Is the audience for popular music created by the music industry?

Record companies usually produce artist or bands that they think will be successful by copying other acts. In the past we have seen it with bands such as the Spice Girls, their success influenced the music industry to bring out similar girl bands like Girls Aloud and The Saturdays because they know it will sell.  You have record labels producing similar bands and sometimes it is hard to tell the difference e.g. Boyzone and Westlife sound similar. As Theodor Adorno believes that ‘recordings generally sound the same.’ Which is true in this case when record labels produce similar acts. The audience of popular music is influenced by the music industry but not created by it. Music becomes popular because people choose it, the industry then respond by creating more of the same type of music because it is in high demand. Knowing that it will do well in the charts.

NME Review

NME magazine seems to be aimed at people interested in Indie or Rock music. Looking through the magazine there is very little on other genres of music e.g. there is an advertisement for Plan B who is a rapper/singer. There are a lot of advertisements for technology such as the latest Laptops, mobile phones and watches. This indicates that the magazine is aimed mainly at men. Other content that you will find in NME magazine are interviews with bands and artist, information on upcoming gigs, album reviews and much more. This magazine is great for Indie or Rock music fans. If you are interested in bands such as Oasis, Kings of Leon, The Kooks and Foo Fighters than this is the magazine for you. NME magazine is ‘the ultimate source for discovering the best new music first’ as they claim. At only £2.40 for a weekly issue including all you need to know about the Indie/Rock scene you can’t go wrong.

Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

It is not a very useful concept to classify music in terms of blackness and whiteness because it is hard to identify what black or white music is. Although, music genres tend to be associated to a certain race e.g. R&B and Hip Hop are associated with black people, while Rock n Roll and Opera are associated with white people. When studying popular music, class and location are important factors to think about, not just whether the artist is black or white. 

Music today can be a mix of different genres and it is impossible to say whether it is black or white e.g. Bhangra music has many cultural influences with elements of hip-hop, electronica fused with traditional instruments. Today, artist can make any genre of music regardless of race and ethnicity. This is why it is difficult to identify music using the concept of blackness and whiteness.

Does the emergence of the digital download signal the end for the music industry?

The emergence of the digital download is does not signal the end of the music industry, in many ways it is helping the music industry. Since its first launch in 2003 to 2010 the iTunes music store has had 10 billion downloads. Digital downloads have become more convenient for the consumer, large amounts of music can be carried on a small device such as an ipod. The music industry is worried because it has become possible to steal music online with emergence of file sharing. But file sharing can actually help the artist e.g. in July 2000 tracks form Radioheads upcoming album Kid A were leaked out onto Napster and downloaded by millions of people 3 months before the albums release. Radiohead did not release any singles or videos to promote the album but it still shot to number 1 in the UK and US album charts. It was the first time they had a number 1 in the US.

Can Popular Music Achieve Genuine Political Change

Rob Shuker statement in saying that ‘popular music can be a means of raising both consciousness about and funds for political causes’ is true e.g. Live Aid achieved this through the dual-venue music concert that was first held in 1985 and because of its success it has been going ever since. The event raised awareness around the world about the struggle and poverty in third world countries. As a result people helped through charity by donating to the third word and Live Aid is still going on today encouraging people to do so. Popular music can be used to help a political cause, but the political change cannot happen with just the music. It can be argued that some artist like Bob Marley tried to achieve political change by making songs against capitalism but the best of Bob Marley and the Wailers album sold over 10 million, which contradict his songs. 

What is world music? Why do we have have world music?

Music that doesn’t fall into the category of Anglo American popular music is known as world music. World music is simply music from around the world of different cultures and languages. Music such as reggae, folk, Indian raga and Afro-beat fall under the world music category. Pop music in another language can be considered as World music even though it might have a similar sound to popular western music. The reason we have world music is because it can’t be put in any other category, classing it as world music it helps the album or record to sell. Also world music is not as popular as Western music, which dominates globally and is mainly in English. Whereas world music is only significant to people from a certain area or culture so not everyone can relate to it e.g. Afro-beat music is popular amongst people from an African native but has little significance or meaning to someone who is maybe from India.

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

A lot of popular music today is mass-produced. In most commercial music there is no art really involved, it is mainly about selling the music as much as possible and getting a high position in the charts. This is true for artists such as Cheryl Cole who is not the best of singers but she is still in the charts, very successful and popular amongst fans. This is because she is marketable and her image is easier to sell. The single released by the X-Factor winner every year is always a cover, which in most cases gets the Christmas number one position in the charts. Although much of today’s popular music is mass-produced, it is very hard to put it in one category. Popular music can either be considered a genuine art form or a mass-produced commodity depending on the artist. 

How useful is a production of culture perspective in understanding the birth of Rock and Roll.Peterson addresses important issues in a production of culture perspective. In many ways it is useful because he talks about the six factors that he suggest contribute to the birth of rock and roll, which are Law, Technology Industry Structure, Organisation Structure, Occupational Career and Market. Although these things had a key part to play in the birth of Rock n Roll there are other factors that he didn’t consider. He fails to address the music of Rock n Roll itself, which is probably the most important factor when thinking about the birth of it. Also he doesn’t talk about the teenage audience that Rock music was popular with. He could have found out their views and opinions on why they listened to it, this would have given a better understanding of the popularity of Rock music when it started.

Peterson addresses important issues in a production of culture perspective. In many ways it is useful because he talks about the six factors that he suggest contribute to the birth of rock and roll, which are Law, Technology Industry Structure, Organisation Structure, Occupational Career and Market. Although these things had a key part to play in the birth of Rock n Roll there are other factors that he didn’t consider. He fails to address the music of Rock n Roll itself, which is probably the most important factor when thinking about the birth of it. Also he doesn’t talk about the teenage audience that Rock music was popular with. He could have found out their views and opinions on why they listened to it, this would have given a better understanding of the popularity of Rock music when it started. Overall he misses out key factors that could have made it a more useful account.

Is it reasonable to consider that rock music is gendered male?

Males have mostly dominated rock music since it started.  Rock music can be very aggressive e.g. shouting; trashing sets and the lyrics can be of an explicit nature. Instruments such as the guitar and drums are seen as very masculine and usually most Rock guitarists hold their instruments low down in front of their genitals as a sign of their masculinity. You would not associate the traits of a Rock n Roll superstar with feminine traits. Women are more likely to be associated with Pop music rather than Rock.  However although Rock is male dominated there is some well-known female rock artist like Courtney Love, White Stripes drummer Meg White, Alison Mosshart and the lead singer of band Evanescence Amy Lee. Even though there are popular female figures in Rock, men mostly dominate it. Men also tend to play more instruments than women and women tend to be more vocal.

Can popular music ever really be unplugged?

Most popular music nowadays is ‘plugged’ from Rock, Hip Hop to Grime and Pop music. Technology contributes to the popularity of most music genre’s today e.g. Rock music wouldn’t be the same with out the electric guitar or artists wouldn’t be able to make beats with out the use of a computer. The reason why popular music is popular today is because it has a certain sound which people like and this is mostly done using technology. If popular music was unplugged then there would be no album recordings and music would have to be played live. Some music can sound good unplugged e.g. Plan B, a well-known British Hip Hop artist is famous for rapping over an acoustic guitar which does not require any electricity or technology. Overall popular music can never really be unplugged because the sound of the music will change and this might cause it to become ‘unpopular.’

What is Popular Music!

One definition of popular music is ‘ any genre of music having a wide appeal (but usually only for a short time).  Music that is listened to buy a wide audience can be seen as popular because everyone knows about it or at least familiar with the song or genre even if they don’t like it. This may apply to Commercial music. The reason why commercial music may be popular is because it is widely advertised and distributed, the music is pushed in your face. You hear it on the radio; see it on the music channels and it is easy to get hold of. An example of this is ‘pop’ music.  In the 16^th century popular meant low or base, vulgar of the common people.  Pop music is popular with mostly working class people but not everyone enjoys it. It is popular because it has been commercialised. It could be argued that popular music is commercial music.