Popular Music

Warning: mkdir() [function.mkdir]: Permission denied in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 12

Warning: mkdir() [function.mkdir]: No such file or directory in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 12

Warning: fopen(/home/templatecore2cache//*cluesnet.com/19/19861c9d9261f815df147db2b9db60783e23d28d.tc2cache) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 130

Warning: fwrite(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 131

Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 132

{{Infobox Music genre|color=#87CEEB|bgcolor=white |name=Popular music |stylistic_origins=[Traditional music |cultural_origins=Various |instruments=[Guitars, [Drums, [Synthesizers |popularity= By definition, always. |derivatives= |subgenrelist= |subgenres=[Rock music |fusiongenres= |regional_scenes= |other_topics= --> band.Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of music genre that are accessible to the mainstream and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. It stands in contrast to art music"Arnold, Denis (1983)

"Art Music, Art Song," in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: A-J, Oxford University Press, p.111. ISBN 0-19-311316-3
"Popular music" in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 2: K-Z, Oxford University Press, p.1467. ISBN 0-19-311316-3, which historically was the music of the elite and upper strata of society, and traditional music which was disseminated orally. Arnold, Denis (1983).
" Art Music, Art Song,"idem
" Popular music," Ibid vol.2 p.1467 . It is sometimes abbreviated to pop music, although pop music is more often used for a narrower branch of popular music.

Definition of Popular Music Among scholars in the humanities, a broader range of definitions have been proposed about popular music. Frans Birrer (1985, p. 104) gives four conceptions or definitions of "popularity" music:

/* Definition of Popular Music */ definitions. Popular music is an inferior type.

Negative definitions. Popular music is music that is not something else (usually 'folk' or 'art' music).

Sociological definitions. Popular music is associated with (produced for or by) a particular social group.

Technologico-economic definitions. Popular music is disseminated by mass media and/or in a mass market.

All of these, according to Middleton (1990,p.4) "are interest-bound; none is satisfactory." According to Hall (1978, p.6-7), "The assumption...that you might know before you looked at cultural traditions in general what, at any particular time, was a part of the elite culture or of popular culture is untenable." Thus popular music must be comprehended in relation to the broader musical field (Middleton 1990, p.11).

Bennett (1980, p.153-218) distinguishes between 'primary' and 'secondary' popular culture, the first being mass product and the second being local re-production, discussed further below.

"While repetition is a feature of all music, of any sort, a high level of repetition may be a specific mark of 'the popular', enabling an inclusive rather than exclusive audience." (Middleton 1990, p.139)

Business Much popular music is the product of the modern business enterprise disseminated for the purpose of earning a profit. Executives and employees of popular music businesses try to select and cultivate the music that will have the greatest success with the public, and thus maximize the profits of their firm. In this respect, popular music differs from traditional folk music, which was created by ordinary people for their own enjoyment, and from European classical music, which was originally created to serve the purposes of the Church or for the entertainment of the nobility. (Today classical music is often subsidized by governments and universities.)

Although the controlling forces of popular music are business enterprises, young people who aspire to become popular musicians are not always driven by the profit motive. Rather, they often want to find an outlet for their sense of expression and creativity, or simply to have fun. Historically, the conflicting motives of business people and musicians have been a source of tension in the popular music industry.

Debate continues about the status of popular music. Some emphasize the commercial motive and suggest the big companies manipulate the audiences and sell them products with no intrinsic value. This is the debate about "authenticity" which rages whenever popular music is discussed. Commercial interests can cause the dilution of music as corporations take over their distribution, and may cause music to move away from the grassroots level of Folk or Blues. Several movements such as punk (music) and Heavy Metal in the 80s, and Indie (music) in the 90s, attempted to ensure this dilution did not occur.

The electric guitar and amplification have had a big impact on modern music. In the 1930s and 40s amplified instruments became necessary to compete with the loud volumes in the Big Swing bands of the era. Gibson introduced the first Gibson Les Paul solid body guitar in 1952. In the 1960s, the tonal palette of the electric guitar was further modified by introducing an effects box in its signal path, the wah-wah pedal.

Many people play popular music in amateur "garage bands". These amateur groups are the modern equivalent of folk music, which was composed and performed by ordinary people and transmitted by word of mouth.

Form Main article: Song structure (popular music).

Form in popular music is most often sectional form, the most common sections being Verse_(popular_music), chorus or refrain, and bridge (music). See also the discussion of complexity #Complexity.

Genres Main article: Genres (popular music).

Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid 19th century, and is commonly subdivided into genres. Different genres often appeal to different age groups. These often, but not always, are the people who were young when the music was new. Thus, for instance, Big band music continues to have a following, but it is probably a rather older group, on average, than the audience for hip hop music. For some genres (for instance, Ragtime), the original target generation may have died out almost entirely.

This "generation gap" in the consumption of popular music is particularly marked since the second world war and the increased economic and social independence of younger people. Music hall and other forms before the 1940s are not so clearly marked by generation. During the depression, the wars, and immediately after the end of the war, Bing Crosby was the highest selling recording artist. His fan base has no age division during this time, with the average Kraft Music Hall listener being 21 years of age. However, after Crosby's decline and eventually semi-retirement in 1954, a large generation gap emerged with Elvis Presley becoming the most popular recording artists for teenagers and Frank Sinatra doing the same with adults.

Classical music and popular music The relationship between (particularly, the relative value of) classical music and popular music is a controversial question. Some partisans of classical music may claim that classical music constitutes art and popular music only light entertainment. However, many popular works show a high level of artistry and musical innovation and many classical works are unabashedly crowd-pleasing. The elevation of classical music to a position of special value is closely connected to the concept of a Western canon, and to theories of educational perennialism.

The very distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in the border regions Arnold, Denis (1983). " Art Music, Art Song," in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: A-J, Oxford University Press, p. P.111, . ISBN 0-19-311316-3, for instance minimalist music and light classics. In this respect music is like fiction, which likewise draws a distinction between classics and popular fiction that is not always easy to maintain.

Complexity Classical works have greater musical complexity than popular music. For instance, classical music is distinguished by its heavy use of Musical development, and usually involves more Modulation (music) (changing of keys), less outright repetition, and a wider use of musical phrases that are not default length--that is, four or eight bars long (however, much minimalism music goes against these tendencies, and thus is considered non-serious by many critics). Popular music is also rarely entirely instrumental. Usually, popular tunes include vocals and catchy lyrics.

It is difficult to imagine how a work of thirty minutes to three hours can be constructed in a manner that isn't built up hierarchically from smaller units like phrases, periods, sections, and movements. Structural levels are distinguished by Schenkerian analysis. Fred Lerdahl (1992), for example, claims that popular music lacks the structural complexity for multiple structural layers, and thus much depth. However, Lerdahl's theories explicitly exclude "associational" details which are used to help articulate form in popular music, while Allen Forte's book The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Era 1924-1950 analyzes popular music with traditional Schenkerian techniques. (Middleton 1999, p.144)

The repertoire of classical music is skewed toward works recognized as excellent by listeners over long periods of time. It follows that genres of popular music that have existed for a long time might also produce works that show staying power. For instance, the work of Scott Joplin, a popular musician of about a century ago, continues to be played--often, curiously enough, by classical musicians. The advent of high fidelity audio recordings in the 1950s meant that the actual performances of popular musicians could be preserved forever, and this has raised the possibility that certain popular works will achieve permanent status in their original recorded form.

See also

Music radio
Popular culture
List of popular music performers

External links

Rondo Histriae mixed choir from Croatia chant The Lion Sleep Tonight - (video)
Tunecaster Online Pop And Rock Music Encyclopedia - United States music charts and popular artists pages.
Pop and Rock An analysis of musical form and technique in popular music.
The 1950's-2000's Week-By-Week - Looks at pop music/albums/radio and music news through these decades.
Pop Culture Madness Features the most requested pop songs 1920s through today
Great Song Stylists Site
Quasimodobell Online Encyclopedia for music Artists & Bands

Sources

Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0-335-15275-9.
Bennett (1980).
Birrer, Frans A. J. (1985). "Definitions and research orientation: do we need a definition of popular music?" in D. Horn, ed., Popular Music Perspectives, 2 (Gothenburge, Exeter, Ottawa and Reggio Emilia), p.99-106.
Hall, S. (1978). "Popular culture, politics, and history", in Popular Culture Bulletin, 3, Open University duplicated paper.
Everett, Walter (1997). "Swallowed by a Song: Paul Simon's Crisis of Chromaticism", Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510004-2.
Hamm, Charles (1979). Yesterdays: Popular Song in America. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-01257-3.
Manuel, Peter (1988). Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505342-7.

References

Amazon.co.uk: Popular Music: Mikael Niemi: Books
Amazon.co.uk: Popular Music: Mikael Niemi: Books ... RRP: £7.99 : Price: £5.99 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and ...

Amazon.co.uk: Pop: Music
You have no recently viewed items or searches. After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Institute of Popular Music - INSTITUTE OF POPULAR MUSIC - University ...
Founded in 1988, the IPM was the world's first academic institute dedicated to teaching, research, and information-provision in popular music studies.

Cambridge Journals Online - Popular Music
Cambridge Journals Digital Archive. Click here for details about our archive digitisation project. more details

Popular music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media.

Popular Music Theory
Popular music theory syllabus. London College of Music and the Examinations Registry. Music theory for the popular musician

BA [Hons] Popular Music - University of Glamorgan
Faculty: Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries; UCAS Code: W300; Course Length: Full-time - 3 Years; Entry Requirements: UCAS tariff: Overall points 240-300 with at ...

Popular music as journalism in Zimbabwe - WestminsterResearch
The paper argues that popular music can act as a variety of journalism at certain historic moments and in specific contexts.

The University of Northampton - Popular Music BA (Hons)
The University of Northampton website ... Course overview. UCAS code: W340 BA/PopMus. Course summary: This dynamic course gives the opportunity to study popular music, providing ...

University of Wolverhampton - Course
Gain a fascinating insight into the history of popular music styles and the context of its production, distribution and consumption throughout all three years of study.