Research: Popular music theory

Popular Music Theory 

Introduction: 

Theories created by popular theorists are particularly important when learning about the music industry as their research gives the audience an insight into why certain decisions or characteristics associated with music videos are made. Theorists are also knowledgeable and have a great understanding about the topic they have researched, therefore, their theory is likely to be useful and effective. I will be drawing on the 'Popular culture' theory, Antonio Gramsci's Hegemony theory, the Frankfurt school, Theodor Adorno's theory, the Birmingham School, and Dick Hebdige's theory. Each theory has a unique understanding, although some theorists have similar opinions regarding 'popular culture'. Each theorist clarifies how the music industry is perceived from their perspectives, as they identify the division in class and how this has an impact on society. 

• Popular culture: 

Popular culture is the understanding of ideas and attitudes of the mainstream culture in society which has an influence upon the audience. Popular culture become mainstream in the 1980's and is said to be followed by working class citizens also known as 'The Masses', through media such as music, arts, films and fashions which are all platforms for popular culture in today's society. Whereas, the middle class citizens in society follow 'true art' and supposedly look down on the masses. This is linked to the music industry as the media promotes artists and their songs in particular ways, in which the masses take on board and therefore agree with. For example, Michael Jackson was highly regarded in the music industry and was portrayed as the 'King of Pop' in the media, which led to the masses believing this, and as a result, they perceive Michael jackson as the 'King of Pop' despite his death and the popularity of other pop artists. This proves that popular culture exists in society and within the music industry.

• Theodor Adorno:

Adorno was a german sociologist known for his critical theory of society. He suggests that popular culture refers to standardised production to manipulate mass society into passivity, also claiming that pseudo individualisation is present in the media, for example, chart singles always include the same, mainstream artists with similar songs promoting similar themes and always from particular genres, such as Dance, Soul, Pop, contemporary R&B etc in the 'Top 10'. This results in niche artists and genres being excluded, with genres such as alternative, classical and Rock etc not being listened to by a mainstream audience. Adorno recognises the distinction in society between 'true art' and 'popular culture', identifying that 'true art' is at the top of the hierarchy and includes music from niche genres such as classical, opera and jazz and involves activities such as attending galleries and museums. 'True art' is associated with the bourgeoisie, which are the social class who's traditions matter most, as they appreciate 'true art', in comparison to 'popular culture' which is associated with the masses who do not understand what true art is, due to not having access to these forms of entertainment. This occurs as a result of the media's power, as they are able to influence the 'The Masses' in the way they portray music, entertainment etc, allowing them to think and adapt to the 'Popular Culture'.  

• Frankfurt School:

The 'Frankfurt School' refers to a group of German-American theorists who developed powerful analyses of the changes in Western capitalist societies that occurred since the classical theory of Marx. The school proposed the ‘Effects’ model, which considered society to be composed of isolated individuals who were gullible to media messages, they visualised the media as a ‘hypodermic syringe' suggesting that the contents of the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs without question, highlighting that the audience is purely passive.This was also a result of there being no internet working at the same rapid pace as today, which meant that music and other forms of media was more controlled by the social elites as they had no other choice and was unable to argue otherwise. Frankfurt school theorists included Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno who both responded to the conflict theory using it as a platform to enlighten and emancipate people. 

Horkheimer and Adorno focused on Hollywood as a particularly glaring example of this phenomenon. In its attempt to produce a profit, Hollywood pumps out an endless stream of movies, all classified according to the exact tastes of particular groups, ensuring the viewer has to exert next to no mental energy in understanding the film. Whilst there are differences in the content of each film, these differences amount to merely pseudo-individualism, that serves to mask the fact that the style and form of the film is identical to all others; all differences, such as variations in plot, character type etc, are simply superficial imitations of individuality that mask the fundamental uniformity of all its products. Studios also spend enormous amounts promoting ‘bigger better’ films, new bands, a new star, but rather than these differences in fact it is the underlying structural uniformity which is the ‘really meaningful content' of the film.

• Antonio Gramsci:

Antonio Gramsci was a leading Marxist thinker who used the term hegemony to denote the predominance of one social class over others. Hegemony is the way that those in power maintain it. Dominant ideologies are considered hegemonic, power in society is maintained by constructing ideologies which tend to be promoted by the mass media. For example, the media is likely to control what is broadcasted to viewers, what shows are censored and what shows are banned. As a result, many musicians self publish their music and video on sites that are widely accessible avoiding the media. In comparison to before, it is argued that broadcasting companies no longer hold hegemony, although they attempt to regain it by using new technologies, instead the people hold hegemony. Artists also sing about certain morals values and ideologies which are all created by what the social elites think are suitable for our society, which is an indirect idea that we as the audience accept because we accept listening to the music, as we are unaware of hegemony. The media want us to believe certain things, which is not as effective through music. Artists also promote similar things through their music, for example, artists such as Michael Buble and Band Aid who sing christmas songs, promote the themes of festivity and christmas throughout their songs as a form of differentiating between cultures.

• Birmingham school: 

Stuart hall who was a cultural theorist and sociologist attended the Birmingham school where he created his theory which was revolved around issues regarding hegemony and cultural studies, taking a post gramascianstance. His theory also included encoding and decoding:

• Encoding- The process by which a text is constructed by its producers
• Decoding- The way in which an audience reads, understands and interprets a text, Spectators will decode the text in a different way.

      It based on how they interpret music for active audiences, as they believe producers which are the bourgeoisie encode messages within their music which is evident through the repetition in music and lyrics. However the way in which the working class audience receive and interpret the message differs.

• Dick Hebdige:

Hebdige's main focus was on subcultures which are significant in the media industry. He argued that consumption is an active process with differences in audiences' social and ideological construction leading to different readings of the same cultural products. He believed that the audience have a choice of whether to resist the power of large companies by finding alternative products to consume. This leads to the audience recognising themselves as different from the mainstream culture becoming subcultures. Companies attempt to assimilate this resistance attempting to provide products which these subcultures are more likely to consume. This results in the audience deciding whether to accept these products or to resit them. Certain artists also reflect subcultural values in the way they present themselves, which is supported by their niche genre of music, which are likely to appeal to a niche, subcultural audience. For example, 'Nivarna' are a rock band, who sing 'Alternative Rock' and 'Grunge' music, therefore, appeal more to the rock subculture. However, the media are more aware that subcultures are forming more commonly within society and are more valued, therefore, they promote niche artists more, by advertising their music and making them more recognised. For example, X Factor contestant, Ben Haenow, who sang songs form the rock genre, did not appeal to a mainstream audience, however, managed to win the competition, highlighting the power of subcultural artists and audiences.

• Conclusion: 

Overall, each theory holds significance as they individually have different viewpoints which all develop from the Marxist theory. They all clarify the division in society and in the music industry, as the working class are portrayed as being 'too stupid' as we absorb the information that we are fed by the media and follow the popular culture, whereas, the middle class citizens are portrayed as intelligent as they believe in true art which is influenced by their upbringing and their hobbies which differ from the working classes. I disagree with the 'Frankfurt School' theory as I do not believe that the audience are passive, absorbing everything they are fed by the media, instead I believe that the audience are active and are able to decide if they agree or disagree with the information they are being presented with. I believe that the theory of popular culture has truth in it as the mainstream values that the media portrays is followed by the working class citizens, and the mainstream artists that the music industry highly regards influences the working classes opinions. This is evident through the use of media platforms and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which highlights  popular culture, as the working class audience comment their thoughts and opinions which suggests that they agree with the values that the media presents. In relation to the popular culture, within my music video I will represent my artist as following the conventions that  'the masses' are familiar with, as my music video will be targeted at the working class audience, due to them being the audience that listen to 'popular culture' in comparison to the middle class audience who listen to niche genres of music such as classical and opera,  which they perceive as 'true art'. By ensuring that I follow the popular culture and make my artist look like existing mainstream artists such as Rihanna, Drake, Britney Spears, Beyonce etc, will enable my music video to gain popularity and allow the 'the masses' to form mainstream values and opinions about it. Therefore, I will ensure that I follow the popular culture theory by making my music video conventional and appealing to the working class audience.