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

When we are born we are all different, we all are individual to some extent.
We all have different tastes and thoughts and feelings.
Our individuality can soon start to follow trends and become
some-what of a follower. The audience for popular music is no different.
The audience is not created by the music industry in my opinion, however
it is catered for. The music industry satisfy audiences down the genre
of music they enjoy, which is shaped by the audiences own personal ideologies
The audience for popular music may however be more likely to be the type of person
to follow trends easily, they may be more susceptible to media power.
Overall I believe the audience for popular music to be down to
The type of person they are rather that just the music industry's control.

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

Blackness and whiteness are useful concepts when seperating artists and music genres into categories however that's as far as it goes. You cannot seperate blackness and whiteness simply as its based on a lot more and involves looking deeper into class and economic environment.Eminem is an artist who's music could be described as sounding like and fitting into the genre of black music, he is white yet the background and upbringing he has had has effected the type of music he chooses to produce.

 

Pop music has always depended upon the interaction between white and black traditions - David Hatch & Stephen Milward

To seperate music is to stereotype music and it would mean saying that typical genre's like rap or rnb could only be produced by black people, and that classical music or indie music is only produced by white people, these stereotypes are wrong. White artists have covered black music, like Elvis and The Beatles especially when Rock and Roll came about. Alot of the time Black artists produced rock songs just for white artists to cover it and then have their version released on the radio instead.

 

In my opinion there is a fine and blurry line between seperating blackness and whiteness in studying popular music, i don't think it is useful because everyone is going to have thier own idea's on what it means to them.

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

When the MP3 was created a flurry of people took to the internet in order to file share for free, some unaware that infact this was illegal, systems such as Bearshare and Limewire were popular. Music downloads now take up 10% of the total global music market.

 

Lawrence Lessig suggests four types of digital downloading: a substitute for purchasing, a way of purchasing old music that is copyrighted but is no longer in circulation, sampling and later purchasing which is popluar among students or to access material that has not been copyrighted. There has been an uproar about illegal downloading and systems such as iTunes have ensured that people can still digitally download but legally.

 

Media is everchanging and i do not believe that the emergences of digital downloads signals the end for the music industry. I believe that the music industry will work with the change and ensure that they benefit from this emergence, ofcorse with the improvements in portable music and the internet the Music Industry will understand why there is a need for digital downloads.

Can popular music achieve genuine political change?

Music is able to touch us in a unique way, it can send a message out.  Music in films or in television shows can touch us depending on what context it is shown in. Ofcourse some songs can be commercial and meaningless, but many seen as popular music have had the ability to effect political change.

As John Street said we need to address not only the context of its lyrics but also its sound & reception, many bands such as U2 and Pink Floyd have wrote songs based on the idea of sending a political message and bringing on political change.

Band Aid and Live Aid have also both had massive effects on society and change, touching the hearts of people worldwide.
I believe that popular music is able to achieve genuine political change, it is a hard force against politics, as it can touch people so much that they can change their views and open their eyes to certain things. Popular music hasnt always effected political change for a good reason, it has also brought up issues of drugs and sex and violence which has confronted some political issues.

What is world music and why do we have such a category?

World music as a whole can mean a few different things,
World music can be global and worldwide. Anglo American popular music
From the America and the UK can influence other countries who
Will keep the popular music and change the lyrics language.
Yet world music can also be indigenous music, which tends to be
More local but can still be owned by a worldwide company.
To understand more local music we must know their cultural ideas.
Worldwide music can be influenced by the cultural imperialism process,
It's important to have a category for World Music so that
We can define the music and have an open minded appreciation of the different
Styles of music and instruments, it also shows the reach that music has across
The globe and how its always been in human nature to create music.

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

Art is a product of a humans creativity. Art provokes emotion, it is emmersive and open to critique. Art is based on opinion and expression, it is raw, self reflective and self aware.

Theodor Adorno believed that Art was the opposite to mass production, he saw no Art in popular music. To him the Popular Music Industry was just an all consuming production line, churning out mass produced inferior commoditys. Adornos idea's can be reflected in society today with shows like The X Factor but it is narrow to suggest that all popular music is purely just a mass produced commodity. The Smiths showed how their music can be seen as an art form when they were able to be self reflective in their song Paint a vulgar picture (1987)

Even though it can be said that Popular Music sometimes involves commercial hits, cover songs and has singers singing someone elses written material. Art is open, it is different to everybody. One mans trash is another mans treasure. Live Aid which featured popular artists and popular song had the ability to effect the world. Live Aid was art in its own way.  I believe that popular music can be a genuine art form, because to somebody out there popular music is their treasure.

How useful is a production of culture perspective in understanding the birth of rock and roll?

Richard A. Peterson stated that six factors were responsible for the birth of Rock & Roll in 1955. Law, Technology, Industry Structure, Organisational Structure, Occupational Career and Market. Peterson also claims that the demand of stars at the time like Elvis and Chuck Berry played no part in the birth of Rock & Roll and nor did the demand from the post war boomers.

I dont think that a production of cultural perspective is that useful in understanding about the birth of Rock & Roll. Peterson has simply set up a framework that could be applied to any genre of music, he does not suggest why this framework gave birth to Rock & Roll in particular and WHY it was Rock & Roll. Nor has he given any evidence that it was 1955 when it was born, considering there were singles released even fifteen years before this date that could be classed in the genre (The Andrews Sisters 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' -1940). If he believes that the supply of stars at the time played no part, then surely without these stars like Elvis and Chuck Berry Rock & Roll may not of even been seen as what it is today.

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

Sister Rosetta Tharpe paved the way for Rock and Roll and inspired rock musicians like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, not only is she seen as a remarkable musical legend but she is also a woman. Charlotte Greig wrote 'we are not a subgroup of humanity that speaks with one voice' yet when women have broken through as 'rock stars' they end up either being made to look or act more masculine or end up becoming sexualised for the male audience. Blondie, Jonie Mitchell, Annie Lennox are just a few of the names i can think of that have been successful in the genre of Rock however the list of successful male rock artists is about ten times greater.  Mavis Bayton wrote 'none of us are born lead guitarists, women's absense is entirely social' I think that female musicians think twice about trying to make it big as a 'rock star' perhaps as they feel to be a rockstar they have to change to fit the 'requirements' expected in this genre, however as Frith and Mcrobbie discuss Rock is alot more than a genre, it is an audience and an artistic idealogy.

Can popular music ever really be unplugged?

Without technology music would be based on the power of the human voice and handmade instruments, which before the 1900's was everything that anybody knew and understood about music, even still today places in the world rely on unplugged music and it is all they know.

Today in the society we live in, music would most likely cease to exist without electronic technology, music is based around recording the material and distrubuting the music for the audiences. Without any electronic technology nobody could listen to music or buy music via the internet or even from record shops such as HMV. Music would be either classical music, big band or acapella. The development of the amplifier, the microphone and the electric guitar was the landmark for music to be anything that it could be. Rock and Roll changed the way people saw music, it gave people a sense of freedom and expression and following this music festivals and concerts with events that changed the world like The Beatles at Shea Stadium and Woodstock and Live Aid would never of happened without electric technology.

I think that popular music can be unplugged depending on the society that you live in and the part of the world that you are. However in USA and the UK especially we have become conformed to popular music being in the charts and being commercialised. We rely on music using electric technology, which in my opinion is a shame as some of the most beautiful and intimate music is unplugged.

What is Popular Music?

Popular - Originally a legal term 'popularis' meaning belonging to the people.
The term 'Popular' then meant 'widely favoured' from the 18thc onwards, which is an accurate reflection of what popular music means to people in 21stc with all of the music charts that surround music. However that doesnt mean that 'Popular' automatically means good just because it is widely favoured, the charts have featured songs such as 'Bob The Builder' and 'Mr Blobby' which are clearly commercial products other than holding any artistic value. Popular music will also always involve technology unless it is acapella relying purely on the artists voice alone.
Every type of genre of music has featured in the charts at some point, making it popular with the people. Popular music is not limited, but what is at the top of the charts doesnt always mean that that genre is the only type of music being listened too.