Listening in extended reality: recorded music in and as virtual, augmented and mixed reality

This paper critically examines musical extended reality (musical XR) — a new medium for recorded music — arguing that it reconfigures the ontology of the recorded work through spatiality, interactivity and embodiment. Synthesising insights from musicology, media theory and sound studies, musical XR are situated within the history of sound reproduction and a new conceptual framework is developed, differentiating virtual, augmented and mixed reality experiences. Case studies including Björk’s Stonemilker (360° video), Meredith’s Moon Moons (AR), Eno and Chilver’s Bloom: Open Space (MR) and Hot Sugar’s Melody of Dust (VR) help identify underexplored creative possibilities, illuminating XR’s significance for twenty-first-century musical practice.