Introduction:
When the term corporate or corporation is applied to an industry, immediately images of a machine like structure consuming everything within its path with little or no concern for anyone or anything, except the bottom line come to mind. In a quote taken from an article of the online Alternet news magazine, Julianne Sheppard states; ‘It's no secret that corporate conglomerates basically run consumer goods, swallowing up smaller businesses like voracious monsters in order to maximise their bottom lines’. Further making the point that as consumers we all feed into these companies (Shepherd 2012). In the second chapter of his book Popular Music In Theory, Keith Negus explains that very often the music industry is seen as such, a corporate and ruthless machine which seeks to control creativity, and continually compromises aesthetic practices offering audiences little or no choice at all (Negus 1996).
If this line of thought is followed then no credence is given to the accommodating structures that facilitate a relatively un-known artist or musician, to rise from a place of obscurity to the covers of every magazine, the headlines of every gossip column, and a place where even the attachment of their name to an un-related product sells as if it is the last of its kind on earth. In seeking to explore the role that corporate structure plays within the music industry these seemingly opposing values will prove the facilitator of each.
Theodor Adorno was one of the first to theorise the concept of the culture industry, implying that music was not independent of industry and commerce, that it was produced en-mass in a standardised format with no other purpose than to maximise profits, in an assembly line like production meth...
... middle of paper ...
...nd innovation, whatever such controls they may place on that process they are only as effective as consumers allow.
Works Cited
Negus, Keith. (1996). Popular Music In Theory. An Introduction.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Starr, L & Waterman. C. (2003) American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy To MTV.
New York, USA: Oxford University Press
Scott, Derek, B. Ed. (2009). Ashgate Research Companion To: Popular Musicology.
Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Webography
Shepherd, Julianne. (2012). Alternet New Magazine. [online], available http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/933473/the_10_major_corporations_that_control_everything_you_buy [accessed 23rd February 2013].
Ardono, Theodor. (1991). The Culture Industry, [online], available: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~carlos/607/readings/adorno.pdf [accessed 23rd February 2013].
The two biggest components are major and independent record labels. Major record labels are the driving force of the industry, “Big Four labels/major record labels represented the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year.” (About.com) Additionally, “The five major record labels; Sony, Universal, BMG, EMI and Time Warner dominate 85% of the market when it comes to sales of Compact Discs. Leaving only 15% for the hundreds of independent record labels and thousands of artists out there." (Raprehab and Bomhiphop.com) In his essay A Brief Outline of How the International Popular Music Industry Manipulates and Exploits the Audience, Shams Quader discusses this issue."Big Four is responsible for 70% of the worldwide music and 85% of US music sales. ... Seeing that these companies have such a monopolistic hold on the world market..." (Quader) it would be safe to presume that the music monopoly was/ is created as a result of how the three major record labels today are holding more than three forths of the net profit of the industry moreover the question of the monopoly was brought to the table especially when Universal Music Group proposed a merger with EMI and many of its top billboard chart artists, Universal Music Group was also the
established to serve a dual purpose: the desire to create music and the need for
In this day and age, pop music dominates the airwaves at every turn. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, and many are commonplace names among teenagers and younger demographics not only in the United States, but all around the world. The United States has accepted the position of international, cultural role model long ago, dating back to the 1950’s when rock and roll caught fire as a hybrid of blues, country, and jazz and spread to the rest of the world almost infectiously. Since then, every major artist that comes out of the United States has easily become a global icon, regardless of the language or nationality of their adoring fans. However, one could conceive that this glamorized version of music comes less from the soul of the artist and is merely born of fiscal ambitions and visions of grandeur. The point made previously is not to critique any pop icon’s talent, which clearly they have proved to possess an abundance of it to keep the public swooning at their every whim, but instead, to show that there are musicians out there producing beautiful music without the threat of corruption and adherence to mainstream culture.
“The Record Industry is in trouble,” says Jann S. Wenner in an editorial appearing in a recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. “Album sales are now down almost 20% from two years ago, and the record business is facing the biggest retail slide since the Great Depression” (Wenner). People are buying less and less products released by the recording companies. “Nobody doubts that the music business is in trouble. Last year, global sales of CDs were down by 5% from 2000, the first fall since the format was launched” (NAPSTER R.I.P). The Nielsen SoundScan, used to report final sales to consumers, revealed some of its figures in a September 2002 issue of Billboard Magazine. “Nielsen SoundScan reports that overall music sales compared with the year before were off by 12.6%…while album sales were off by 9.8%. Total first-half units sold fell to 317.7 million units from 363.4 million; the number of albums sold slipped to 311.1 million units from 344.8 million – an 8.1% drop” (Garrity). Even the number of albums that become hits is...
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
The music industry is an ever-evolving revolutionary entertainment industry for the masses. Music provides entertainment to all different masses due to the variety of genres produced. Music is a very profitable and complex industry. Music has expanded to a worldwide industry for musical artist to express their art through the form of song to the masses. Music not only appeals to the ears but to every aspect of a person. Music allows for individuals to explore and let their imagination expand as they here a song. Throughout the years the industry has undergone dramatic changes. Whether it is genres, forms of how it is distributed, or even the impact the artist have had. The industry is diverse and ever changing as the years continue. In the past 20 years the industry has changed with help of the technological breakthroughs and adoptions.
Music and the relationships of music have changed drastically in our society. The course of studies and the evaluations of the applications of the technology of music, the making and the listening of music have changed in the way we listen to music, the styles of music in our society and in the media. The importance of the technology in music today, has, over the past century been charted through the study of musical examples and through viewing how human values are reflected in this century's timely music. There are very many different types of music that are listened to. There are readings, writings, lectures and discussions on all the different types of music.
Define and explain globalisation, then critically evaluate and illustrate the impact globalisation has had on a particular business, the industry it operates in, its country of origin and the country or countries the business has expanded into.
Music Business Music Business Exam Number One Question 1 - What is The music publishing industry at a glance would seem to be those who print sheet music, method books, lead sheets, and all of the texts or notated music that musicians (and those aspiring to be musicians) use. Years ago, this was what most music publishers did, but as the industry has evolved, the process has become much more complex. Music is not just ink and paper, intellectual material and property to the individual who writes it. Therefore, the song does not become "a song" when it is written down. This is not an easy concept to grasp because the song itself has no physical makeup.
To conclude, the accuracy of Adorno’s criticisms of contemporary music is arguable as there are some of his claims that can be applied to today’s music culture. His arguments have strengths and weaknesses of popular music production to the masses. However, the writers note the change of ‘popular’ music and with the evidence of the music records sale figures from Frith, the culture industry is not as manipulative as Adorno makes it to be. Although, the several writers highlights the flaws of Adorno’s claims, it does shows with contemporary music today that the culture industry follows pseudo-individualism in order to create music for what the consumer needs.
The music industry impacts the lives of people from around the world. With the implementation of technology, the influence of the music industry has spread to affect anyone with access to technology. Streaming services have contributed to the increased popularity of music. While there are positive effects to being able to stream music and have multiple ways of listening to it, the music industry suffers from the lack of revenue and illegal activity associated with technology. Technology has had both positive and negative effects on the music industry by affecting how people access music and how music is produced
In conclusion, Adorno views the sociological impact of the musical work as a crucial component of his critical writings. Through his analysis of Wagner, Adorno is able to ascertain the commodification of art as arising from aesthetic modernism itself. Adorno’s reception of Wagner has received critical attention from scholars in various disciplines and many musicologists disagree with Adorno’s combination of aesthetic and ideological criticisms – although ironically this method mirrors Adorno's argument that in the artwork aesthetics and ideology are inseparably intertwined.
It is known that corporations play a large part in making the world go around. Many times we read, hear or see stories on companies and why something was done a certain way. The film “The Corporation” has given a whole new insight to not only how businesses operate but what motivates them and their decisions that they make to keep their businesses thriving.
The influence that music has throughout the world is immeasurable. Music evokes many feelings, surfaces old memories, and creates new ones all while satisfying a sense of human emotion. With the ability to help identify a culture, as well as educate countries about other cultures, music also provides for a sense of knowledge. Music can be a tool for many things: relaxation, stimulation and communication. But at the same time it can also be a tool for resistance: against parents, against police against power. Within the reign of imported culture, cross cultivation and the creation of the so-called global village lies the need to expand horizons to engulf more than just what you see everyday. It is important to note that the role of music in today’s world is a key tool in the process of globalization. However, this does not necessarily provide us with any reasons that would make us believe that music has a homogenizing affect on the world.
Music is one of many forms of art. There are varying types of music which consists of seven different concepts. These concepts: rhythm, tone, beat, melody, harmony, expression, and structure, are the fundamental parts of music. These parts of music, with all of its characteristics, has been proven throughout history to change views of most humans on earth regardless of age race, sex, and nationality.