Why study popular music?

1. MED322
popular
music
cultures

2. About
the
module
• This
module
draws
upon
student’s
cri;cal
knowledge
of
popular
culture
(some
have
studied
this
at
stage
1
and/or
2)

3. About
the
module
• Examine
the
rela;onship
between
various
musical,
cultural,
social,
economic
and
technological
factors
in
popular
music
history
• Theories
of
popular
culture
are
developed
and
related
to
the
produc;on,
consump;on
and
enjoyment
of
popular
music.
• These
theories
are
related
to
socio-­‐poli;cal
changes
in
society.
• Furthermore
specific
musical
genres
and
performers
are
examined
with
these
concepts
and
theories
in
mind

4. About
the
module
• Examine
the
rela;onship
between
various
musical,
cultural,
social,
economic
and
technological
factors
in
popular
music
history
• Theories
of
popular
culture
are
developed
and
related
to
the
produc;on,
consump;on
and
enjoyment
of
popular
music.
• These
theories
are
related
to
socio-­‐poli;cal
changes
in
society.
• Furthermore
specific
musical
genres
and
performers
are
examined
with
these
concepts
and
theories
in
mind

5. About
the
module
• Examine
the
rela;onship
between
various
musical,
cultural,
social,
economic
and
technological
factors
in
popular
music
history
• Theories
of
popular
culture
are
developed
and
related
to
the
produc;on,
consump;on
and
enjoyment
of
popular
music.
• These
theories
are
related
to
socio-­‐poli;cal
changes
in
society.
• Furthermore
specific
musical
genres
and
performers
are
examined
with
these
concepts
and
theories
in
mind

6. About
the
module
• Examine
the
rela;onship
between
various
musical,
cultural,
social,
economic
and
technological
factors
in
popular
music
history
•
Theories
of
popular
culture
are
developed
and
related
to
the
produc;on,
consump;on
and
enjoyment
of
popular
music.
• These
theories
are
related
to
socio-­‐poli;cal
changes
in
society.
• Furthermore
specific
musical
genres
and
performers
are
examined
with
these
ideas
in
mind

8. Assessment
• The
module
is
comprised
of
2
different
assessment
modes:
1. a
short
porNolio
of
published
case
studies;
and
2. an
end
of
module
essay.
• All
assessment
material
must
be
submiPed
in
both
physical
and
digital
forms.
Non-­‐submission
of
one
of
these
can
result
in
a
fail
grade.

9. Assessment
1:
porNolio
case
studies
• Students
are
required
to
produce
2
case
studies,
one
on
an
ar#st
of
their
choice
and
another
on
a
musical
genre
of
their
choice.
These
are
to
be
no
longer
than
1000
words
in
length.
These
case
studies
are
to
be
published
on
the
module
website
hPp://pop-­‐music-­‐cult.com

10. Assessment
2:
essay
• Op#on
1:
wri5en
essay
• Student
are
expected
to
iden;fy
their
own
cri;cal
essay
ques;ons
in
conjunc;on
with
staff
members.
A
digital
record
of
the
agreed
;tle
is
essen;al.
Student
must
seek
approval
for
their
essay
before
the
end
of
Week
12.

11. Assessment
2:
essay
• Op#on
2
:
audio/video
essay
• Students
to
iden;fy
a
ques;on.
However,
instead
of
a
wriPen
essay
students
can
aPempt
either
an
audio
or
a
video
essay
that
answers
the
ques;on.
This
op;on
is
only
open
to
students
with
a
proven
track
record
in
making
audio/video
work
(ie
students
from
a
media
produc;on
background).
Addi;onally,
the
work
must
be
the
solely
that
of
the
student
submiWng
it
(ie
no
group
produc;ons).
Finally,
while
audio/video
footage
may
be
sourced
from
third-­‐party
produc;ons,
it
must
be
clearly
iden;fied
and
limited
in
use
(ie
complaint
with
fair
use/fair
dealing
laws).

12. Deadlines
• The
deadlines
for
the
finished
case
study
feature
ar;cles
are:
– case
study
1
(ar;st)
–
30th
October
2014
by
3pm
– case
study
2
(genre)
–
27th
November
2014
by
3pm
• The
deadline
for
the
finished
essay
is
:
– Thursday
8th
January
2015,
by
3pm

13. Weekly
sessions
Week
Session
1a
Studying
popular
music:
why
and
how
1b
Rock
and
roll
and
the
popular
music
consumer
2a
I
got
the
blues:
American
black
popular
music
1920-­‐1970
2b
Music
and
the
American
counter-­‐culture
3a
Soul,
funk
and
protest
3b
Afrobeat:
the
poli;cs
of
Fela
Ku;
4a
Roots,
rocks,
reggae:
the
poli;cs
of
Bob
Marley
4b
Black
Bri;sh
music

14. Weekly
sessions
Week
Session
5a
From
progressive
to
art
rock:
cultural
capital
and
musical
intellectualism
5b
Heavy
metal,
heavy
;mes
6a
Blank
genera;on:
the
history
of
punk
6b
Post-­‐punk,
or
rip
it
up
and
start
again
7a
Electric
dreams:
disco
and
dancing
7b
From
the
street:
the
birth
of
hip-­‐hop
9a
From
gangster
rap
to
conspicuous
consump;on
9b
Gender
trouble:
from
rap
to
r&b

15. Weekly
sessions
Week
Session
10a
Electronic music production: technology, technique and talent
10b
Moral
panics,
dance
music
and
rave
culture
11a
Branding
Bri;shness:
Britpop
11b
Women
in
pop
music
12a
The
boy
(band)s
are
back
in
town
12b
Englishness
and
folk

16. Soundtrack
to
our
lives

22. Nicki
Minaj
–
‘Anaconda’
(2014)

23. Nicki
Minaj
–
‘Anaconda’
(2014)

27. Des;ny's
Child
–
‘Bootylicious’
(2001)

28. Nicki
Minaj
–
‘Lookin
Ass’
(2014)

29. Sir
Mix
a
Lot
–
‘Baby
Got
Back’
(1992)

30. iChris;na
Aguilera
featuring
Redmani
-­‐
‘Dirrty’
(2002)i

31. Britney
Spearsi
-­‐
‘Till
The
World
Ends’
April
2011

32. SALEM
–
‘
Till
The
World
Ends’
May
2011
Slowed
down
version
of
Britney
Spearsi
-­‐
‘Till
The
World
Ends’
Features
strippers
and
night
vision
ar;llery
strikes

36. Popular
culture
1. Well-­‐liked
by
many
2. The
opposite
of
high
culture
3. Mass
culture
(commercial)
4. Of
the
people
5. Hegemonic
(a
site
of
struggle)
6. Postmodern
culture
(blurring
boundaries
between
commercial
and
authen;c)

37. I
was
there
in
1974
at
the
first
Suicide
prac;ces
in
a
lok
in
New
York
City.
I
was
working
on
the
organ
sounds
with
much
pa;ence.
I
was
the
first
guy
playing
Dak
Punk
to
the
rock
kids.
I
played
it
at
CBGB's.
Everybody
thought
I
was
crazy.
We
all
know.
But
I'm
losing
my
edge
to
bePer-­‐
looking
people
with
bePer
ideas
and
more
talent.
And
they're
actually
really,
really
nice.
I
heard
you
have
a
compila;on
of
every
good
song
ever
done
by
anybody.
Every
great
song
by
the
Beach
Boys.
All
the
underground
hits.
All
the
Modern
Lovers
tracks.
LCD
Soundsystem
–
I’m
Losing
My
Edge
-­‐
2002

38. Why
Study
Popular
Music?

39. Why
Study
Popular
Music?
• researching
facts
and
exis;ng
theories
• using
theories
to
develop
tools
for
analysing
texts
and
cultural
prac;ces
• apply
the
theories
to
understand
the
facts
and
using
the
facts
to
test
the
theories
• developing
ideas/theories
of
your
own

40. PuWng
the
‘disco’
in
discourse

45. “the
charts
not
only
cons;tute
a
prac;ce
which
assumes
that
commercial
success
=
cultural
success,
but
they
define
popular
music
as
being
music
that
is
commercially
successful.
Equally
the
style
of
the
chart
shows
defines
popular
music
as
new
and
exci;ng”
(2013:
xiii)

46. • ‘music’
Phil
Hilfiker
• ‘Music
in
my
ears’
Rob
Ellis
• ‘
I’m
only
popular
on
the
internet’
duncan
c
• ‘Cultural
theory
and
popular
culture’
Rob
JewiP
• ‘Music’
Sameer
Vasta
• ‘Disco
Ball’
Rosie
Rogers
• ‘crea;ve
commons
-­‐Franz
Patzig-­‐’
A.
Diez
Herrero
46