TOAST THEORY
Investigations into Collaboration and Coproduction in Popular Music
This site explores different types of collaboration in music production and pop music in general. Based on our book 'Coproduction: Collaboration in Music Production' it covers the practical everyday workings of production teams and collaborators (Types of Coproduction), and the wider environment in which they work (The Production Habitus). There are philosophical ideas, such as Toast theory (hence the title) and discussion on the grey areas between influence, collaboration and plagiarism, as well as attempts to write every possible song! So there are things of interest here to the student of Music Production in general, as well as those interested in pop musicology.​
Contents
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Types of Coproduction Categorised using four types of collaboration proposed by Vera John-Steiner
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The Production Habitus Bourdieu's theory of Habitus applied to the music production environment
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Toast Theory All pop songs unified as thematic development within the One song
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The Very First Song Ever All songs traced back to the very first song that was ever written
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On Writing Every Song A systematic categorization of all possible combinations of notes (tunes) using the BWW system
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All The Music A systematic generation and the copyrighting of over 400 billion tunes by Riehl and Rubin
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Deproduction A speculative look at the far future of production
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Literature Writing and people that inspire us
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All The Words Jonathan Basile's realisation of Borges 'Library of Babel' that contains every possible book
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Extra Toast Other Toast related theories and ideas in the world
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References Reference list
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Authors Bios and contact
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Coproduction: Collaboration in Music Production.
Robert Wilsmore and Christopher Johnson
Coproduction is one of the first books dedicated specifically to the study of this emerging field in music production musicology. It explores the limits of what this field might be, from the workings of a few individuals producing music together in the studio, to vast contributions of whole societies producing popular music. In attempting to unite the pragmatic collaborative patterns of Vera John-Steiner with philosophical postmodernist concepts of connection, Coproduction has something to offer readers interested in the traditional workings of teams of producers, as well as those seeking to understand the wider philosophy of collaboration in music production.
Quick Quotes
"Collaborate. Find the people who can do what you can't."
(Bruce Woolley, in Wilsmore and Johnson 2022, p.92)
"The term Production Habitus [refers] to the composite creation of the producer when they 'write' the logistical production process; assemble the team with their internalized domains, doxa and inherent capital; stimulate creative motivation in the participants; form and manage the social environment and micro culture surrounding a project; and select, design or manipulate the physical production spaces."
(Wilsmore and Johnson 2022, p.35)
"Musical phrases in which we perceive resemblance operate through the same modes of relationship regardless of whether they occur within one piece of music or in separate pieces of music."
(Wilsmore and Johnson 2022, p.159)
"If songs are separated largely by non-musical signifiers (the composers, the song titles, etc.) we can “nullify endings and beginnings” (Deleuze and Guattari 1987, p.25) for these starts and finishes are nothing more than segmentation caused by the effect of imposing non-audio signifiers onto audio. When we do this, we cease to operate within a representational system. There are no longer identifiable ones of songs – the removal of the artificial beginnings and ends has shown that they are actually all joined together. In fact, it is not correct to say that they are joined at all, once we have removed the sticky labels marked ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ we see underneath that there is nothing but continuity."
(Wilsmore and Johnson 2017, p.196)
"Head Bumping is the act of trying to invent or discover for oneself something that others already know but you don't."
(Wilsmore and Johnson 2022, p.205)
Full References for the books
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Wilsmore, R. and Johnson, C. (2022) Coproduction: Collaboration in Music Production. New York and London, Routledge.
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Wilsmore. R. and Johnson, C. (2017) 'The Mix is. The Mix Is Not.' in Perspectives on Music Production: Mixing. New York and London, Routledge.