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.