Week 11 – Does the music industry create the market?

Although the music industry ‘creates’ the market, it depends on the consumers and whether they take to it or not. The music industry own all the music made and have the distribution rights so can control what music makes it onto the market and what doesn’t. However, this is then affected by how consumers respond to the market. If the music is popular with audiences, then the music industry will continue to produce similar types, however, if audiences do not take do it then the music industry will have to create music that the consumers are after.
The music industry had a lot more control over the market in the past then they do now. With the advent of digital music and a wide variety of music readily available to download from the internet, consumers can create their own market, where the music they consume is not limited to what the music industry provide. So in conclusion, it can be said that both the music industry and consumers create the market.

Week 10 - Mixmag Review

Mixmag is the ultimate clubber's bible. Without a doubt, Mixmag is the king of mainstream clubbing magazines and pretty much the market leader in it's game. It's success comes from its ability to focus on a wide variety of clubbing trends rather than closing in on and targetting one particular market. Mixmag has featured everything from the first acid house explosion to superclubs, nu-rave to cyber kiddies and much much more. Not only does Mixmag feature in-depth news, nightlife reviews, club listings and a diverse range of music, it also offers ideas on the lastest upfront fashion so that readers can get the ultimate club lifestyle. With every issue, readers will receive a famous complimentary mix CD with a range of music to suit any clubber, no matter their taste. Although there is plenty of both overt and covert advertising in mixmag, all of it focuses purely on the club lifestyle so readers will always be enticed and find the adverts relevant. All in all, Mixmag is the ultimate magazine that no hardcore clubber can rave without!

Week 9 - Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

Differentiating between 'white' and 'black' types of music when studying popular music can be helpful in finding out the origins, values and situations the music came from. For example, rhythm and blues originated from black people who used it to express their sorrow and distress during their time of slavery. Certain races use a certain style, structure, set of instruments etc to create music that have been passed on through their generations and/or created concerning social/economical/political issues of their time, so certain music will always be stereotyped to a race because of its influence. However, in today's technological world, where people can sample music from all over the world, styles of music are commonly mixed and influence one another. Therefore, making it hard to class as 'white' or 'black'. Also there are many types of music that originate say from Asia, which would fit neither into the black or white category. Today's world is such an integrated, multi-cultural one that race is not even classified so much anymore. For example, we see white artist's like Eminem producing extremely successful rap songs which is normally considered 'black' music. To really study the origins and influences of popular music, it would be better to look at other factors such as class and other social issues rather than just focusing on race. As John Tagg says; no definitions can be made from the distinction between white music and black music.

Week 8 - Are subcultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

An example of subcultures as a sign of revolt is the 'skinhead' culture. It could be said that this culture was created as a rebellion to cultural and political situations during their time, when the working class wanted to make a stand against the inequality between middle and working classes, especially concerning work opportunities. However, because this subculture all began wearing particular types of clothing (e.g. Doc Martens), in order to allow people to distinguish and identify them as skinheads, we cannot disregard that subcultures also choose to be a certain expression of style themselves. Skinheads also combined their sense of style to reinforce their revolt e.g. the use of the infamous swastika.
Nowadays, we see many people adopting styles of certain subcultures with little or no knowledge of the reasons why the subcultures were created in the first place. E.g. Goths always try to reinforce that they are non-conformists, even though their sense of style makes them look all the same and conformists in their own culture!
Hebdige, 1988 says that subcultures are not a commercial exploitation or a genuine revolt but a combination of the two. I agree and would say that subcultures are often a sign of revolt concerning the situations of their time. However, they are also used as an expression of style, which also helps exaggerate their revolt as it makes them more identifiable and notorious at the same time.

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

Pop music is marketed and consumed by so many people that it definitely has some sort of influence on society. This is why is it now commonly used as a way to express ideas, beliefs and opinions on political issues. Pop music that is used for a political agenda definitely attracts attention and raises awareness. The pop artists who create the songs are often famous, publicly admired and therefore attract a lot of publicity with the message they are conveying in their music. When pop songs with a political message are banned, the media attention surrounding them allows it to raise even more public awareness.
An example of where popular music does make a change is with prestigious awareness projects and concerts such as Live Aid. The awareness of the poverty issue and money raised to help definitely makes a huge difference. However, it can be argued that these concerts have become more of a publicised, media fuelled event that do not focus entirely on the political message. So although it can be said that popular music can raise awareness of political issues, whether it is a genuine force for political change is not so easy to see. The public attention on the songs, artists and concerts often mean that the message does not take priority and can be forgotten over time. This is what Shuker calls conscious rock. In conclusion, although pop music is a powerful way to help raise awareness and motivation towards political issues, there is little evidence to prove that it can make a long term change.

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

Official statistics have shown the music industry’s profits to be rapidly decreasing over the past few years and it is fair to say that the development of p2p networking and illegal downloading of music is one of the main reasons why the music industry is suffering. Therefore for companies to impose digital right management to MP3 files they offer on the internet is a good idea and method to attempt to restrict and limit the possibility of people getting access to licensed music illegally. However, whether DRM is successful is another matter. With so many networking programs still widely available, people will still choose to download music illegally and for free. The music industry needs to learn to adapt and evolve with its audience and technology and not focus so much on how p2p networking is affecting their sales and royalties. At the end of the day downloading music can in some cases help the music industry. For example, if people sample music they normally would not listen to through the internet, it may result in them really enjoying the music and actually going out and buying more from the same artist or concert tickets etc.

Week 5 - Can popular music really ever be unplugged?

P. Thelberge says that ‘without electronic technology – popular music in the 21st Century is unthinkable.
I agree with this statement to some degree as the only music that could strictly be produced without any technology at all is with the voice or the human body itself. It is hard to say whether this kind of music could ever be popular in modern society when we are so used to advanced and fancy music produced by technology e.g. instruments, computers.
However, it can also be said that some aspects of it do make it into popular music e.g. beatboxing, clicking and whistling.
Without technology though (particularly electronic), it would be hard to distribute music to a large audience, meaning it would be difficult to make it ‘popular’.
But we can argue that there is still a market for music ‘unplugged’ from electronic technology e.g. acoustic versions of songs, live band etc. Also, we now see many pop acts use gospel choirs as back up singers for a grand effect.
We can also consider the times when there was no electricity; people still created and enjoyed music. For example, folk music was passed on from generations through word of mouth.
In conclusion, I feel that popular music could be electronically unplugged but may not be as successful or required as we are a society that has grown so accustomed to technology.