Fabulations of the Anthropocene in Dark Ambient Playlists on YouTube

Abstract

YouTube hosts numerous dark ambient apocalyptic playlists created by amateur musicians. These playlists often feature static images or animated GIFs depicting ruined cities, typically devoid of human presence. The accompanying soundtracks, produced using audio editing software, are characterised by low-pitched drones, minimal dynamic and melodic variation, and an absence of percussive elements. While Murray Schafer (1977/2001) highlighted the problem of noise pollution in contemporary society, we pose a different question: how do the sounds of apocalyptic dark ambient playlists imagine the future? What fabulations of the future emerge from these artistic expressions? We argue that these works do not offer solutions to impending catastrophes; rather, they reflect the complexity of the present and our inability to confront it. We propose to examine the production of signs arising from these material relationships. Our analysis focuses on user comments on these YouTube playlists, which reveal the affective responses of listeners compelled to share their listening experiences. Some describe feelings of loneliness, melancholy, or paradoxical emotions such as simultaneous joy and sadness, while others relate the audiovisual experience to personal memories. We conceptualise the interaction between the comments, visuals, and sounds as expanded listening, that is, a communicative process that generates signs and constructs dystopias of the past, present, and future in relation to the anthropocene.