Consequently, the field is currently in a period of expansion, with important texts coming out in recent years on sound, listening, and hearing as they relate to race, gender, and colonialism.
According to R. Murray Schafer (through a survey of quotes in the literature), the proportion of nature sounds heard and noticed among European authors has decreased over the past two centuries from 43% to 20%, but not for North America, where it has stayed around 50%.
Additionally, the proportion of technological sounds mentioned in literature has stayed around 35% for Europe, but decreased in North America.
Sound in this case is informational and can be used to recognize voices, determine distance, or understand differences between humans and machines.
This idea of the acoustic environment and its social inextricability has become a source of interest within the field of sound studies.
Schafer's concept of the soundscape has become a hallmark of sound studies and is referenced, built upon, and criticized by writers from a wide breadth of disciplines and perspectives.
[7] Bringing the past into the present generates a sense of familiarity which compels the public to engage in new forms of listening.
This presents a scene to viewers which sells cassette tapes as ideal objects of high-fidelity, auditory preservation.
This contrasts with phonographic recording, which generates a "point of audition" from which a sense of space can be derived, sacrificing quality for uniqueness and fidelity.