Week 5~ Can Popular Music Ever Really Be Unplugged?

A common misconception of the word unplugged is to believe that it is acoustic and that unplugged only refers to the instrument. While this may be considered, it goes against the definition of popular music as already discussed which is the predicament. In modern terms, music needs electronics to become popular, whether in the song or to help broadcast it; exceptions to this rule include gospel choir and possibly classical music in certain situations. In the past before the introduction of amplifiers and microphones in the late 19th and early 20th Century then it is possible to say that popular music could have been achieved “unplugged” but in today’s society, it is too much of a vital tool in introducing new types of music. Without electronics in music there never would have been the discovery of different types of singing such as crooning. Electronics are also needed to broadcast a product to a larger audience, without that the music wouldn’t get heard and so would not become popular so in my personal opinion, popular music can never be unplugged.

Week 4~ What is World Music & Why Does It Exist?

There is no direct definition of what World music is as everyone has their own opinion regarding it. People can enter their local music store and see a display telling them what the music store believes is World music just because they don’t speak the same languages but does that make it World music? My personal interpretation is that it’s a form of music that reaches the entire global audience. Music that may be produced in Mali or Jamaica for example that reaches outside just those countries. Modern music is actually more cultural than ever before with artists using various cultural aspects of other countries to promote their work e.g. Newton Faulkner using the sitar. The term World music only exists to stereotype ideals from a country that isn’t our own and until this is changed the term World music will be forever blurred. All music has the potential to be “world music” but the terms are always changing.

Week 3~ Is popular music a mass produced commodity or a genuine art form?

It’s a fair assumption to say that when music is first produced it is not with the belief that it is going to make lots of money and be world famous; instead it is created as a thought process from someone trying to create art. Where then is this line crossed and music becomes a mass produced commodity? Personally I feel that music is an art form to a certain degree even if it means taking a song that already exists and changing it i.e. Frank Sinatra and The Sex Pistols versions of “My Way”. A song created slightly differently to another still makes it a different song therefore escaping the concept of mass produced commodity. Theodor Adorno believed that popular music was a commodity due to the way it was produced differently from classical music (Adorno’s favourite) though this is not valid as all music is produced slightly differently. It is an art form as it is still someone creating an art regardless of what shape it takes.