music. This Indian music style transcends the written note: based around communal experiences and ever-evolving improvisations, it challenges Western notions of how we understand music, and how we own it. This episode is based on the book chapter "Raga and the Problem of Ownership: Knowledge and Culture in Carnatic Music" by Annapurna Mamidipudi and Viren Murthy in the volume "Ownership of Knowledge. Beyond Intellectual Property". This volume is published under Open Access Licensing. Read online for free by clicking on the links above. Learn more at: www.knownable.org This podcast series is produced by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. Moderation: Emily Tsui Editorial and Production Management: Verena Braun Episode writer: Emily Tsui Storyediting: Verena Braun, Stephanie Hood Production: Verena Braun, Emily Tsui Editing and Sound Mastering: Niclas Look, Verena Braun Music: Little Strut Surprise by Podington Bear, edited, CC BY-NC 3.0 TM Krishna: Manodharma - A Lec-Dem Part One by First Edition Arts Channel How to sing Gamakas? | VoxGuru ft. Pratibha Sarathy ) by VoxGuru