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.