Week 11 - Does the Music Industry create the Market?

It is argued that the music industry creates the market. It has a lot of control over what they sell and how to make a profit. Hence, the industry will only promote a music artist which is consumer friendly. Once a band becomes a success and of popular demand, their image becomes liked. Then the industry will take a new band and formulate them around those who are of success (already liked), therefore several bands at a time will sound and be very similar. For instance boy bands, part of the music industry produced a band and when it was discovered that it was a hit they all followed suit. These industries are in completion with other industries so need to create diversity against their rivals and therefore aim their music and genres for a certain market. However there is in favour that the audience create the market, as music is in their best interest and they will not busy a record that they do not want. So therefore it is possible for a music industry to flop as it is the consumer who decides what is popular, and they create the market.

Week 11 - Does the music industry create the market?

It is argued that the music industry creates the market. It has a lot of control over what they sell and how to make a profit. Hence, the industry will only promote a music artist which is consumer friendly. Once a band becomes a success and of popular demand, their image becomes liked. Then the industry will take a new band and formulate them around those who are of success (already liked), therefore several bands at a time will sound and be very similar. For instance boy bands, part of the music industry produced a band and when it was discovered that it was a hit they all followed suit. These industries are in completion with other industries so need to create diversity against their rivals and therefore aim their music and genres for a certain market. However there is in favour that the audience create the market, as music is in their best interest and they will not busy a record that they do not want. So therefore it is possible for a music industry to flop as it is the consumer who decides what is popular, and they create the market.

Week 10 - Review of Mixmag in the language style it is written in

Mixmag has about 37 adverts in a monthly mag which holds roughly about 154 pages. The majority of the ads are music based, and never is seen an advert in Mixmag which is advertising a product such as a car, alcoholic drink, or clothing brand much like other mags do. The type that you’ll find are up and coming festival ads, clubs across the UK, club events, compilation albums, and singles. Visibly Mixmag have a strict advertising policy going on. A lot of the content has interviews with artists and DJs, big talks on raves, gigs and festivals in hand, even a section consisting of several pages long about fashion. The mag has info on all the top dance and trance clubs across London town with their address and contact details to get hold of them. In all, Mixmag is for the hardcore dance fan, or even someone who is in the business, whether it be DJing or promotions. It doesn’t dispute the fact that girls cannot grab this mag but primarily it seems to be situated for an audience of males 25 plus, seeing as a percentage of more males take part in and have more of an interest in this genre of music. To improve Mixmag more can be done on the music that is more commercial and known to an amateur dance fan as well as having that of the underground scene, then those will not feel daunted to pick up such a big mag and read it.

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

“Pop music has always depended upon the interaction between white and black traditions.” (Hatch and Millward, 1987)”

Blackness and whiteness can be seen as a way to define the origins of specific types of music. Few genres of music can withhold black and white tendencies, while some genres are more commonly known as owning either white or black tendencies. It has been made even more difficult to determine whether a genre is black or white based seeing as many songs have be written by one race but performed by another, i.e. Little Junior Parker first sung Mystery Train being a black artist, while Elvis Presley who was white took the song in later years for himself and it soon appealed to the masses. Thus rock actually being associated with black artists before hand. As countries are becoming multicultural and immigration increasing, popular music is becoming very culturally diverse, despite stereotypes of what music is black (i.e. Hip Hop) and what is white (i.e. Classical) still sticking in societies frameworks. Whatever race, anyone can perform a musical genre of their taste, and is done so (i.e. Black lead singer in Indie Punk band ‘Bloc Party’) which means styles of blackness and whiteness seem to be integrating.

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

Stanley Cohen saw subculture as being a threat to social values and interests by a person or group of people. A significant sign of revolt can be shown by the skinhead subculture, by being linked with criminal activity, portraying themselves as working class via dress sense in Ben Sherman shirts, tatty jeans, and boots, additionally they listened to music of the ska genre. Others will see these people as being harmless and just expressing their style by costume and grammar used as a way of reacting to the political goings on at the time. Additionally Punks expression of style was distinguished and exposed through lyric in song, clothing, and even art work. ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Sex Pistols saw an album cover which revealed much response due to its shocking nature as they aimed to outrage society with behaviour. The 70s strikes can be an excuse to their revolt, while others thought they were a ‘creative mess’. Thus, subcultures can be taken up as being both revolt and expression

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

Popular music can change political stance by motivating and bringing awareness to the people. Some musical forms with their effects have had to be banned by the government as they were so powerful. Protest Songs for instance Red Wedge with The Red Flag, supporting the Labour Party in the 89 Elections, were used to enforce political movement. But their fail of winning shows how popular music isn’t always a force for political change. Even National Anthems which show a symbol of the country has political residence, being the reason why England v Ireland at Croke Park, Ireland didn’t want England’s anthem sung as last time both played at Croke Park, Ireland supporters were shoot. While Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday pushed barriers of segregation. However there is no factual evidence that such music has changed anything. This music is seen more as a soundtrack to the life at the time and its happenings, rather than making any political change. ‘Awareness’ campaigns (or as Shuker calls ‘conscious rock’) such as Band Aid can be seen as helping situations in third world countries by raising money, but there has been no long term solving of the problem, and on the other hand it helps the careers of the artists more so.

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

Its hard to say if Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the best way to save the music industry so what has to be taken into account is whether the music industry actually needs saving at all. DRM is utilised in order to protect the rights of artists’ music copyright (as well as other media forms such as film). This restriction helps in creating a fair usage of music in a legal form, which in turn allows artists and record companies do better regarding money and overall record success as more people are paying for their music. Although few sites allow for piracy to occur, such as Limewire, where illegal downloading takes place on a large file sharing basis online, therefore causing a problem for the industries financial status. And new networks can always be replaced once caught out and stopped i.e. Napster once closed down was soon replace with the likes of WinMX and Limewire. A positive to a lack in DRM is that it can lead to the purchasing of an artists music as consumers can sample the track online to know what it sounds like, for instance as iTunes does. Despite music being downloaded illegally, a correct compatibility with the right music player is still needed which can hold those downloaders at a disadvantage. DRM may not be the finest way to retain the music industry as long as a market for free downloads are available.