Review of UNCUT Magazine - June 2008

UNCUT publishes a weekly selection of music reviews, including adverts and articles about new, reissued and compilation albums. The music features are focused on genres such as Indie and Rock. This edition features David Bowie on the cover.

The target market is for the older generation – 30 +. It incorporates a male ‘geek’ factor. Its adverts are primarily focused on the male population with adverts for male face creams and car adverts, there is a double page bmw advert on the inside cover! What has this got to do with music? This magazine uses ‘proper’ language, and can be read by anyone potentially.

This magazine does not appeal to me as I am not whatsoever interested in the genres or the articles in that case. Someone who has got an interest would definitely have a field day with this magazine as there are so many articles about so many different artists.

Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music

Blackness and whiteness are useful in identifying where music originated from. Although, it is very difficult to distinguish between black and white music as there are so many different genres and covers of songs that have been written by a white person and sung by a black person, does that make the music black or white? Issues such as class and location have a greater relevance in the study of popular music. In the early 20th Century there was a clear divide between what was black and what was white. Race is not a major factor anymore; it is merely a guideline for the creation of popular music. Popular music is a ‘mixture’ of styles and cultures and has a long history which is difficult to track in terms of race. These concepts do not address the emotion and social issues that created the music in the first place, whether made by black or white.

Are Youth Subcultures genuine signs of revolt or simply the manifestation of style?

Parsons argues that the subculture of youths is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Is this formation of subcultures due to the opposition against the dominant power or is it just an expression of style?

Style and interests in music distinguish many subcultures. Willis suggested that musical preferences are connected to the nature of an individual’s life, e.g. Rock and Roll matched the nature of the life of the “motor bike boys”. Hebdige claims that styles expressed by different subcultures are a response to social conditions and experiences, subcultures incorporate both revolt and style into their way of living. Subcultures now are not so much about revolt against society but the way for an individual to express their style and different interests. For example, it is easy to notice a “rude-boy” wearing a cap and tracksuit and listening to rap music, this is not the result of expressing his oppression in society but as a symbol of his interests.

 

Does the emergence of the digital download signal the end of the music industry?

Digital audio has permanently changed how people find, buy and listen to music. In the US, digital downloads have brought $4.8 billion in revenue. This is not the end of the music industry, it has created a transformation for the recording industry, and it makes music more accessible to consumers but has piracy. File sharing for example is extremely controversial and has led to organizations such as Napster, which made it possible for high quality audio compression, but was shut down for copyright infringement, it was eventually relaunched.

Although, the evolution of digital audio has affected certain parts of the music industry such as record stores, as it is cheaper and easier for people to download music from the Internet.

The music industry has now switched to DRM-free MP3’s for music downloads, creating a new consumer friendly music environment. Apple for example has applied this to itunes. This is not the end of the music industry. 

What is World Music?

To over simplify, World Music is music from around the world. Generally people would interpret World Music as a style of music that is specific to a non-Western Culture, although this is not just the case. The term World Music includes traditional music of any culture that has been created and played by indigenous people (local to a certain group of people) These are sounds that reflect a particular culture or social reality. World music is a very broad concept. World Music can be as simple as pop music with lyrics in a language other than English.

It seems that the term World Music is being used as a marketing tool by the western world. Although by making World Music Westernised, indigenous music is being promoted to a wider audience. Music is universal and to discover music of a culture it is important to know and see the culture as a whole.

Is Popular Music a mass produced commodity or a genuine Art form?

First we must consider what is popular music and what is art. Popular music came to mean those songs associated with the mass market around the 1930’s and 1940’s. Whether art can be defined has been a matter of controversy, although I believe it is an expression and creation of works of beauty.

Due to technological advances in the early part of the twentieth century music was able to be mass-produced, due to this, the originality and high standards of music were sacrificed in favour of cheap merchandise and high profits, moving music from being an art form to a mass-produced commodity. Theodor Adorno said,  “The popular music industry is an all consuming production line that churns out mass produced, inferior commodities.” Pop music now, has not invented anything new, it has just borrowed rhythms from other forms of music, and this is for the benefit of mass production and profits, not for the love of making music.

How useful is Richard Peterson's Production of Culture Perspective to the birth of Rock n Roll?

Rock n Roll refers to rock music recorded around the 1950's, it became a national form in this era. Artists such as Bill Haley, Rock Around the Clock and Elvis Presley emerged. Who would believe that this would be the start of a music revolution?

Richard Peterson’s perspective identified six factors that he believed influenced the emergence of Rock n Roll. His views are useful as he covers all the aspects of how it was possible for rock n roll to emerge, but what he fails to focus on was the nature of the music itself and how early Rock n Roll was popular 

because it was music to rebel by. The musical movements were familiar and the listener was

 comfortable. Peterson is only interested in how music gets from ‘A – B’, he does not explain how the change in music occurred and unlike music before, it appealed to a younger audience.