When examining a particular creative work, one has to be aware of a number of hidden relationships embedded within that work as a whole. Who created this work? What was their goal in doing so (if there ever was an established goal)? How am I supposed to interpret this work, given the nature in which it was created? Going down these paths of inquiry can serve to make the relationship between the audience and the work itself murkier, turning the simple act of consumption into something much more sinister and perilous. But it is necessary that we [the global we] head down such paths, if for no other reason that the artistic climate of the last several decades has in many ways become dependent on such introspective lines of inquiry. This can be seen clearly in several avenues of philosophical thought, and it is the goal of this paper to explore one particular example of such contemplative navel-gazing: Roland Barthes. To start, I will offer my own take on the central concepts of Barthes’ article, with a secondary goal of reconciling his ideology with current trends in contemporary Western art music. In the end, I plan to establish a connection between recent and on-going trends in the contemporary music world and the reader-centric philosophy of Barthes.