Cacophony or Harmony?: Multivocal Logics and Technology Licensing by the Stanford University Department of Music

Abstract

Amongst Stanford University’s most profitable technology licenses lies an odd entry: frequency modulation synthesis. The license is unusual in that it came not from the School of Medicine or the School of Engineering, but rather the music department. Indeed, the Stanford music department boasts a portfolio of nearly three-dozen patents, along with a trademark program and several industrial affiliates. This paper explores the institutional features that facilitated the rise of technical and commercial logics within the department. I examine the initial framing of these novel activities in terms of musical composition, and the subsequent interaction between technical, commercial and musical logics over a thirty-year period. Ultimately, positive feedbacks between the various logics have led to a mutual dependence, solidifying the centrality of musical composition within the department while underscoring the complementary role of technical and commercial endeavors.

Keywords: University technology transfer, technology licensing, institutional theory, multiple logics, music

JEL Classification: M13, O31, O32