Mass Media and Society Chapter 6: Music Feb. 3, 2014
May 20, 2015
Mass Media and Society
Chapter 6: Music
Feb. 3, 2014
Chapter 6:Music
• Popular music’s evolution• Reciprocal nature of
music and culture• Current trends in the
music industry• Influence of new
technology
Evolution ofpopular music
• Phonograph and gramophone
• Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville
• Electrical recording and the rise of radio
Jazz, blues, country/folk, rock and roll• Jazz emerges in 1930s
New Orleans• Country/Western arises
from folk traditions in ’20s• Blues spreads north in
late 1930s and 1940s• Rock and roll rises in ’50s
Rock and roll
• Early pioneers: Little Richard, Chuck Berry
• Elvis Presley combines R&B of blues artists with country-western tradition
• Elvis is “the first true rock and roll icon”
The Beatles arrive
• 1964 “Ed Sullivan Show”: one in three Americans (74 million) tuned in
• British Invasion: Rolling Stones, other artists
• Beatles’ melodic pop sound contrasts with bluesy Stones
Other musical genres emerge
• Folk, soul (Motown), surf, folk, folk rock, glam rock, disco, punk, and on to rap, alternative, grunge
• Protest music in 1960s is closely linked with hippie culture
Hip-hop
• Emerges in 1970s and 1980s
• Urban culture includes graffiti art, breakdancing, rap music (MC and DJ, sampling, scratching, sampling)
Hip-hop’s rise• From underground to
mainstream• Starts as voice of
disaffected• Spreads among cultures
and influences/is influenced by culture
• Its rise mirrors that of other genres
Music and culture
• Great Migration: Between 1915 and 1920, as many as 1 million African Americans moved north
• Migrant blues artists brought music to Chicago, other cities
Music and culture
• Following World War II, youth culture coheres
• Between 1950 and 1959, music sales rocket from $189 million to nearly $600 million
• Morality debates seen in every generation
Music and culture
• Civil Rights Movement: Segregation starts to crumble; African American artists gain mainstream popularity: Motown’s Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Vandellas
Ethnicity and themusic business
• White artists “hijack” hits, recording cover versions that gained popularity
• African-American artists lost out on royalties
• Long history of tension and exploitation
Current music industry trends
• Record sales plunge in late 1990s amid file-sharing
• A few big firms continue to dominate: Sony, EMI, Universal, Warner
• Digital sales, streaming replace illegal file-sharing
Technology andthe music industry
• File sharing: RIAA cracks down, sues violators
• MP3 players replace CDs• Digital music sales grow
from 20% in 2007 to more than 50% in 2012
Total full albumsales breakdown• Digital (iTunes, Amazon,
etc.): 37 percent• Mass merchants
(Walmart, etc.): 29%• Best Buy-type chains:
15%• Mail order, venue: 10%• Independent stories: 7%