The medium does so much to shape that content though. When discussing songs we love, I'm not sure if it's fruitful to divorce some ideal form of "music" from it

The medium does so much to shape that content though. When discussing songs we love, I'm not sure if it's fruitful to divorce some ideal form of "music" from its medium, any more than it makes sense to describe a guitarist's work in the form of pure music theory. It's usually not the notes in abstract that draw us to a piece, but rather its color and character. Understanding the medium and its associated recording techniques is valuable in a timbral critique of the work. It's also impossible to explore the history of influential artists like Conlon Nancarrow, Pierre Schaeffer, or the Beatles without understanding the impact that media like piano rolls, mangnetic tape, and multitracking played in their creative processes.