CMNS 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Simon Frith, Sociomusicology, Musicology
11 Dec 2016
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CMNS 321 LECTURE #1 SEPT 7, 2016-09-07
• The study of popular music →from personal taste to collective experience
• Popular music →thought of as itself as a genre music
• Catchy, 3 minute tunes sung by attractive teenagers/ 20’s
• Upbeat, danceable, youthful demographic, clubs
1)Pop music is any music that is commonly liked by the general public
- can be any style/genre
2)Music that is widely disseminated through media technologies
→ radio, tv, internet, dedicated audio media (CD)
3)Dominant characteristic is socio-economic
→mass produced, particular market in mind
CULTURE, TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMY → converge in popular music
• In the past, study of popular music was not as serious academic pursuit
• Study of popular music→ (idea) “serious” music alone
• Doesn’t make sense
• Not only elitist + ethnocentric, illogical
• Limits studies
• Popular music captured the attention from academics working in the discipline of
musicology
• Problem: we don’t read popular music through music notes
• Late 1960’s-1970’s, English lit departments became interested in popular music
• Researchers analyzed work of folk singers ex. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez
• Lyrically had important message
• Problem→ don’t get beyond the lyrics
• Lyrics → not poetry, not just words on page
• Interpretation of audience
• Approach was limited b/c it took interest in lyrics at the expense
• Both musicological + lyrical analyzes consider music as a txt to be analyzed
• Former in terms of notation, latter in terms of music
• =too narrow in how they study pop music
• began to take up the extra-textual elements of music (fashion, style, culture, sound)
• locate within broader socio-political, economic, cultural + technological trends
• critical theory, political economy, feminist studies, critical race studies, media studies
(human sciences study these)
• Simon Frith (1946-)= British sociomusicologist + rock critic
• There is a need for a sociological approach to the study of music
• It creates our understanding of what popularity is → popular music
• What we listen to makes us who we are
• Music is a part of everyday life (not a reflection)
• Media formats change, economy changes, social + political conditions change, people
change
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