ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses select approaches to auditory media that contribute to an understanding of communication as a social activity. It describes the particular set of communicative processes directed at the sense of hearing. To intimate the vast field covered by the subject, the chapter begins with a general overview of the chief characteristics of auditory communication. The chapter outlines a number of perspectives as elaborated by a wide range of disciplines and examines in four main types of auditory communication: environmental sounds, auditory mass communication, sound recording and sound reproduction. It explores the topics selected from research center on the study of economic and political issues as these pertain to auditory media. The chapter also explores between two groups of disciplines: sound studies and communication studies. It investigates various fields to the main modes of societal auditory communication and deals with the sonic environment of people and places, which has been studied and is a central field of sound studies.