music is a rival of reality

Borgman (1999) suggests there are three types of information. There is information about reality in which reports disclose what is distant in space and remote in time. There is information for reality in which recipes transform reality and make it richer materially and morally. Finally there is information as reality in which recording information through the power of technology steps forward as a rival of reality. It is the latter which challenges the traditional view of information. Borgman (ibid) illustrates this third form with classical music: ‘The technological information on a compact disc is so detailed and controlled that it addresses us virtually as reality. What comes from a recording of a Bach cantata on a CD is neither a report about the cantata nor a recipe- the score-for performing the cantata; it is in the common understanding of music itself.’

Rogerson, S.
Information and integrity in the information age
Ethical Space, The International Journal of Communication Ethics, Vol 4, Nos 1&2, pp 10-12, 2007. (via the Center for Computing and Social Responsibility)