Before I share the topic "The Cultural Study of Popular Music" with you guys. Let me introduce myself first:>.
My name is Nikki Marie C. Yaon, you can call me "nikss" or "love" joke but ya I am 19 years of age and living in Minglanilla, Cebu.
I graduated in my elementary days from Calajo-an Elementary School, In Junior High School I was at Tulay National High School and I graduated my Senior High School at Montessori Academy of Southern Cebu Inc. Luckily, and grateful now that I am continuing my journey at Cebu Normal University for me to allow pursuing my studies.
So, no other chu2bells, the thing that you expect in my portfolio is you gain knowledge that there is a role in popular music that might we encounter and expect that you also know who is the person behind this cultural study of popular music.
FYI, numerous goals and fields of interest are pursued by cultural studies of popular music. First of all, the goal of cultural studies is to understand the social, political, and economic forces that influence popular music and how it affects society. It aims to investigate how popular music both reflects and occasionally challenges larger cultural identities, conventions, and power structures.
Cultural studies also seek to address issues of inclusion, diversity, and representation by analyzing popular music. It looks at how various communities, genres, and musicians are portrayed in the music business and how this affects how people view and feel about society as a whole. In addition, popular music cultural studies aim to examine the connections between popular music and other literary and cultural forms of expression.
Regarding career goals, researching the social and cultural aspects of popular music can be helpful in several domains, including academics, journalism, arts administration, and entertainment. It can improve one's analytical abilities, critical thinking, and cultural awareness, which opens doors for employment in the music and culture industries as academics, writers, researchers, teachers, or other professionals.
Let's start with a very interesting topic that you might like.
Before we go deep down into this topic, make sure to know who Simon Frith is.
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| Simon Frith (born 1946) is a British socio-musicologist and former rock critic who specializes in popular music culture.[2] He is Professor Emeritus of Music at University of Edinburgh. He is a renowned scholar in the field of popular music studies. His book, "The Cultural Study of Popular Music, " provides valuable insights into the significance and impact of popular music within society." |
The Cultural Study of Popular Music is a field of academic inquiry that focuses on the social and cultural significance of popular music.
This discipline emerged in the late 1960s amid growing interest in the role that popular music plays in shaping cultural identity, political activism, and everyday life.
The cultural study of popular music seeks to deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between music, culture, and society.
Popular music and identity: Popular music acts as a medium through which individuals construct and express their identities.
Cultural values and social change: It has the power to challenge dominant ideologies, provoke discussions, and promote social change.
Emotional and psychological impact: It may awaken various feelings, offer comfort in trying times, foster a sense of community, and act as a catharsis. Music can profoundly affect and connect with people on an emotional level, whether it's conveying happiness, sadness, anger, or nostalgia.
Social cohesion and community building: Popular music frequently promotes social unity and community development. People come together through concerts, festivals, and shared musical experiences, which promote a sense of community and shared identity.
Economic and commercial impact: Its commercialization and global circulation has transformed the music industry, creating avenues for artists, producers, promoters, and other professionals to thrive. However, this commercialization can also lead to issues of exploitation and inequalities within the industry.
Simon Frith (1987) argues that popular music has four social functions that account for its value and popularity in society.[8] Popular music:
- We enjoy popular music because of its use in answering questions of identity.
- To give us a way of managing the relationship between our public and private emotional lives.
- To shape popular memory, to organize our sense of time.
- Popular music is something possessed
- Examines several dimensions of creating music and how it is received in modern cultures.
- Refers to the actual act of creating, performing, and composing music.
- It encompasses various activities and skills, including playing instruments, singing, improvising, arranging, and writing music.
- Practice of music is a deeply personal and expressive endeavor
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| The first section of the book explores the idea of musical taste and how it relates to social class, making the case that socioeconomic backgrounds and cultural circumstances have a significant impact on people's musical choices. |
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| After that, Frith explores the process of creating music, including the abilities and methods required in many genres and styles. He delves into the collaborative aspect of music-making, emphasizing how artists collaborate, exchange innovative concepts, and forge distinct musical selves. |
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| stresses the value of having an open mind about music throughout the entire book recognizing its power to unite people and create a feeling of community. |
- To study popular music from the fields of social and anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies.
- Claim that although cultural studies can provide creative interpretations they frequently ignore the motivations behind cultural production and the perspectives of those who make it.
- In contrast, social anthropology, and sociology may seem dry, yet they offer a more thorough, and accurate empirical analysis of popular music.
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| Cultural Studies Views it as a disruptive myth of resistance through styles, and rituals. |
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| Social Anthropology Sees it as a structured social and symbolic construct. |
Key Takeaways
But, despite their differences, Simon Frith acknowledges the power and material effectiveness of the subcultural pop music myth. Furthermore, he also explores the idea that popular music serves as a solution or ritualized resistance to the problems faced by intellectuals rather than those faced by the young, poor, or working class.
- Are influenced by high cultural theories that prioritize seriousness over fun and mind over body. This romanticized view of popular culture has historically been associated with the figure of the African, who is seen as both exotic and primitive, and a means of accessing a pre-social, innocent state of being.
- However, this view is not inherent to African or Afro-American music but rather imposed by white pop and cultural studies obsession with it as a means of fulfilling their yearning for a natural and uncivilized state of grace.
- The study of sex in popular music should go beyond simplistic moral judgments, acknowledging the complexity and significance of its representation, performance, and reception within wider cultural contexts.
- Frith makes that the sexual content and imagery in popular music should not be dismissed or condemned outright. Instead, he argues that it is significant to analyze and understand how sex is represented, performed and consumed in popular music.
To fully grasp and interpret popular music's cultural relevance, scholars or researchers should approach the subject with critical and comprehensive knowledge, free from preconceived assumptions and biases originating from high culture. Overall, Simon Frith says that Popular Music is an important field of study that calls for a critical, multidisciplinary approach that acknowledges the many in which music interacts with political, social, and cultural processes.
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