In order to comment on the above question it is essential to consider the workings of Theodor Adorno, whose reaction to the swing and jazz genre in the 30s and 40s was critical of mass produced medians, and can also be applied to canonical popular music to date.
Suggested in his theory is the idea that popular music is baseless entertainment that is unchallenging and distracting from what is going on in the world. Adorno illustrates that mass produced music cannot be art as it limits the questioning of our social and industrial lives.
However, art is defined on Dictionary.com as, ‘…a production, expression or realm according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing or of more than ordinary significance.’ This leads one to question that mass produced music could therefore be art as it appeals and effects different people in different ways.
Consequently, Adorno’s standardisation of popular music is a somewhat narrow conception, after all music is an expression of cultural identity within certain social and time frames. Therefore who is to say that mass produced music is not art if it carries great significance to an individual through the expression and content of the song?
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1 comment:
Well structured and for the most part well argued. The one question that arises from your post is that raised by Gendron, of whether mass production is a suitable metaphor for a popular music text rather than a functional artefact, such as a CD or a vinyl record.
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