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.