plunderphonics

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noun

A form of musical composition based on the unauthorized use of existing audio recordings.

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Meanings

nounplunderphonics (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA form of musical composition based on the unauthorized use of existing audio recordings.

    Such a practice (which is autosonic, by the way) could be viewed as a “mega-editing” process; but I would like to draw a distinction between plunderphonics and edited versions, because the former clearly aim to denature the hypotext.

    2007, Allan F. Moore, Critical Essays in Popular Musicology, Routledge

Origin

Coined by Canadian composer John Oswald in 1985, as plunder + -phonics, in the essay Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with plunderphonics

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Cite this entry
APA

plunderphonics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plunderphonics

MLA

“plunderphonics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plunderphonics. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plunderphonics,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plunderphonics.

Source: plunderphonics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.