Mapping the material logic of a field: producer perceptions and autonomy in Australian art music

This article develops a novel methodological approach to mapping the autonomous logics of cultural fields in an era of algorithmic consumer culture. Focusing on Australian art music, it draws on the material logic of the field – the sociological schemas inscribed in the acoustic properties of the music – to model how producers perceive the relational positioning of their peers. Using a survey of composers (N = 86) to train a computational model of acoustic features, we visualise the field’s latent structure. The analysis reveals dimensions that map specific struggles over innovation (form) and diversity (content) – such as modernism vs jazz and spiritualism vs serialism. We argue that these producer-defined logics constitute the field’s relational infrastructure, demonstrating how field analysis can move beyond discursive text to engage with the materiality of the art object itself. This material logic is of existential importance in sustaining autonomy against the homogenising, heteronomous logics of global platforms. The article thus offers a tool for empirically visualising the specific principles that are at risk of being displaced by generic algorithmic classification.