Research: Popular Music Theory

                                                       Popular music theory

There are many theories around music videos that I will be discussing throughout the post. Popular is the masses being able to relate and the genre usually being pop that relates to our lifestyle.

Popular culture describe the life style and tastes of the majority of young people. It is consumed  by  non-elite and non-bourgeoisie group, such as working class. The main focus and ideas are targeted to the mainstream culture .

Popular culture is chosen based on the taste of ordinary people rather than bourgeoisie, values, ideas arts,entertainment , belief , customs and social behaviour.

Everyone can understand popular culture.For example band such as One direction can be easily understood because their hairstyle a lot of male would want to follow their style popular culture is around us its hard for the audience to not follow what their favourite artist are wearing, so that they can also buy exactly what their are consuming.


Popular culture is mainly aimed at teenagers because they can persuade their family to buy the brands,

• Smartphones 
• Games 
• Fashion 
• Social media plays a massive role within popular culture 
• Hairstyle are now come coming back due to popular culture.

Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony:

Gramci- introduces the concept of Hegemony.This occurs when ruling class values and ideas are dominates the society this effects everything we see. The control of media can influence things such as what shows get aired or cancelled and the degree to which television station covers or does not cover certain news stories. which results in the audience all thinking the same and not challenging cultural dominant ideologies. This had been challenged through people able self publish music  format such as Sound cloud, you tube, owner-fellowship which is easier to access by consumers. all these aspects are reduced by 'hegemony of large corporation .

 

Frankfurt School

 Frankfurt school believe that popular music is the end product of a production line where everything sound similar.An industry that exploits the mass population for profit and social control , in the hope that they accept a certain ideology about the world they are leaving in.The music industry promotes absorption, everything about these pop stars becomes commodity;clothes, images likes and dislikes etc which implies that pop star lifestyles has bought into.

Ardorno was German sociologist, philsopher and musicologist. He was leading member of Frankfurt school of critical theory where he argued in 1903-69 that capitalism fed people with products of a culture industry''.The opposite of 'true art to keep the passively satisfied and apathetic (no interest).

Ardorno argued that the' culture industry operated in the same way as other manufacturing.
 As relation to popular culture - These features are particularly true in the popular music products are commodites to be sold to an audience who believe that they are consuming ' true emotions. all Rock, Hip hop, pop, heavy metal , rap. are standardised  which are interchangeable from one song to another, and they all sing about the same types of lifestyle.The effect of standardsation are offten hidden to by 'frills' that are put within a song to disguise that sound between popular music and serius music ( classics) plays to pleasures of the imagination offering engagement. which popular music makes everyone to think the same.

Birmingham School :
Birmingham school was a  cultural theory. One of the most famous and influential forms of cultural studies intially under the influence of Marxism. with  the centre for contemporary   cultural studies in Birmingham.considered as a more modern school of throughout that challenged some of what the Frankfurt school and Adorno suggested about ' popular culture ' they evaluated the effects and popular culture representations on their audience. audiences are not as passive as suggested, there is some engagement by consumers about what they like and don't like. The Birmingham school defends the right of individuals.

Richard hebdige 
Hebdige suggests that Adorno's  ideas are very pessimistic and dismissive of mass audiences as passive and easily manipulated. consumption is an active process in which different audiences have different readings into the same cultural products.The audience are free to resist the power of large products to consume. often then the audience constructing themselves as distinct from mainstream culture =Subcultures. Major companies will try to and cater for this too and create products  that sub cultures will consume.The audiences then have to decide whether to consume these products or whether to resist them further.Audiences are therefore more active in popular culture consumption.

Conclusion   

All these theories about popular culture are unique in their own as they offers their a broad viewpoint. However the Birmingham school is more appealing as it suggest that consumers have more of a saying in what they prefer.I agree with this theory as its modern as well compared to the other theories.