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.