Disposable Music

Disposable Music is a design-led exhibition exploring how music is increasingly created, consumed, and discarded as fleeting digital content. In a culture shaped by algorithms and attention spans, music is no longer just heard — it’s packaged for scrolling, skipping, and forgetting. Combining the perspectives of both a designer and a musician, the exhibition investigates the shift in how music is designed — not only in terms of sound, but also visually, materially, and experientially. Album artwork, merch, tour visuals, and digital touchpoints were once crafted to shape a record’s identity and legacy. Today, these elements are often created to go viral, burn bright, and disappear. The works in Disposable Music reimagine music formats as sculptural and visual objects. A spider-like structure emerges from the centre of a vinyl record, making it unplayable — a creature or system feeding on music without needing it to be heard. A framed record engraved with lyrics about creative futility reflects on the emptiness behind music made simply to exist, echoing the churn of content in a disposable culture. A record made from broken mirror shards challenges the viewer to confront their role in a fractured industry. A raw, unpressed vinyl questions whether a record is still a record without sound. Some pieces are polished, others distorted — all asking: what remains when music is stripped of permanence? The exhibition takes place inside a functioning coffee shop at the entrance to a building of artist studios — an everyday setting where music often plays unnoticed in the background. The location mirrors the exhibition’s core theme: music as backdrop, not event. A single evening event will bring the exhibition’s themes into live conversation, featuring music industry professionals discussing the idea of music as a disposable product, accompanied by a short live performance. Throughout the exhibition’s run, visitors are invited to browse a curated collection of books and records placed throughout the coffee shop — titles that have informed the thinking behind the exhibition, alongside music that complements its tone. Whether you sit, read, or listen, these materials extend the conversation beyond the wall. Disposable Music recognises the inevitable shift in how music is created and consumed today — a change that brings new freedom and accessibility but also risks losing meaning, depth, and artistry. This exhibition doesn’t take sides; instead, it reflects on the dual nature of disposability in music and encourages awareness of the industry’s current state. It invites visitors to consider these tensions and think critically about what the future of music might hold.