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

It is generally thought that the music industry is literally made up of recording companies. It is, in fact, made up smaller, often forgotten elements such as music press, music technology, retail, merchandising and licensing (just to name a few). 

It is said that the audience for popular music are created by the music industry. This, to some extend is true. Once an artist becomes popular and profit is made, recording companies then continue to play it safe by using that artist’s style to continue and increase profits. This is then fed through to the other parts of the music industry (such as advertising and press), which is then read/seen/absorbed by the public. The public like the music is masses, making the music popular and the cycle begins again.

This process supports Shuker’s quote: ‘recordings generally sound the same, with some variation due to the handicraft nature of music production’. 

Kerrang! Magazine - A review

According to Kerrang! Magazine, they are the 'world's biggest selling weekly rock magazine'. Now, that's quite a brag.

The magazine is full of pictures of rock artists and bands, mainly of moody men with eyeliner, piercings and tattoos. The magazine is aimed at older teens, both girls who fancy the male artists, as well as the boys who inspire to be like their idols. The image of 'Rock' is very apparent and the magazine seem to play with the stereotype of 'Rockers' by using fowl language and being written in an informal, almost slang style.

I could imagine the market audience who buy Kerrang! Magazine to be hardcore fans of the Rock culture, collecting the free posters provided in the middle pages to stick on the walls. Give it a few years and they'll grow out of it!

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

'Blackness' and 'whiteness' are useful concepts when looking at the origins of the now fusioned culture of music such as RnB, Rock n Roll, Bhangra etc.

However, this concept of 'blackness' and 'whiteness' is not useful in society now. This concept is more relevant with the society and environment you're associated with. The concept of 'blackness' and 'whiteness' were more relevant in the early 1900s when society had very strong racial opinions. An example of this in the music industry are music created by black artists who only when covered by white artists did they become successful. However, in the society we live in today, blackness and whiteness concepts are quite irrelevant. As races have fusioned and different cultures have immigrated out of their origins, popular music has more relevance with society and environment rather than race.

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

As early as the 1970’s, the threat of piracy of copyrighted material occurred to the music industry with the invention of the cassette player. Today, the RIAA are concerned with ‘the culture of piracy’ through file sharing. Lessig suggests 4 types of file sharing, two of which have very interesting viewpoints. He suggests that file sharing is used ‘as a substitute for purchasing’, which is ‘clearly harmful’. The other is that file sharing is used to ‘sample music before purchasing’, which he explains is ‘illegal but plainly beneficial’. An example to prove this method of file sharing works in favour for the music industry is Radiohead’s ‘pay what you like’ experiment with their album ‘In Rainbows’. The experiment proved that fans were willing to pay the average price for the album and not just download songs for free because they could. 

Therefore, I don’t think the emergence of digital downloading will result in the end of the music industry. It could instead be beneficial for them. 

Can popular music achieve genuine political change?

Music is typically a way of expressing one’s feelings and views on different subject matters. Some of which may be on society or political views. Popular music can also be used in a way to raise awareness and send out a message to the masses. This can then lead to protests. An example of this was Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’, 1939. The song/poem was about racism in America, particularly about the killing of African American’s without a legal trial. The song became a protest song in America and promoted a political response. 

In this case, popular music helped achieve political change by raising awareness. However, I wouldn’t say that the music was the sole purpose of change. There are always other factors and reasons which come together to really make a political change. 

What is World Music?

World music is usually described as traditional, cultural and indigenous music which doesn’t fit into the popular Anglo-American category. The songs included do not contain the key points which Anglo American music have, in order to become popular and sell records. Unlike the popular music we have come to know, World music generally contains traditional (maybe even folk) music which reflect the culture where the music origins from. This would mean that the lyrics would not be in English and traditional instruments would be used such as the sitar in India. 

This kind of music is categorized as ‘World Music’ as it is a difficult to define as a genre. It is harder to sell as it is not the popular music of Western culture. Therefore, categorizing it in this way would help promote world music, making a profit. 

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

Art can be defined as a human creation made with skill and technique. A mass produced commodity are goods created for the sole purpose of sales and profit. 

So, is popular music a mass produced commodity or a genuine art form? I would say the answer could be both. There are many talented musicians who simply write and create music as a reflection of their passion, which eventually become popular and are appreciated as a genuine art form. 

However, the majority of popular music heard on the radio, tv, etc, are created for the purpose of making a profit; which lack in creativity and skill. A great example of this is the TV programme X Factor, which claims its objective is to find unique, talented singers/musicians. However, the programme clearly copies other artists music and makes a large profit off it.