CMNS 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pete Seeger, Musicology, Ethnocentrism

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Communication
• Course: CMNS 321
• Professor: Vincent Andrisani

Document Summary

Oftentimes, popular music is thought of as itself a genre. The idea of "pop music" is that it"s comprised of catchy, three minute tunes sung by altercative teenagers or twenty-something. The repertoire of these artist consistent of songs that are often upbeat, danceable, and included themes that resonate with a youthful demographic. Popular music is any music that"s commonly liked and approved by the general public. Music that"s widely disseminated through a variety of media technologies: radio, tv, internet, and through dedicated audio media (cds, lps, etc. ) Its dominant characteristic is socio-economic popular music is mass produced, often times with a particular market in mind. In the past, the study of popular music was not considered a serious academic pursuit. It was thought that the study of music should be limited to "serious" music alone. But this is not only elitist and ethnocentric, it"s also illogical. Popular music captured the attention from academics working in the discipline of musicology.