MUSI 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Max Horkheimer, Justin Bieber, Theodor W. Adorno
MUSI 1002
Issues in Popular Music
May 8th, 2018
Introduction: What Is Popular Music
Popular Music
- Platform to represent a culture, cross generation
- Fas Biee’s defiitio:
o Normative (what it is): popular music is an inferior type, music that is sonically
dense and lyrically complicated
▪ Ex. Beyoncé, play with music, image, and text
o Negatie What it’s ot: popula usi that’s ot like aythig else folk, at
usi, et…, usi that is sophistiated
o Sociological: popular music is associated with/produced by a particular social
group,
▪ Too broad, no longer useful
o Technologico-economic: popular music is disseminated by mass media and/or in
a mass market
Print dissemination
- occurred as early as late 15th century
- Even before print, traded manuscripts and paid scribes
- Tin Pan Alley
- Occupied space between folk (low) and art (high) music
o Low, folk musical culture:
▪ Agrarian and later proletarian
▪ Not written, orally passed down
▪ Typically simpler, no harmonic complexity or complex chords, simple
orientation
▪ Produced and consumed outside of economic exchange
▪ Ex. Blue Skies – Irving Berlin, Josephine Baker recording, early commercial
music
▪ Immersive
o High, art musical culture:
▪ Associated with higher classes (nobility, church, bourgeoisie)
▪ Print and professional performance dissemination
▪ Musical/cultural literacy required, more complex
▪ Produced and consumed in condition of economic exchange
▪ Ex. Art of Fugue 1 – JS Bach, composed by someone who is paid,
produced and sold in a commercial process
▪ Exclusive
o Popular music
▪ Contains elements of both, occasionally parodically and parasitically
▪ Positioned itself in opposite to high culture often in problematic ways
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Document Summary
Platform to represent a culture, cross generation. F(cid:396)a(cid:374)s bie(cid:396)(cid:396)e(cid:396)"s defi(cid:374)itio(cid:374): normative (what it is): popular music is an inferior type, music that is sonically dense and lyrically complicated, ex. Occurred as early as late 15th century. Even before print, traded manuscripts and paid scribes. Blue skies irving berlin, josephine baker recording, early commercial music. Immersive: high, art musical culture, associated with higher classes (nobility, church, bourgeoisie, print and professional performance dissemination, musical/cultural literacy required, more complex, produced and consumed in condition of economic exchange, ex. Emerges with invention of recording, radio, film, and mass print. Pre mass culture: growing from the same sources as folk, by the people, of the people, grew out, replaced certain local practices. Post mass culture: created by often geographically distant professionals for mass consumption, ex. Elvis, created a market for himself beyond his music (movies, clothing, (cid:373)e(cid:396)(cid:272)ha(cid:374)dise, et(cid:272) (cid:895) Creation of symbolic value (over functional) drives need.
