Is The Audience For Popular Music Created By The Music Industry?

The music industry has a huge influence over what music the produced and heard by the public, therefore the audience for popular music is at the very least affected by the music industry. This is due to the fact that record companies want to maximize sales, therefore follow music trends, and discourage creativity as this may harm their profits. In doing this it can be argued that the popular music audience itself is essentially being created by the music industry. With the major record labels such as EMI, Universal and Warner holding a monopoly in the market some suggest that due to the music trends ‘recordings generally sound the same, with some variation’ Ibid , meaning that more experimental music is harder to come by as small labels have a lot less money to produce with meaning that they cannot afford records to fail unlike the big labels who claim ‘for every hit song..there are 10 recordings that make no significant commercial impact’

...Mojo...

Priced at a hefty £4.20 Mojo is for the more discerning reader. Yet you do not feel short changed when you finally turn over the last page. Mojo is packed full of impressive interviews with some of the worlds greats such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors and The Band. However Mojo incorporate more modern music for the readers to become accustomed to with the likes of The Arctic Monkeys gracing the pages. The magazine seems to aim itself at middle-aged men, who grew up with the likes of The Doors and are trying to get into more modern music to impress or shock their children with, and Mojo offers the perfect balance. Every issue presents numerous music reviews of new and old cds to help bulk up you’re collection or to find new bands. Adverts vary from promotions from Abbot Ale to The Samaritans, incase you fancy a drink while helping out others. Mojo has been a top selling music publication since its release in 1993 and sales are strong, proving the £4.20 price tag doesn’t put people off if the content is worth it. It seems as though it is.

Are Blackness and Whiteness Useful Concepts In The Study Of Popular Music?

To some degree the concepts of blackness and whiteness are useful when studying popular music. At a basic level they allow people to identify with where the music is from and its origins. However this concept should only be used as a starting point before focusing upon their class and social scene as influencing their music. David Hatch says, ‘pop music has always depended upon the interaction between white and black traditions’ showing that there is no solid foundations of black and white music, but are both influential to each other. Yet blackness and whiteness are not so much concepts; they are guidelines, which help tackle social issues in certain types of music. The terms can be useful if used in the right context and taking on board all of the other issues surrounding the musicians at the time, not only focusing upon the colour of their skin.

Can popular music really achieve genuine political change?

Popular music has the ability to cause political change as Shuker describes, 'conscience rock' has the ‘potential for popular music to raise consciousness and money'. This however relies upon the context in which it is staged. For example, in 1984 Sir Bob Geldof and a collaboration of artists know as Band Aid released ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?’ into the Christmas charts and raised £8 million for famine relief. Shortly after USA for Africa followed with ‘We Are The World’, raising a subsequent $50 million for the same cause. John Street notes in Frith that: 'music has symbolic force'. However in 1987 Red Wedge, a group supporting the Labour Party was ultimately unsuccessful and Labour ended up losing the general elections. This could be down to the fact that Band Aid was a coming together for a world cause, where as Red Wedge was solely for political benefit. Music will not always guarantee political change, but it always has the capability to.

Are Youth Subcultures Genuine Signs Of Revolt Or Simply The Manifestation Of Style?

Talcott Parsons argues that subcultures are youth’s way of dealing with the transition from childhood to adulthood. Most subcultures begin as a way for the youth’s to create a different style that is different to mainstream society, giving themselves their own identity and this could be classified as a rebellion against the mainstream. These subcultures are often linked to the groups musical preference and are seen to influence the way they dress and act, such as Goths and Punks. Yet Hebdige claims that ‘the styles expressed by different subcultures are a response to social conditions and experiences'. He suggests that the style of punk must be interpreted ‘in the context of the social decay of Britain during the late 1970s.’ It seems that the subcultures from the 1950s-1990s incorporated revolt and style unlike subcultures today which are not as often showing signs of revolt, rather using style to fit into the life which surrounds them, such as students.

Does The Emergence Of The Digital Download Signal The End Of The Music Industry?

Digital downloads became popular in the late 1990s through file sharing sites such as Napster and LimeWire. CD sales dramatically fell causing the music industry to panic over these illegal download sites where people can download an artist for free instead of paying for the album. However in 2003 Apple launched the iTunes Store which sold individual songs or albums at a cheaper price than in shops, causing a resurgence in music sales. Still, many believe that if people can download an album for free, why would they pay for it, meaning the music industry needed to give customers something different which they would not get from a download. This comes in the form of the CD itself, as well as the album artwork and sleeves causing CDs to still be popular with many who may not want to break the law or are nostalgic towards owing a CD which many people are.

Can Popular Music Ever Really Be Unplugged?

Popular music relies on technology in order for the bands to produce their music. Technology is used to produce albums in studios; it excites in most interments, drums, guitars, bass guitars and vocals and all use amplifiers and microphones to enhance the sounds when performing. Therefore if unplugged is defined as without technology or effects then it is almost impossible for music to be truly unplugged because by taking away the technology then the albums would not be made, and the only possible way for popular music to be really unplugged would be at a live concert by using nothing but their acoustic interments and voices, with the audience having to be very quiet to hear the band, which has been known to happen but very rarely.

What Is World Music?

In basic terms world music could be defined as music that is none Anglo-American, sung in a foreign language, using local and indigenous sounds to compose music associated with that country. However local music cannot simply be associated with national cultural identities. Due to the monopoly that Anglo-American music has over the world it is impossible that these do not influence local music. World music now seems to overlap local or traditional music with global music. It could also be argued that the term ‘world music’ was used by music shops to categorize music that doesn’t fit the norm, making it easier to sell. Many ‘global’ bands incorporate world music into their songs in the form of African drums for example, yet this is not classified as world music due to the fact that it is sung in English or composed in an Anglo-American way. 

Is Popular Music A Mass Produced Commodity Or A Genuine Art Form?

It can be said that popular music is both a mass produced commodity and a genuine art form, as it can be argued that art is a mass-produced commodity as well as an art form. Chart music is commonly seen as a mass-produced commodity, with artists and producers churning out similar bands with similar songs. The bands are not only selling their songs and albums, they are selling merchandise, clothes, concert tickets and posters making them a brand and a commodity. Art can also be classified in this way when looking at the vast amount of prints, calendars, magnets and postcards selling one image or an artist’s work. However, they both contain genuine art forms as well. The art in music is the composing and performing of the music itself, and the capturing of an image or idea through painting or sculpting or other forms is art, causing the line between what is art and mass produce to become obscure.

How Useful Is Peterson’s Production Of Culture Perspective In Understanding The Birth Of Rock and Roll?

According to Peterson, the six factors that shaped the emergence of rock and roll music in the 1950s range from the copyright law passed in 1909, the invention of vinyl records in the late 1940s through to the transistor radio and its effects on the American Youth.

Peterson explains how the transistor gave the American Youth the chance to listen to their own music away from their parents for the first time. He also explains how radio presenters began to transform into DJs trying to sell the station by making their own unique personalities. However Peterson fails to mention Rock music itself. How simple guitar rifts made it easy for budding musicians to play, unlike R&B and Jazz. He also fails to mention how the instruments had changed so dramatically in a short space of time, giving Rock its own unique sound, constituting the reader to question other factors in the birth of Rock and Roll.   

What Is Popular Music?

The term 'popular' has changed its meaning throughout the centuries. In the 16th Century it was used as a term meaning, 'low or base, vulgar, of the common people.' During the 18th Century it became a meaning for 'widely favoured', and theorist Anahid Kassabian classes 'popular' as 'the art and culture of the people.' 

With these terms in mind it becomes hard to classify what popular music is. It doesn't have to mean one genre of music, such as Pop music or a certain type of band for example, girl and boy bands. Popular music in my opinion signifies the music that is liked by a group of people, how ever large that group may be. As Ray Shuker suggests, 'all popular music consists of a hybrid of musical traditions, styles and influences, and is also an economic product which is invested with ideological significance by many of its consumers.'