MED332 introduction to the module

popular music cultures

MED322

About the module •  This module draws upon student’s cri;cal knowledge of

popular culture (some have studied this at stage 1 and/or 2)

About the module •  Examine the rela;onship between various musical, cultural,

social, economic and technological factors in popular music history

•  Theories of popular culture are developed and related to the produc;on, consump;on and enjoyment of popular music.

•  These theories are related to socio-‐poli;cal changes in society.

•  Furthermore specific musical genres and performers are examined with these concepts and theories in mind

About the module •  Examine the rela;onship between various musical, cultural,

social, economic and technological factors in popular music history

•  Theories of popular culture are developed and related to the produc;on, consump;on and enjoyment of popular music.

•  These theories are related to socio-‐poli;cal changes in society.

•  Furthermore specific musical genres and performers are examined with these ideas in mind

Assessment

•  The module is comprised of 2 different assessment modes:

1.  a short porNolio of published case studies; and 2.  an end of module essay. •  All assessment material must be submiPed in both physical and digital forms. Non-‐submission of one of these can result in a fail grade.

Assessment 1: porNolio case studies

•  Students are required to produce 2 case studies, one on an ar#st of their choice and another on a musical genre of their choice. These are to be no longer than 1000 words in length. These case studies are to be published on the module website hPp://pop-‐music-‐cult.com

Assessment 2: essay

•  Op#on 1: wri5en essay

•  Student are expected to iden;fy their own cri;cal essay ques;ons in conjunc;on with staff members. A digital record of the agreed ;tle is essen;al. Student must seek approval for their essay before the end of Week 12.

Assessment 2: essay •  Op#on 2 : audio/video essay

•  Students to iden;fy a ques;on. However, instead of a wriPen essay students can aPempt either an audio or a video essay that answers the ques;on. This op;on is only open to students with a proven track record in making audio/video work (ie students from a media produc;on background). Addi;onally, the work must be the solely that of the student submiWng it (ie no group produc;ons). Finally, while audio/video footage may be sourced from third-‐party produc;ons, it must be clearly iden;fied and limited in use (ie complaint with fair use/fair dealing laws).

Deadlines

•  The deadlines for the finished case study feature ar;cles are: – case study 1 (ar;st) – 30th October 2014 by 3pm – case study 2 (genre) – 27th November 2014 by 3pm

•  The deadline for the finished essay is : – Thursday 8th January 2015, by 3pm

Weekly sessions Week Session

1a Studying popular music: why and how

1b Rock and roll and the popular music consumer

2a I got the blues: American black popular music 1920-‐1970

2b Music and the American counter-‐culture

3a Soul, funk and protest

3b Afrobeat: the poli;cs of Fela Ku;

4a Roots, rocks, reggae: the poli;cs of Bob Marley

4b Black Bri;sh music


5a From progressive to art rock: cultural capital and musical intellectualism

5b Heavy metal, heavy ;mes

6a Blank genera;on: the history of punk

6b Post-‐punk, or rip it up and start again

7a Electric dreams: disco and dancing

7b From the street: the birth of hip-‐hop

9a From gangster rap to conspicuous consump;on

9b Gender trouble: from rap to r&b


10a Electronic music production: technology, technique and talent

10b Moral panics, dance music and rave culture

11a Branding Bri;shness: Britpop

11b Women in pop music

12a The boy (band)s are back in town

12b Englishness and folk

Soundtrack to our lives

Nicki Minaj – ‘Anaconda’ (2014)

Des;ny's Child – ‘Bootylicious’ (2001)

Nicki Minaj – ‘Lookin Ass’ (2014)

Sir Mix a Lot – ‘Baby Got Back’ (1992)

�Chris;na Aguilera featuring Redman� -‐ ‘Dirrty’ (2002)�

Britney Spears� -‐ ‘Till The World Ends’ April 2011

SALEM – ‘ Till The World Ends’ May 2011 Slowed down version of Britney Spears� -‐ ‘Till The World Ends’ Features strippers and night vision ar;llery strikes

Popular culture

1.  Well-‐liked by many 2.  The opposite of high culture 3.  Mass culture (commercial) 4.  Of the people 5.  Hegemonic (a site of struggle) 6.  Postmodern culture (blurring boundaries

between commercial and authen;c)

I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide prac;ces in a lok in New York City. I was working on the organ sounds with much pa;ence. I was the first guy playing Dak Punk to the rock kids. I played it at CBGB's. Everybody thought I was crazy. We all know. But I'm losing my edge to bePer-‐looking people with bePer ideas and more talent. And they're actually really, really nice. I heard you have a compila;on of every good song ever done by anybody. Every great song by the Beach Boys. All the underground hits. All the Modern Lovers tracks.

LCD Soundsystem – I’m Losing My Edge -‐ 2002

Why Study Popular Music?

Why Study Popular Music?

•  researching facts and exis;ng theories •  using theories to develop tools for analysing texts and cultural prac;ces

•  apply the theories to understand the facts and using the facts to test the theories

•  developing ideas/theories of your own

PuWng the ‘disco’ in discourse

“the charts not only cons;tute a prac;ce which assumes that commercial success = cultural success, but they define popular music as being music that is commercially successful. Equally the style of the chart shows defines popular music as new and exci;ng” (2013: xiii)

•  ‘music’ Phil Hilfiker •  ‘Music in my ears’ Rob Ellis •  ‘ I’m only popular on the internet’ duncan c •  ‘Cultural theory and popular culture’ Rob JewiP •  ‘Music’ Sameer Vasta •  ‘Disco Ball’ Rosie Rogers •  ‘crea;ve commons -‐Franz Patzig-‐’ A. Diez Herrero

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MED332 introduction to the module

Education

Transcript of MED332 introduction to the module