Discussion paper: between sharing and discourse

This discussion paper aims at critically discussing some of the issues covered in the papers collected in the present special issue. It deals with four major points: the main differences between everyday interaction and interaction in musical settings, and the implications for music, seen as a locus for social semiosis; the “sharing” function of music, particularly with regards to its intersubjective nature; the relevance of multimodality in musical interaction; and the way music may achieve authority construction and negotiation. Finally, the paper highlights the most promising pathways for future research traced by the special issue.