Theodor W.Adorno was a sociologist, musicologist and philosopher who was greatly known for his theory of society. He attended the Frankfurt School ( a group of intellects) and was a leading member." Adorno suggested that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated, sentimental products which have replaced the more 'difficult' and critical art forms which might lead people to actually question social life."[1]
Adorno opposed that capitalism lured people into a society where there were products of a "cultural" industry. The society were influenced to have an interest in one genre of music and style only. As part of his theory, Adorno separated society into two groups; 'The Masses' and 'The Bourgeoisie's'. 'The Masses' were people who were of lower class and who listened to the typical music genre that the majority listened to. On the other hand, 'The Bourgeoisie's' were people who were of upper class, who listened to music that was not typical, but a genre such as classical. Adorno was adverse towards 'The Masses' as he believed that the mainstream music that they all listened to had no real emotion, meaning , rhythm or feeling. He thought that the music was all similar and repetitive.
Example of Mainstream Music/Artists Today:
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One Direction - British Pop Boy Band that have gone world wide due to their mainstream music and style. Their target audience are teenage girls which could be a reason to why they have become so popular as artists. The majority of young teenagers in today's society do not know about old artists who produced more "real" music. A lot of artists now produce music with digital technology and use auto tune to change their voice (improve them). |
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Taylor Swift - An American artist who originally started off by producing
country music and then started doing more pop music. A lot of Taylor Swift's songs sound
similar and revolve around the same theme; love. Her target audience are teenage girls, so by revolving her music around the theme of love, she will sell more as her audience can relate.
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Comparison (Style of music) :
Dick Hebdige
Hebdige is a media theorist as well as a sociologist who focused on the qualities of different subcultures. He studied how subcultures were resistant against the mainstream industry within society.
Hebdige believed that every person who listens to mainstream music has their own connection to the music; they interpret them differently due to relation, style or experience. This means that people can decide what they want to listen to and purchase.
Which theory do I agree with?
I agree with the majority of Hebdige's theory as it is more relevant in today's modern society. In Adorno's theory, it communicates that only the upper class listened to "good" music which at the time was a genre such as classical. The lower class only listened to repetitive, typical mainstream music, which represented them to have no knowledge with music or style. I believe that today this is not the case as you have people from all classes listening to either mainstream or classical music. However, in the past people had less access to music as technology was not as improved as it is today. Therefore, the lower class were only able to mostly access the same music along with rest of the lower class as it was what they could afford. The upper class were able to afford better technology and go to concerts where they had an insight of classical music. Money and technology created the separation between the two classes which also meant a separation with music taste.
In Hebdige's theory, I agree with the expression that in today's society people could decide what to listen to and have an interest in. We also have access to different types of technology meaning that we can be exposed to different genres of music. Music now also links with the style of a person and their hobbies. The artist of a particular genre tries to portray a typical style so that their audience would follow them. This also creates more money for the industries.
Hana you make a very insightful connection between money, technology, class and separations as a result.
ReplyDeleteDoes an artist portraying a particular style, as you suggest they do, become simply a construction or tool to create a commodity for record labels to 'sell' and profit from? Can it be that simple? Explain.