ABSTRACT
Digital developments appear to offer shattering evidence for the pertinence of Walter Benjamin's analysis, in the spheres of both production and consumption. The essential change is that 'older' music has become contemporary for audiences of all ages. Digital sampling computers are relatively new machines that digitally encode any sounds, store them and enable the manipulation and reproduction of those sounds with almost infinite parameters and no discernible loss of sound quality. Sampling enabled manufacturers to create machines that digitally recreated a recording that exactly resembles a 'real' drum recorded in a studio. One recurring problem of pop history exposes postmodern interpretations of authenticity as inadequate: It is the persistent failure of all those acts who are marketed as a self-conscious hype. Playing analogue synthesizers is a mark of authenticity, where it was once a sign of alienation - in pop iconography the image of musicians standing immobile behind synths signifies coldness.
