week11 Does the music industry create the market?

I think the music industry does help create the market in some way. The music industry makes a demand and then fills those demands. In a way the music industry controls the consumer and the consumer controls the music industry. Although the music industry can not force you to buy music, they try to make you purchase it through always playing it on the radio, television and by telling you whats top in the charts. As a consumer of music myself, i buy the music i like rather than what is in the chart. This shows how the consumer controls the music industry because we let the them know what music we like by buying it. So the music industry produces music that is similar to the music that has made money before. So in conclusion the market and the music industry control each other.

week10 A magazine review in the language/style of the magazine (NME)

Fellas, after reading this music mag im telling you there is no turning back to the other rubbish, thats if your interested in rock, pop and indie (which i am not). This is simply because New Musical Express also known as NME mag has all the latest info and gossip to offer on those particular subjects. It is full of adverts on all kinds of gigs, events, as well as when all the new singles and albums sre coming out, plus loads of other stuff on phones and hair gel. Its mainly about music reviews and bands that i have never heard of before and their tour dates. Some articles are longer than others, while the rest can be a waste of time as i seemed to be just flicking through with no interest. I guess the good thing about it, is that there is a different feature of a band or pop/rock celeb in each issuse which i about it. The rest of it is music charts and ticket competitions. Its decent, just not for me but it will do i suppose.

week9 Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

The terms blackness and whiteness does not tell us anything about the music, which means it does not matter and is not really important. These two concepts may be of use when it comes to the history of the music, as to where it may have come from, but it does not tell us where is going. What these concepts do, is reduces the music down to race, while disregarding everything else in terms of popular music. Another reason as to why blackness and whiteness does not really matter is because with music today you can not distinguish what is black music and what is white music because all the different genres of music are all fused together, which makes it hard to define. Where as compared to the early years of music, there was a clear separation. With popular music today blackness and whiteness, depending on what you mean by it, is not useful when it comes to understanding music as it is not relevant.

week8 Are sub-cultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

I think that sub-cultures are both a sign of revolt and an expression of style, because there seems to be a link between the two. The 'punk-rock' movement arose in Great Britain in the 1970s as a reaction to the poor social conditions, such as the growing number of unemployment among the young and bad housing conditions etc. The 'punk' culture began to basically revolt or rebel against the general state of the society. And to express how they felt or what they thought, they would do so through 'punk', using punk-rock music and a strong but strange sense of style (tattoos, ripped jeans, dyed spiky hair and also using safety pins to hold pieces of clothing together). This was all done to reflect the disatisfaction of the poor situation which the youth of that time appeared to be in.  

Week7 Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?

I believe that there can be a politcal dimention with popular music and that the content of a song can reflect current political issuse and events, but i do not think that popular music can force political change. Popular music can definately infuence or encourage political change, rather than forcing it. Some songs are developed in order to take a politcal position and to make strong political statements. Examples of this can be seen with the artist Bob Marley and his song 'Get up, Stand up, which is a political song supporting the rastafari movement. There are also songs that are not allowed to be broadcasted because they may have a strong political effect on people, this shows how powerful music can be. To help political change there are special events that take place, such as Live Aid. These events use popular music to help raise awareness to political problems. Other examples can additionally be seen in football with national athems. But either way popular music can make a political statement and influence political change but it can not force it.

Week6 Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

DRM, which stands for Digital Rights Management is basically a set of rule and controls that limit what you can do witha digital music file. DRM is a way to try and stop you from doing certain things to a music file such as copying, downloading for free and being avle to open or play the file on different devices. But is DRM the best way to save the music industry? I do not think that DRM can totally save the music industry, but i do think that it can help. DRM can be found on CDs and music websites such as i-tunes. Without DRM there would be no limitations or any control of what you can do with a music file, but with it makes it possible to protect and securely deliver musicfiles. It can also help consumers stay within the copyright laws and artists and record labels can still get their money from thier music. Although there are ways around DRM which may be illegal, it still happens. So in all i think that DRM can not save the music industry by itself but it can help.

week5 Can popular music ever really be unplugged?

When answering this question on whether popular music can ever really be plugged or in other words can popular music really work without the help of electrical techology, there seems to be two sides to this argument. Popular music can be unplgged but only to a certain extent which is when it comes to performing music live. You do not necessarly need electrical intruments to do this, you can use your voice and acoustic intruments. The downside to this is that it may effect the venue where the performance is held at and plus the sound effect will be limited. But i honestly do not think that popular music can ever really be unplugged in this day and age exspecially with all the new different types of new digital and electrical technology, which is what i think makes what popular music has become today and without it, it would not be the same.