Technology, Mediation, and Performance Ecologies in Indian Classical Music

Abstract

The rapid integration of digital technologies has transformed the cultural and aesthetic landscape of Indian Classical Music, creating new forms of mediation between performers, audiences, and pedagogical traditions. This paper, titled Technology, Mediation, and Performance Ecologies in Indian Classical Music, examines how performance practices are being reshaped within digital ecologies that blur the boundaries of liveness, intimacy, and authenticity. The objective of the study is to analyse the impact of technological mediation on the aesthetics, dissemination, and reception of Indian Classical Music while exploring how musicians negotiate the balance between preserving tradition and adapting to emerging digital platforms and audience expectations. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach that combines ethnographic interviews with musicians, teachers, and connoisseurs alongside content analysis of online concerts, digital pedagogy platforms, and AI-driven tools. Case studies of livestreamed performances, virtual festivals, and online teaching are used to understand how the dynamics of performance are shifting in the digital era. The findings indicate that technology has enabled greater accessibility and global circulation of Indian Classical Music, democratizing engagement across geographical boundaries. Yet, this digital turn has also reconfigured the experiential core of performance, as immediacy and embodied presence are mediated through screens and recording technologies. Performers increasingly adapt to algorithmic visibility, audience interaction in virtual spaces, and new aesthetics suited to online consumption, while questions of authenticity, continuity of guru–shishya pedagogy, and preservation of intangible heritage emerge with renewed urgency.