Research: Popular Music Theory

Popular Music Theory

Why is it important to understand theory?

By finding out different theorists and their theory, has helped me to understand more about the music industry. I will be talking about six theorists; Popluar Culture, Antonio Gramci - Hegemony, Frankfurt School, Theodor Adorno, Birmingham School and Dick Hebdige. By researching bout these people, it has he led me the different views about music videos and their genres. 

Popular Culture

Popular Culture is the understanding of ideas and attitudes of how the mainstream culture have an affact on the music industry and how they are represented within it. In the 1980's, popular culture became more mainstream due to advancing technology. The bourgeoisie influenced popular culture and they had a division of two sides, one side represented their tastes and attitude, and the other side represented populate culture which included everyone that was not a part of the bourgeoisie. 

Popular culture includes mainstream music which reinforce dominate cultural ideologies such as partying, drinking, dancing and socialising. Some of the genres of music that are associated with this are pop, r&b, hip-hop and at times dance as they appeal to a large audience. 

In today's society, popular culture is mostly displayed on the internet, Tv shows, movies and apps that could be downloaded onto technical devices. The younger generation mostly follows popular culture. 

Antonio Gramci - Hegemony



Hegemony means to look down upon an individuals social class over others. Hegemony moistly includes the ideologies that are created by the bourgeoisie which is also reinforced down and accepted by the working class. Moreover, linking this to music,  ideas such as love, family, money and working hard are repeated in the lyrics, so the audience is constantly hearing this without realising. So this is why working class and educated audiences are more likely to follow these ideas because they constantly hear them. 

Frankfurt School


The Frankfurt school was based in Germany in the 1920's, and they were the earliest version of the Neo marxist theory. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno are also two theorists from the Frankfurt school. The Frankfurt school suggests that the audience accepts the message ‘injected’ into them by the mass media. 

Theodor Adorno

Theodor Adorno was a german socialist, he is a theorist from the Frankfurt school. He was popular for his theory which was divided between popular culture and true art. Adorno recon Popular culture by standardisation, as he believed that the masses intake popular culture such as; chart music. 


The division between popular culture and true art is called 'Hegemony.' 

To interoperate this table the true art that appeals to the bourgeoisie is music such as classical and jazz music which will only appeal to you if you have a upper class and educated background. 

Popular culture which appeals to the masses consists music such as love, family, money and working hard. 

Birmingham School

Stuart Hall was a cultural theorist and sociologist along with Richard 

Hoggart.  He made some contributions to the music industry by commenting on the ideas that applied to the content of the music we listen to through popular forms such as the radio, TV and on the internet.

Hall’s work covers issues of hegemony and cultural studies, he believes that the lyrics  and melody used in a song are constantly repeated but slightly changed every time in order to reinforce hegemony. Stuart Hall’s work also illustrates the link between racial prejudice and media. Stuart Hall argued that the study of popular culture should always begin with what he termed “the double movement of containment and resistance.” This means that there was always a continuous struggle over the languages, traditions, and ways of the labouring classes, the uneducated, and the poor. 

One of Hall’s theories was the Reception theory which included the idea of Encoding and Decoding.

• Encoding is the process by which a text is constructed by it’s producers.
• Decoding is the process by which the audience reads, understands and interprets a text. 

Dick Hebdige 

Dick Hebdige argues that consumption is an active process in which differences in audiences’ social and ideological construction which is lead to different readings of the same cultural products. The audience is free to resist the power of large companies by ignoring them or by finding alternative products to consume them. Also, major companies will attempt to assimilate this resistance by attempting to provide products which these audiences or subcultures will consume. 

Conclusion

From this post I have learnt about the different theorists and how they could have an impact on my work. In my opinion, I agree with Theodor Adorno's theory because there is a division between popular culture and true art. 

Research: Dyer's Star Image

Dyer's star image

Stars refer to singers that sell their music to a mainstream or loyal audience but if an singer/ artist sells their music to mainstream audience then are are going to make more money. 

Richard Dyer:

- An english academic specialising in cinema.

- Dyer developed the idea that the viewers perception of its stars.

- ''The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer.''

- ''The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.''

- He identified four elements to recognising a star; Stars and Constructions  Industry and Audience, Ideology and Culture, Character and Personality. 
-''A true pop star does have a lasting significance and has ''brand awareness'' amongst a wider market over a period of time.''

Difference between performer and pop star:

There is a difference between a performer and a pop star, a performer is someone that may and may not be famous such as for the single 'Let her go' is written by Passenger, although he has an audience and he produces music videos, we do not hear him in everyday news. Where Jackson is a pop star, he is on everyday news and promotes his albums by making ras; a pop 'star' is known to construct an image for the audience, for example, Michael's carpet appearances. 

Stars and constructions:

Richard Dyer states that the star is a construction and not a real person. Miley Cyrus has become famous for her twerking and riding on a wrecking ball naked however she wouldn’t do any of this stuff in the privacy of her own home meaning that the person Miley Cyrus and the star are two different people. Miley Cyrus was known to be a  young country singer on a Disney channel and now has been completely changed. She now has a new image which is meant to be a wild new young Miley. She cut her hair and style, changed her music, this is something different an artist could do which shows the audience that an artist could change into someone else. 

Industry and Audience:

Lady GaGa is a very controversial character as she is very clear with her audience. She acts how she wants without worrying if her audience will judge her. Dyer believe that if an artist acts themselves then the industry will love them. Lady GaGa is a artist that likes to experiment and try new ideas which helps her to grab the public. When she increases her fan base, this helps her record company to manufacture Lady GaGa again and again. For example, the Meat Dress that she wore to the MTV music awards entertained the audience because she had done something very weird which was different to the audience.  

Ideology and culture:

Some artists believe that they should also include their ideology and the culture that they believe in music videos. Therefore fans of the artist will copy their views of the artist, as this helps the artist and the audience to have a connection. Beyoncé is a feminist artist and she shows this throughout her performances and music videos, this means that her audience are mainly women as she refers to women in particular. Beyoncé's music video 'Flawless' shows her views on independent women and that women should not be controlled by men. 'Flawless,' also represents that women should love themselves and where they come from. 

Character and personality:

Dyer also suggests that stars are  transformed into different personalities and they also need to have a range of different characters. This is important because this will help the artist to have a connection  with their audience. When a artist newly releases a album, the way that they have presented themselves change over time. For example,  Beyoncé went from curvy to skinny, the audience understood this by the way she exposed herself on stage.  

How much do artists/ bands have on star image:

Eminem uses the same font style and colour for all of his albums, this shows that he uses his star image throughout his life. This poster also has the same font style with the end E backwards. The same writing is also used on his merchandise. By doing this, only the artists loyal fans will know. Eminem’s star image motif is the font style which he has been using for years, this also means that if the artist produces a new album and if there wasn't any images on the album, and if it only contained writing which was known as the font that Eminem uses. Then the audince will know who the album is produced by.

Conclusion:

This theory is very important because it has allowed me to enhance my knowledge on star image. When creating my music video, I will be representing my artist star image main on character and personality because I will be creating a niche music video which mean that my artists actions need to conventional to a Hip-hop genre. Such as; my artist will be using hand gestures while singing the song. 

Research: Mulvey's 'Male Gaze'

Muley's Male Gaze

Mulvey believed that women were not placed in a role that has control of a scene. Rather, they're something that's looked at in a scene and from a very specific point of view such as, the camera lingers around the female characters body and the male audience looks at this in a sexual way. Additionally, Muley also believed that this perspective was never reversed so that men were the ones being viewed. Laura Muley's theory looks at three concepts and these are; How men look at women, How women look at themselves and How women look at other women. 

Stereotypes:

• Female’s physical attractions such as figure and breasts to overpower the male
• Easy 
• House wife 
• Sluts 
• Desperate 
• Intelligent yet willing to settle down

In this video, women are presented as sexual objects, The use of Mise-en-Scene shows the audience how exposed these women are dressed. This especially allows the male audience to watch it as the clothing of the three women is very open and exposed, the use of cinematography also allows to attract the male audience because the camera lingers around the female body. Close - up shots are used to capture the lips and female assets of these women, this represents them as sexual objects. There are no use of Male characters which such that the artist of this music video wants the attention to be on these female characters which then indicates that men get sexual pressure while watching this women. 

As seen in the picture, the artist is being very sexual in the music video. She is using props to express her love, this is also known as a sexual metaphor that indicates to sexual activity. 

In this music video, the male artist is wearing a suit which represents him as a classy person where as the female artist is naked and posing in a sexual way. This indicates that men see women as entertainment and the 'Male Gaze' relates to this because Lauren Mulvey believed that men looked for a women to find pleasure. The way the female character is tied up suggest that women can be trapped by men
and men could use women as pets. 

The male artist is brushing the womens hair, this shows that she's being treated as a pet by him. The fact that she is putting her
fingers in her mouth show she is being sexy. Mulvey said that men see visual pressure by attaching females being treated like pets by other men. I think that this is not right because it has a bad reputation on females and this can cause an negative impact on the society. 

The two male artists are wearing clothing that is covering their body. Where as, the female artist is dressed in a see-through body suit. The camera lingers around the female characters body and this creates an argument for some women because they start to judge other females that are very open about their body. In this music video, the male artists are seen as active characters because they are seen as the wealthy and powerful ones. Where as, the female artist is represented as an passive character because she is being very sedative with her body language and hand gestures. 

Conclusion

I will not use Male Gaze in my music video because I do not want to damage my female audience. However, I am planning to create a mainstream music video so I may consider to use 'male gaze' because it attracts audiences more as they find it entertaining to watch.

Research: Star Image

Star Image

Star image is the way an artist is represented to the audience, the most effective way is to do through music videos. Music video can help boost an artists career as when they produce music videos they are bale to share their thoughts and feelings. It also helps an artist is enhance their popularity, when they create music videos then their audience remembers the artist from the specific music video of their choice. Most importantly, a music videos helps the artist to build a relationship between their audience.

Case study: Changing Star image

The star image of Justin Bieber has changed over time as when he was known in 2010, he looked very cute and adorable, at the time he was main target audience was young teenage girls. Then in 2011 his hair style has canned which suggests that he is getting older and wants to be look more attractive. In 2012, his body is starting to change and become more fit, this indicates that as he is making a mature teenager, his target audience starts to change. Further on, in 2013 we see that he has tattoos on his body, this shows that he is a mature young adult. Therefore, his loyal audience has grown with him so is now daily targeting at older teenage girls. This timeline of his changing appearance suggests that his music has homaged as well, at first he had no swearing in his lyrics and it was more charming to young girls, however, now he more exposed with his body and in his music videos, his star image has changed because his first album in 2010 was all about him and as he was young back then he made sure that he doesn't use promote any negative behaviour to his audience. 

In this image, he is promoting his new album that is coming out in 2015. He is topless and the audience could see how different he presents him self now when comparing to his first album. 

This music video is called, 'Baby' and this was Justin Biebers first music video. He is seen as a child in this video because of the way he is acting. His actions show that he is starting to become a teenagers as he does show any bad behaviour. 

Miley Cyrus was once a adorable Disney character however as she has become older her star image has changed and has affected her audience. When she  first become popular, she targeted at young children  and young teenage girls as she never showed her skin in any outfit and even if she did it was  apporiate for any occasion. As she grew to become a young adult her star image changed and this is shown from her appearance in the following images. In the third image her hair cut is changed, in this last image she is wearing a crop top and boxers, which suggests that she has grew put of being that cute and innocent young teenager. Miley changed her music and started working with trap rapper Juicy J and doing semi-nude shoots with Terry Richardson. Her performance with Robin Thicke at the VMA’s which she was extremely sexual on stage.  This also shows that her star image because when she was a Disney star, she was very calm on stage and her performances was appropriate for any ages to see it. 

This was Miley Cyrus's first couple of music videos and as you could see the way she is acting, represents her as a young innocent teenager. She isn't showing any type of nudity which mean that she isnt promoting sex in anyway and this also suggests that in this music video she is targeting at early teenagers. 

When Michael Jackson first become popular, he was around the age of 6 and he was in a boy group which his brothers. In the first image he is presented as a innocent and loveable, himself and his brothers were in a boy group called 'Jackson 5' and their songs were mainly targeted at young girls and boys, I know this by their 'ABC.' He then grew to become a indecent young teenager as he started to do solo singles this meant that he was growing up into his own career. In 1987 and 1992 he released a album called 'thriller' and after the release that album MJ become very popular and rich. In that short period of time, the audience is introduced to a grown up MJ that is not that cute anymore. 

In 1993, Michael Jackson started to make songs that had Policty, diversity and moral points, he makes these points throughout his 'Earth' song. At this point of the timeline, his star image was known to be very wealthy and powerful. Before the year 2000, MJ had two broken marriages, Lisa Marie Presley 1994-1996 and Deborah Jeanne Rowe 1996-1999. This also affected his star image because he was known as a man that isn't suitable to be married, however he did love his children which presented him as a mature person that is responsible to look after his children. After year 2007, Micheal star image was damaged in the market as he had his own problems such as his health and he also had claims made against him 'baby news.' So he avouched to do a world tour but because of his death that word tour didn't happen. 

In this video, Micheal Jackson is a 
boy group with his brothers and young Micheal Jackson is presented as a very cute little child. 

Conclusion:

Star image is very important because it allows the audience to see who the artist is changing over time, this also shows the artist as a growing individual and this could be shown from the way they are dressed, the way an artist starts to act towards life. When producing my music video, I am planning to  represent star image as an successful rapper, as I will have decided to create a niche music video. I will make sure that my artist wears clothes that are conventional to Hip-hop music videos e.g. white tops, jeans, chains, snapback etc. 

Research: Intertextually

Intertextually

The meaning of Intertextually is when a reference is made about other films, TV shows, celebrities, and it can be shown to the audience by the lyrics or the visuals of the music videos. Artists use intertextuality in their music videos to make specific references to speific events, people or films that they feel a connection too or they would want to express their own opinion and feelings. Certain artists do this for as it enhaces the popularity of the artist because making a reference to  films will increase the viewing the music video. 

Music video's that use intertextual references:

Taylor Swift released this song in 2008, the lyrics of this song talk about Romeo and Juliette. This video is made to look like a modernised version of the story, relating more to the lyrics of the song, back to the film. The use of Mise-en-scene has had a huge impact for the audience because the young artist has looked like Juliette, the way the artist is wearing a grown shows that, the video is very old fashioned as for the use of the costumes, the music video is set in a castle which refers to the film (Romeo and Juliette) because it symbolises the surroundings of the film. The way Taylor Swift has done her hair also shows the intertextual reference to the film as it shows that the music video, has a vintage style. 

1. As well as, making intertextually references shown through the visuals of the clip. The lyrics of the clip also link back to the film as she says; 'Cause you were Romeo - I was a scarlet letter, And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet.' This is a clear reference to the film as the young artist uses the names of the characters used in the film. The two pictures show the resemblance of the two different scenes, the male artist used in 'Love Story' is shown as a lover of the young artist. The way he approaches her is shown through his body language. The first image, the male star is looking into the artists eye which shows that also in the second image, the character 'Romeo' is also looking into the female character 'Juliette's' eyes. This shows that Taylor has really thought about how she could her audience the intertextual reference to the film. 

Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night,' video includes intertextual references with the characters are all wearing clothes that were typically worn in 80's. The use of cinematography allows the audience to understand and feel how parties used to be back in the 80's. Her dance moves shows popular dance moves from the 80's so itis like if shes recreating that look again for people to remember today. 

The bright colour's of the artist is a stereotypical costume that people wore in the 80's especially for discos/ parties. Mise-en-scene is used effectually in this music video because it allows the audience to understand what years shes referring back to. 

Madonnas song 'Material Girl,' has intertextual references to Marilyn Monroe's song 'Diamonds are a girls best friend.' Madonna is dressed in a pink velvet dress, she also has her hair done like Marilyn Monroe's, Madonna has the same background as well which indicates the similarities between both music videos.  The first image is taken from Madonnas video and the way she is dressed indicates the link to Marilyn Monroe video, as Madonnas view is a was produced after Marlin this shows that Madonna may be recreating the look of Monroe video. The back up dancers used in the video are also wearing black suits, this highlights the similarities between the two videos. 

The Mise-en-scene used in Madonna's video show that she is wearing a hot pink dress with long gloves and jewellery, which is also sued in Marilyns music video.  

Not all music videos can have a positive intertextual reference as for this video by George Michael, he makes references to any people including the president, Tv shows, The Royal Family, Football stars and makes links back to own life where he was had new events happen to him. 

This music video is an animation video so it was easier for Michael to make refers because it will be easier to show his audience of who's he is making fun out of. 

The first scene is set in front of the 'White House' this refers back to the old president of London. Then, Tony Blair is presented as if he is copying what the dog is doing, this can be very offensive to the audience because they can feel as if George Micheal is presenting the country as a useless place.

There are also criticisms that follow intertextually reference through music videos, such as some music videos can be offensive towards a artists fans. For example, parody versions of music videos can be very offensive because they make fun out of these artists that have produced these specific songs. Such as; Taylor Swifts song 'Shake it Off' was recreated by a music company called,' Barely Production,' and they have recreated Taylor's song into a parody version. They have changed the lyrics of the song but the audience could understand from the visuals. Taylor's audience can be offended by this video because the artist that is playing in the parody video, is making fun of Taylors facial expressions. This can be offensive to the artist as people are making fun of her facial expressions, but again this will allow more people to watch the original music video and the artist will be getting more viewers and fans. 

Robbie Williams song ‘You know me,' uses features such as the artist being taken to an ‘Alice in wonderland’  setting with Robbie Williams dressed up as the rabbit from the film. This creates intertextuality between the film and his music video. The rise-en-scene used in the music video show the audience very clearly that the artist is recreating a small clip from the film as he is dressed very identical to the rabbit that is played in the film. 

Conclusion: are you planning to use intertextuality

I don't think that I will want to incorporate intertextuality in my music video because if I decide to use intertextuality in my music video then it most likely won't be something that is extremely well known because recreations of popular references usually look tacky so choosing something easier will be better for the representation of my artist. Another reason why I will not be using intertextuality because I want music to be unique and I want my audience to remember my artist from the song and not the film. However, if I did make intertextual references that my artist will be very popular as he/ she will be targeting at a wider audience, allowing them to grow world wide.