While music has been undergoing a tumultuous transformation for decades, music philosophy has remained stagnant since Adorno's death. The reasons for the reluctance to engage with concepts and the inertia in musical life are manifold: among other things, there is a lack of categories that connect compositional practice and aesthetic positions to societal development as a whole. Therefore, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf aims to provide a conceptual and argumentative toolkit that allows us to better understand music as a fundamental cultural phenomenon. Mahnkopf traces the evolution of the concept of music since the late modern period and into postmodernity, discussing the findings in light of philosophy and sociology—particularly with Benjamin, Adorno, Luhmann, Habermas, and Derrida—and connects them with a concrete cultural critique in the media age. Furthermore, he discusses music in.