week 11: Does the music industry create the market?

The first question that comes to mind is does the music industry control the consumer, or the consumers control the industry? As when a boy band comes out for example Boyzone and they go to number 1, the industry tends to set trends by bringing out other boy band groups like Westlife that sound similar to Boyzone. Theodor Adorno suggests that recordings generally sound the same. Which I disagree with personally, but with Boyzone and Westlife their music sounds alike. As a consumer your in control as you have the choice as to whether you want to buy a single or not, the music industry cannot force people to listen to music. On the other hand the industry can over publicise a song by putting it on TV regularly and playing it quite frequently on the radio, which can have a little effect on you. As technology is developing I feel that consumers have control of the music industry, as when an album is good from an artist the industry try and sell something similar to the last album, while the consumer expects something different, they can go and search for what they want.

week 10: NME Review

Through observing NME magazine, the adverts within the mag are about bands, Dvd’s, latest cameras, tours, events and competitions. These are obviously aimed more at males between the ages of 17-21.The music included is mainly indie, rock and pop which is not really my cup of tea. The main feature is about Coldplay and up and coming artist’s, and allows people to voice their views about what they think about current songs e.g. Kylie’ In my arms’. The adverts seem to take up the majority of space on a page, but throughout the mag there is an equal amount of written text and pictures. The language used ‘ It’s good to know that they can also expertly stick their tongue in their cheek’. Anyone can understand the language as they use some slang but not a great deal of it, the text was too small to read which at times can make me flip through the pages or put it to one side.

week 9: Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in understanding popular music?

The definition of black from the dictionary ‘ is the darkest colour, with out light’ (Collins: 2000,p55) and white is defined as the ‘colour of snow, light in colour’ (Collins: 2000,p621). By looking at the definitions black and white can be looked at as binary oppositions, but is the colour of your skin complexion useful to understand music? As when you listen to music genres such as rap, pop, house, classical and rock you don’t tend to listen to them because of what complexion the artist is. For instance Eminem is of a white complexion and is a rapper, but he still attracts both black and white people. Duffy who also is a white artist sounds like a black gospel singer, but attracts both audiences. In the 1950’s era you could see that there was more of a distinction of music between black and white people by the segregation going on around that time period, but now you cant. In today's society white people listen to black music such as reggae and black people listen to white music such as classical music. When you listen to music at times it sounds like it’s a combination from both traditions such as blues and country music fused together emerged rock n roll, which can express cultural heritage. For example grime which is rap for the British artist. When we look at blackness and whiteness it makes me think about people that do not fit in to that category what do we classify them as e.g. Michael Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. Which shows that what complexion you are is not significant within music.

week 8: Are subcultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

Subculture is a set of people with distinct behaviours and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger group. For example you can see this from the way punk’s dress, there mannerism and speech. There style to me seems as an expression of political opposition, as when they want to make a point, about something they would express themselves by the way that they dress. Through putting political images on their clothes, safety pins through their ears, dying the hair black and spiked out hair, which shows that punks are trying to create an identity. In a sense there style provides people with a powerful means of expression, as when I see punks they draw my attention straight away by their style, which could imply that people are taken notice of them as they stand out. It tends to make me look at the difference between them and me. Subculture groups can also be looked at with a specific music genre, as it can define characteristics around groups that was formed e.g. Ravers, metal heads and Goths. Which shows music can be a key factor, subcultures create there own meanings, from the way they understand life in order for them to express there selves they can show it by style, music genre and speech.

Week 7: Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?

Popular music can reflect a political time, protest against something, and raise funds and issues. We see examples through programmes such as Comic relief, Live 8, and Children in need. They tend to use celebrities such as The Spice girls to help promote the course and raise awareness to people. When discussing this within our seminar session we spoke about making a point in a crowd is more powerful and effective, then one person, you see this happen when you go to football matches, the supporters sing the national anthem to the team that they support. Also when they want to make a point they express themselves by shouting out chants in groups. We touched on gender politics and looked at Christina Aguilera’s song ‘Can’t hold us down’ which implies that if you’re a women you cant speak your mind, buts its alright for a man to. Women should be seen and not heard. Gangster rap music can have an influence on crime, as there encouraging people to take action against the police. Popular music can not force political change, but can help bring awareness, support and influence a point being made, but it up to the individual as to whether they put it in to action or not.

Week 6: Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

DRM stands for digital rights management, which limits people right to copy music, and DvD’s so that you’re unable to distribute copies to other people. For example downloading music from lime wire and burning CD’s its like a form of stealing, as it is illegal but people don’t care because everyone else is doing it and they have not been caught yet. I personally feel that if people are ignoring the rules and still downloading and burning copies DRM is not saving the music industry as such. On the other hand they are starting to compete, by adding bonus tracks, and video clips with albums, which you cannot get when downloading. In order for DRM to save the music industry they have to offer something better to listeners. Such as I tunes allow you to download music which you pay for, and can only be used with an I pod. Which restricts you to transfer songs from I tunes to a Philips. Music industry will not lose out on money if you pay for downloading music as it’s the legitimate way, which in comparison to downloading programmes has a better sound quality of songs are immaculate and download quicker. For the music industry to be saved DRM has to be more competitive and stronger.

week 5: Can popular music ever really be unplugged?

When listening to music, if the technology used such as an electronic guitar, or piano was taken away from the song, it comes to mind whether it would still be effective to listen to. As different instruments used create different effects, as well as creating an atmosphere for us. For example when listening to an electronic violin it’s louder than a normal violin. Technology allows us to listen to musical sounds, for instance when going to a concert if there were no micro phones without the amplifier we wouldn’t be able to hear depending on the venue, e.g. if an artist performed out side with no microphone they would not be heard at all. To produce a track it wouldn’t be exactly how you would want it to be without multi track, which shows technology is used a lot, it also enables artists to tune their voice. As I know T Pain an r n b artist who uses a computerised voice, but is it fair? We discussed this in our seminar I only agree its alright to a certain extent. . Popular music wouldn’t survive without electronic technology, as without it music would not be heard or produced

week 4: What is world music and why does it exist?

Fusing together traditional music and modern music forms world music. For example African music fused with English language. I feel in a sense that it is a good thing to fuse music together as it allows people to listen to different types of culture music such as reggae, soca, and African music. World music attracts different nationalities, in order to do so it makes me think would the song necessarily have to be in English for people to like it. In our seminar class we listened to some well-known songs, but they were sang in a different language. When hearing the song it didn’t matter to me that it was in a different language I still enjoyed the song, but it would mean more to the people who understand that particular language, which would be local music. World music exist as our country is becoming more of a multicultural society, is trying to cater for everyone, whether your black, white or Asian. Which enables other people from other counties to listen to different culture music to give everyone a sense of belonging.

week 3: Is popular music a mass produced commodity or genuine art form?

When disusing this topic in class, we looked at what the definition of art is first. We came up with expression and creation. Adorno disagrees with Theodor that popular music is an art form, as it is simplified. As when listening to popular songs most of the time they’re cut out from an original song to make a new song, when we hear the song from an audience perspective it sounds familiar to us. I personally agree slightly with Adorno that popular music is not art form, if it’s been cut from an original piece and reused. As its not being creative, where as music that is created from scratch is more the creator thoughts and expression, which I would class as more of an art from. At the same time it depends on whether the artist uses the original parts of the song creatively than just putting it in. I don’t agree with Adorno when he says that classical music is an art form, because other genres of music can be classed as an art form as well for example Michael Jackson song ‘Thriller’ is art.

week 2: What are the strengthens and weakness of peterson production of culture

When looking at Peterson theory on the birth of rock n roll, he tends to look more at the theory side, rather than the practical. where as if he looked at both sides it would of strengthened his theory. Although Peterson gives us information about how rock n roll formed and what it consists of he doesn't mention anything about the sound. and what instruments are used to create rock n roll such as an electric guitar, drum kit and microphone. His theory gives us an idea of how rock n roll music derives from industry structure, organization structure, and occupational career. In which is useful to understand the production of culture. He also does not mention the artists, who produces the music, which i feel that not knowing about the sound and artist is not enough to understand rock n roll. Peterson also talks about the technology used, such as shellac discs, and vinyl records which was used to put music on, shows us today how technology has developed. 

week 1: what is popular music?

Looking at the first three words of popular, which is pop, the first thing that comes to mind is pop music, songs that are within the top 10 charts and commercial music. In the collins English Dictionary the definition of 'pop' means ' Music of general appeal especially to young people'. Music can be widely liked and admired as a lot of people liked The Spice Girl's old and young people, which shows that they would be classed as popular music, but not eveyone has the same taste in music. In our seminar session we shared with each other who our favourite band/artists was, within the class there was a variety of genres from rock, R n B, soul and hip hop. some artists and bands, which were mentioned, i had never come across before. referring back to what is popular music, it's also down to us as consumers as when we purchase albums, singles and download music as to what people are interested in.