is the audience for popular music created by the music industry

the audience isn't created by the industry but because of the culture factory, the industry creates what the audience want. The industries aim is to maximize profits so when a band like boyzone became a huge success, the record labels utilized this formula and we've seen boybands like westlife and jls formed. but trends in popular music are not predictable enough to make the production line analogy viable.

the audience tell the industry what is hot and not but so do some artists who have the economic power to do so for example beyonce. she recorded her alum behind her managers back who was her dad then sacked him afterwards! but she ran to magazine and mtv diaries to help her promote her album so it reached her audience. So the industry doesn't create the audience they just use their opinions through polls and chart shows and use that to their advantage to make money

Review of Mixmag

Not to be funny but I wouldn’t spend my last £4.20 on anything other than Mixmag, its filled with 80% adverts with the latest fashion and gadgets to keep our artistic brain cells entertained and 20% news and reviews on the latest music, this isn’t uni so we shouldn’t be made to read too much! Mix is clubbers heaven with latest insight on the hottest venues and gigs and sizzling hot exclusives and to top it off, you get a free electrodubstep riot mix CD absolutely FREE, awesome! And for those who are always surfing the net, check out www.mixmag.net where you can download the freshest albums such as soul heaven, Prins Thomas and crash test, again! Absolutey FREE babynestly ! If the freeness doesn’t drag you in like your mum would drag you shopping to tesco, then i hdon’t know what would.

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

They are concepts related to popular music but they cannot be separated as popular music has always depended on the interaction between white and black traditions (Hatch & Milward). There’s also interaction in terms on Bhangra as they use traditional instruments (Dholak) with electric guitars and Punjabi.

“The rise and development of rock is the result of white people’s fascination with black music” (Shank) that’s why when Marvin Gaye sang ‘Yesterday’, Lenon and McCartney recorded a version of it.

But you still can’t look at popular music as black and white because 1) there’s no clear definition and 2) it denies others of certain feelings and situations. Elvis was poor and was brought up on gospel music but he isn’t black so it isn’t right to class music as black or white. You can’t trace music back to its routes because each genre grew and matured through different places and situations

Can popular music achieve genuine political change

It can be used to help political change but for the benefit of whom is a different question. In November 1985 Red Wedge were created to help the labour party advance in the 87 election but unfortunately they didn’t win and the band faded and disbanded in 1990. When it is used directly for political use the public may not take it seriously.
Longhurst second dimension is the connection between popular music and politics. Billie Holidays “strange fruit” was inspired by 1937 poem by Meerpol after seeing a picture of Leeching. The song didn’t have political intent which Ballinger speaks about but sparked the awareness of slavery.
When Bob Marley sang “Get up, stand up”, he wanted a political change but had to work alongside the capitalist economy to get his voice heard, this was a homogenised two way system so everyone got what they wanted so change was slowly made

Does the emergence of the digital download signal the end for the music industry ?

The industry was in trouble from 1962 when Philips made cassettes which were rigid, small and the sound quality was good. The BPI realised this threat and they campaigned against it. With the ability to listen to music personally since Marantz created the personal stereo then Sony introduced a version with headphones in 1979, people had the ability to record their music and listen to it without buying it on cassette. CD’s were invented in 1980 allowing 74 minutes of music which was more than cassettes. When Fraunrofer realised they could decrease the size of files without destroying the quality, MP3’s flew onto the market starting with SaeHan 1998 to the iPod 2001 which stored 1000 albums. Lessing breaks down file sharing into four types
1) A substitute for purchasing - this will threaten the industry cause people won’t buy anything anymore
2) To sample the music before buying - since music is a commodity, the buyer should be able to try before they buy
3) To access copyrighted material not being sold - the industry is threatening themselves since the material isn’t available so they have to download it.
4) To access non-copyrighted material

what is world music? what is it's function

World music is global and local music but as Farley said, defining these two words is a controversial thing. Local music is small scale but it promotes global music if the person is singing a song by Madonna or The Beetles, you cannot separate a local artists and a global song but that doesn’t make the artist global.
World music is always in English as the charts are dominated by mainly UK and US artists but they all sing in English because it’s a world known language and its function is to allow everyone worldwide to enjoy it .
American music is a global template and Shuker states its culture is imported into third world countries which waters down their culture but is also a sign on rebellion .
World music allows the creation and acceptance of local music for instance grime is now a global genre which derived from the already global genre hip hop and it’s still performed in English which contradicts Shuker’s point.

Is popular music a mass commodity or a genuine art form?

Popular music is a genuine art form because the amount of skill behind creating a piece of music is more complex than what people think. Art itself can be anything if you can justify why you call it art with artistic and creative reasons and popular music is creative and for it to be popular there must be a level of creativity put into its production for it to be so popular. Adorno was a Marxist and he argues that its baseless entertainment which stops us from realising how much control the ruling class have over our lives. Art is complex and requires skill not just in its creation but from the listener to interpret the message but popular music doesn’t carry this trait. It isn’t a commodity as it’s not consumed in the same way as chocolate you wouldn’t by the same version of Silent night by every artist that sings it you would buy your favourite version.

how useful is a production of culture perspective in understanding the birth of rock roll

The strengths of production is Petersons 6 factors especially law which tells us how ASCAP’s lack of respect for music led radio stations to play more Rock n Roll and since technology was advancing from the popularity of TV to the structure of the vinyl the available distribution outlets for the birth of Rock n Roll was more than enough. But it fails to explain why it was rock and roll that bloomed and not soul or blues or jazz music. The theory is solely concentrating on the how it came about but it doesn’t address why it was rock and roll. The theory is inaccurate also because if we look at the baby boom that caused the rise, WW2 ended in 1945 and Rock roll 1955 so their children would have been 9/10 which is not a teenager so we can’t assume it was down to the baby boom.

Is it reasonable to consider that rock and roll is male gendered?

I think rock and roll is male gendered because of socialization. Girls learn how to be feminine through their friends and family and they generally learn about make up dance and fashion. Frith and McRobbie call it cock rock which shows us that rock and roll is for men since they are the only ones with a ‘cock’ and its believed that the electric guitar is a visual extension of the male body which makes rock and roll male gendered since women don’t have this body part. We dont see many female guitarists because it isnt socially acceptable or attractive for a woman to act so manly. Mavis Bayton analysed trade magazines and the majority of guitarists were male. She said ‘Male fans buy guitars; female fans by a poster’ so even as a woman she believes that it is male gendered but because of socialization.

Can popular music ever be unplugged ?

I don’t think that popular music can ever be unplugged because there are too many elements of technology incorporated into music from its creation even though songs are written down they’re recorded in studios and recording started in 1898 because of Valdemar.
The release of a song is promoted through television, internet or radio adverts or interviews with the artists. And then these songs are Distributed either through CD’s which were first pressed in 1982 in Germany or download form, you could even catch their new single on such channels as MTV.
Even if we look at the reason why we have certain pieces of instrument, for example the microphone which was created in 1827 but used by Emile Berliner in 1876 to increase the voice on a telephone, we see that technology is linked to music from the start.

what is popular

there are a lot of different explanations for the word popular it can be used to describe many things for example culture, food and a person but in terms of music , popular music is any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time). Certain things are only classed as popular if they are liked by a lot of people. If we talk about popular culture, popular music is class as a popular item of popular culture but it is also classed as low culture because it isn’t part of high culture. Even though it is popular doesn’t mean it is the best type of music it is just the music that has been excluded from the elite class and left for anyone to enjoy