Approaching semiospheres through lists of songs: The semiotics of musical playlists

Abstract

This article uses a cultural semiotic perspective to examine how musical playlists can serve to define and characterize semiospheres. It begins with a discussion of cultural semiotics and the analytical challenge of accessing a semiosphere through music. Then, it focuses on the role the lists play in defining, describing, and characterizing a semiosphere. Finally, it discusses how musical playlists – collections of songs grouped following a rule or criterion – can define and characterize a semiosphere. The analytical section studies three general types of semiospheres linked to (1) space, (2) time, and (3) collective identities.