Dogs, Whales and Waves: A New Age of Listening Consumption & Responsibility

Between 1955 and 1970 animal sounds gained traction in the public imaginary through vinyl reproduction and a shift in consciousness toward planetary health. Audio consumers were brought into a new age of listening. Nature became a marketable product and sound was the perfect conduit to the consumer. Animals and their environments could be experienced within the comfortable distance of the domestic stereo field.

What are the ethical consequences of capturing and composing the sounds of nonhumans? Where is the field between the site and armchair, and what are the sonic rights of nature within such asymmetrical relations of consumption? This paper examines three pivotal examples of commercial animal sound recording. It weaves the stories, sites and subjectivities behind the recorded representations of animals and highlights Sonic Nature as a highly constructed assemblage of knowledge, power and poetics.