MUSI 2007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Art Music, Bourgeoisie, American Popular Music
9 May 2018
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Issues in Popular Music
LECTURE 1 - May 8, 2018
>What is Popular Music?
Fras Birrers 4-Part Definition (1985)
1. Normative: pop music is inferior type
2. Negative: pop music not something else (usually folk or art music)
3. Sociological: pop music associated w particular social group
4. Techologico-economic: pop music disseminated by mass media or mass market
-earliest stage of modern commodification of pop music is print – traced to Tin Pan Alley
-occupied space b/w folk & art music
- lo ad high ulture
-Low/Folk Musical Culture – agrarian and proletarian poor oral dissemination, simple, produced and
consumed outside of economic exchange
-High/Art Musical Culture – associated with higher classes (nobility, church, bourgeoisie), print &
professional performance dissemination, more complex, musical literacy required, produced &
consumed in conditions of economic exchange
-Popular Music – occupies space b/w high and low
- borrowed parodically from high and low
- African-American and other non-western styles superfiially adopted for oelty
- print and professional performance dissemination
- musical literacy required
Mass Culture - emerges w invention of recording, radio, film, mass dissemination
Pre-Mass Culture Popular Music – may be seen as growing from same source as folk
- music by and of the ppl
- much grew out and replaced local practices
Post-Mass Culture Popular Music – created by geographically distance professionals expressly for mass
consumption
Theodore Adorno - eer of the Frakfurt “hool of ultural theorists
(1903 – 1969) - broadly Marxist
-criticized capitals control over social life and inequalities
- Adorno and Horkheimer pioneered field of ritial theory
Key Concepts from Theodore Adoro;s O Popular Musi 1941
-cultural industries create forms of culture that are also commodities
-Structural Standardization – result of industry luxury production – standard AABA popular American
song form based on standard affective responses – based on simple natural music of nursery rhymes &
hymns
-familiarity increases chances of success maximizes profit
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Earliest stage of modern commodification of pop music is print traced to tin pan alley. Low/folk musical culture agrarian and proletarian poor oral dissemination, simple, produced and consumed outside of economic exchange. High/art musical culture associated with higher classes (nobility, church, bourgeoisie), print & professional performance dissemination, more complex, musical literacy required, produced & consumed in conditions of economic exchange. Popular music occupies space b/w high and low. Much grew out and replaced local practices. African-american and other non-western styles (cid:862)superfi(cid:272)ially(cid:863) adopted for (cid:374)o(cid:448)elty. Emerges w invention of recording, radio, film, mass dissemination. Pre-mass culture popular music may be seen as growing from same source as folk. Post-mass culture popular music created by geographically distance professionals expressly for mass consumption. Theodore adorno - (cid:373)e(cid:373)(cid:271)er of the (cid:862)fra(cid:374)kfurt (cid:272)hool(cid:863) of (cid:272)ultural theorists (1903 1969) Key concepts from theodore ador(cid:374)o;s (cid:862)o(cid:374) popular musi(cid:272)(cid:863) 1941. Cultural industries create forms of culture that are also commodities.
