Finding Meaning in Music with Musicologist Melanie Lowe

What songs have a spot on the playlist of your life? What music sparks emotions around specific moments in time? In this episode of the Quantum Potential podcast, Provost C. Cybele Raver and Melanie Lowe, associate professor of musicology, explore the significance and teaching of music from the perspective of the listener and the composer. They examine how the meanings of different genres of music are filtered through time, experience and cultural shifts.For more information about Quantum Potential, go to vanderbilt.edu/quantumpotential.Sign up for the Vanderbilt Research newsletterRead the stories and motivations behind the innovators and problem-solvers making waves across disciplines.This episode was produced by Vanderbilt University and created through the collaboration of Randolph Infinger, Sydney Jones-Wright, Amber Palmer-Halma, Patrick Sams, Jennifer Stevens, Maisie Wilson, and Amy Wolf, with original music by Steven Matthew Carter.This episode was edited and mixed by the team at Sound On // Sound Off. You can learn more about their work at SoundOnSoundOff.com. Special thanks to Jad Abumrad, Vanderbilt University Distinguished Research Professor of Communication of Science and Technology and the executive producer of the Quantum Potential podcast and video series. Copyright 2026, Vanderbilt University.The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or Vanderbilt University.Follow Vanderbilt on Social Media