ZHAO JIAJING
赵嘉旌
Spatial Music Compositions 空间音乐作曲
Installations & Multimedia 装置与多媒体
Project Credits 项目经历
Information 艺术家信息
ZHAO JIAJING
Spatial Music Compositions 空间音乐作曲
Installations & Multimedia 装置与多媒体
Project Credits 项目经历
Information 艺术家信息
ZHAO JIAJING
ISCM British Section Representative 2026
keywords: spatial audio, ambisonics, multichannel spatialisation, AI-aided composition, machine learning, digital anxiety, information overload
Bio.
Zhao Jiajing (赵嘉旌; surname: Zhao) is a spatial music composer and interdisciplinary sound artist.
Zhao’s practice spans acousmatic music, live electronic music, sound installation, and new media. Since 2019, he has focused on spatial sound research, creating a body of works that explore questions of time, technological mediation, and the evolving relationship between the digital and natural worlds. He frequently collaborates across disciplines, working with practitioners and researchers across the arts and sciences.
Zhao’s work ‘FOMO’ was selected to represent the ISCM British Section at the ISCM World New Music Days 2026. His recognitions and commissions include Musica Nova, Aesthetica/Audible, the Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the RCA/LG Display. His work has been featured at major international venues and festivals such as Ars Electronica, IRCAM, ZKM Karlsruhe, ICMC, SICMF, and ORF musikprotokoll.
Zhao holds an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of the Arts London (CRiSAP) under Adam Stanović. He is also a mentor and visiting lecturer for the MA in Designing Audio Experiences at University College London.
Email: jiajingzhao96(at)gmail(dot)com
Instagram @zhao_jiajing_
Piece selected for ISCM WNMD 2026: FOMO
Keywords:
Year of Composition: 2025
Format: Fixed Media - 3rd Order Ambisonics
Duration: 7’11”
Please listen with headphones.
FOMO is an AI-aided acousmatic composition inspired by the experience of “Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).” FOMO is a psychological phenomenon describing the anxiety or unease one feels when believing others are having rewarding experiences they are missing out on. This phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent in the age of social media and digital communication. FOMO explores the painful addiction to information and the unsettling feeling of being overwhelmed by endless data streams.
The sonic material is generated with AI technology in two ways. First, a custom-trained model processes a corpus of audio extracted from a continuous screen recording of YouTube Shorts, representing the chaotic and noisy soundscape of social media platforms. This model functions both as a synthesiser oscillator and as an audio transformation tool to process everyday sounds. Second, the work incorporates AI-generated poems by ChatGPT and DeepSeek, composed of attention-grabbing phrases that amplify the sense of FOMO. These texts are vocalised using an AI-powered text-to-speech application. In addition to AI-generated sounds, the composition also employs social media sounds used in training the AI model, as well as mouse clicks and electromagnetic recordings from portable electronic devices.
Working with AI tools is an intuitive choice for exploring the FOMO phenomenon, as much of the information we encounter on digital platforms is AI-generated and filtered through AI-powered recommendation systems. Engaging with the language and voice of the machine allows me to examine the complex relationship between human and machine, particularly in the process of collaborating with AI tools and organising AI-generated sonic materials.
The medium of acousmatic music and spatial sound allows FOMO to transform the flat, screen-bound world of digital media into a three-dimensional, embodied listening experience. Stripped of visual context, the sounds gain new weight and immediacy, encouraging the listener to engage more deeply with their emotional and psychological impact. Spatialisation furthers this shift by expanding compressed, 2D audio—such as notification pings, scrolls, and swipes—into a dynamic 3D environment. This transformation mirrors the overwhelming nature of digital overload, turning intangible streams of information into a physical, immersive space that reflects the internal disorientation of FOMO.
Electronic Concert 2
Saturday May 30th, 11:00 AM
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MUSIC, Opera and Multimedia Studio
cr. Fan Ji