Week 11 - Does The Music Industry Create The Market?

In my opinion, the music industry definitely does create the market. If there was no music industry there wouldn’t be a market, end of, fact. However, it can be argued that if it wasn’t for the market, there would be no music industry. However, I would argue with this, as I would say that there could still be a music industry without a market. Although it could be argued nobody would have heard music so wouldn’t know what it was, it could still be possible for people to play instruments, however, it literally is impossible to have a market without an industry. It would be absurd to suggest there could be a market to something that doesn’t exist. So overally, I would definitely say that the music industry does create its market.

week 10 - mix mag review

The magazine is very picture orientated, although it does also consist of a vast amount of text. It is clearly made to appeal to its own specific audience, dance music fans, and no one else really. I dont believe anyone else would enjoy reading about dance music and seeing pictures of dance acts if they werent interested in that. Another notable thing about this magazine is that it consists of a large amount of advertisments. Theodore Petersons belief was that the modern day magazine has rose to a big level because of the growth of advertising, and in this magazine they go with this theory. They use absolutely loads of adverts to fill their pages, and to also make money. Overall i would say the magazine is well presented and written, but only really for people who are interested in the subject area it covers, and it doesnt appeal to anyone else in the slightest.

week 9 - are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

I think that using blackness and whiteness as a concept when studying popular music is wrong, as certain types of music shouldn’t be associated just with one type of person. It is true that a lot of rap music and R & B music is associated with black people, and pop and indie is generally associated with caucasians, but this doesn’t have to necessarily be the way. There are many examples of people who have broken this mould, Eminem and Kele Okereke of bloc party naming two of many. They prove that certain music doesn’t have to be associated with the colour of people, and associating a colour with a certain type of music is purely generalizing, because people assume that because they do indie music, they will be white, or because the are an R & B artist they are automatically going to be black. To conclude, I would say that blackness and whiteness are useful concepts in the study of popular music, although the proof is in the pudding that types of music don’t have to involve people of certain skin colour in order to have success.

week 8 - Are subcultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

Sub-cultures consist of many different people from different backgrounds, all with unique personalities, so I think it is unfair to generalise that one whole subculture is purely a sign of revolt or an expression of style. However, I think some people join in with certain subcultures because of these reasons. For example, the chav phase that has recently come about is a prime example of a number of people who are involved because it is a way to revolt. A lot of people look down on chavs as violant thugs, and so this spurs some people on to be part of this sub-culture in a bid to revolt. However, I think it is unfair to look at a whole sub-culture as everyone joining it to revolt or as an expression of style. To conclude, I think some people do join subcultures in a bid to revolt or as an expression of style, like many mods, however, I believe it is wrong to tar a whole culture with the same brush.