Dangerous Women Feminism

2021 ◽  
pp. 134-158
Author(s):  
Panizza Allmark
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Girl Culture ◽  
Promotional Materials ◽  
The Voice

In the last 10 years, feminism has been foregrounded in popular music more than at any time. At the same time, female pop music artists have been the target of hostility because of the feminist messages they espouse. This chapter examines US-based female popular music artists who have embraced a postfeminist agenda. This agenda engages messages of empowerment, sex positivity, and elements of girl culture. In addition, this chapter explores the notion of resilience in relation to how these music artists have used the voice of feminism to become outspoken and show independence and strength in celebrating the female body. In particular, the author discusses the discourse of their concert tours, as this is a time when these artists are in the spotlight through both their performance and the promotional materials for those performances and as a consequence are more open (and vulnerable) to critique than at other times.

The Culture of the Sound Image in Prewar Japan

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Japanese Cinema ◽  
Electronic Sound ◽  
Recorded Sound ◽  
Sound Image ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
Sound Technology ◽  
Sound Culture

This collection of essays explores the development of electronic sound recording in Japanese cinema, radio, and popular music to illuminate the interrelationship of aesthetics, technology, and cultural modernity in prewar Japan. Putting the cinema at the center of a ‘culture of the sound image’, it restores complexity to a media transition that is often described simply as slow and reluctant. In that vibrant sound culture, the talkie was introduced on the radio before it could be heard in the cinema, and pop music adaptations substituted for musicals even as cinema musicians and live narrators resisted the introduction of recorded sound. Taken together, the essays show that the development of sound technology shaped the economic structure of the film industry and its labour practices, the intermedial relation between cinema, radio, and popular music, as well as the architecture of cinemas and the visual style of individual Japanese films and filmmakers.

scholarly journals Starting young: Multimodal gender presentation in children’s pop music

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
School Age ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Music Competition ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Eurovision Song Contest ◽  
Gender Presentation ◽  
Background Context ◽  
Selection Of

A recent quantitative study (Smith, Choueiti, and Pieper 2018) demonstrates the hegemonic discrimination in today’s popular music scene, particularly but not exclusively in gender and race. This paper builds on that study, taking it not only into a multimodal dimension (where musical and visual performances are taken into account), but also extending it to children’s popular music, here defined as popular music performed by children for an audience and market primarily made up of children and their guardians.  The annual Norwegian popular music competition for children aged 8-15 Melodi Grand Prix Junior (MGP Jr) is the children’s equivalent of the adult competition to be Norway’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). It has been running since 2004, with 10 entries in each final, and those from 2007 onwards are available for public viewing on the national television channel’s website (tv.NRK.no). The resulting 130 songs thus provide a meaningful corpus from which to study current and recent multimodal gendered presentations of child performers.  Preliminary multimodal gender analyses (cf Maxwell and Mittner 2018) show that the performances are based around traditional gender binaries (i.e. boys and girls). While both presented genders sing, except for rare exceptions it is only boys who play instruments. This both complements and contrasts the study of the ESC (Isaksen forthcoming) which also shows a clear dominance of singing, particularly among female and female-presenting artists (including drag queens).  When these results from children’s pop music and from the ESC are set in relation to Smith, Choueiti, and Peiper 2018 in an interdisciplinary mixed methods approach, it is clear to see that the discrimination in the industry not only begins at a young age, it is also presented as normal, indeed attractive, to child viewers. This is borne out by the decreasing uptake of music tuition at Norwegian kulturskoler (the provider of state-sponsored lessons in the arts), particularly among school-age girls (Utdanningsdirektøret 2017).  In this paper I will present multimodal analyses of a selection of songs from MGP Jr in order to provide both examples of and exceptions to the norms shown by the statistics. In addition, an analysis of the (gendered) presentations of standard Norwegian instrument textbooks (cf Blix 2018) provides background context, with an emphasis on the gendered meanings that surround children in their everyday musical lives.  With thanks to Matilda Maxwell (age 11), aspiring instrumentalist, fan of MGP Jr, and research assistant. 

scholarly journals Humanism in Red: A New Mainstream Narrative in the Pop Songs in 1980s' China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Qian
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The West ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Film Version ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Recurrent Theme ◽  
Recent Interpretation

This is a preprint of an article accepted for publication in Oxford Handbook of the Music of China (Oxford University Press ) The articulation of humanism is a recurrent theme in various Chinese literature and arts over the history. One of such well-known cases is the classic novel Journey to the West (Xi you ji) dates from the 16 th Century which stresses the issues of freedom, fighting with the authorities, the loss of belief, and the importance of self-direction. Various adapted versions from this novel popular over since then which hinted strong desire to humanism expression under China’s tight central governance. The recent interpretation of nationwide impacted products is an online novel The Wu Kong’s Biography (Wukong zhuan, written by Zeng Yu, pseudonym Jin Hezai, 2000) which adding the ambitions to challenge the authorities, an imaginary compensation of the young people in China (Liao, 2017). The great popularity of the novel leads to the release of its film version Wu Kong in 2017. Even the theme song of this movie “Equaling Heaven” (music and sung by Hua Chenyu, lyrics by Jin Hezai) brings a real hit in Chinese popular music scene. It was performed by Tibetan singer Zahi Bingzuo, the 2017 winner of The Voice of China in his final song-battle in that show (Qian, 2017: 57-8) and then Hua Chenyu in the TV talent show Singer (Geshou) in 2018. The humanism articulation of the song, same as in the novels and movie, shown well in the song: When I were young and wild, were worthy of it, who would give me a belief? …I could still smile before dawn… ignore the fate decided by the god and I would say the fate follows my heart. 1 Humanist articulations are part of a trend in Chinese pop song that dates back to the 1980s, when that genre first reappeared as an indigenous entertainment genre within China itself. As a transitional phrase during which multiple pre-existing and newly emerging social

scholarly journals “Gimme a Beat!”

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 95-117
Author(s):  
Christine Capetola
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Music Technology ◽  
Music Videos ◽  
Digital Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
The Senses

In 1986, Janet Jackson forever changed the direction of pop music and its music videos with the release of her third and breakthrough album, Control. Working with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, choreographer Paula Abdul, and director Mary Lambert, Jackson created songs and videos that conveyed a new kind of feminist affect that intertwined individual stories of endurance, the forcefulness of relatively new digital music technology, and Black and female collectivity. In this article, I chart how Jackson transmitted this feminist affect through what I call hyperaurality, or sounds and vibrations that work in excess of the limitations of visual representation. Through tracing the affective excesses of Jackson’s visuals, sounds, and movements, I unpack how hyperaurality both intensifies and reintegrates the senses of sight, hearing, and feeling. In the process, I posit that vibration, or sound’s materially felt oscillations, works as a point of connection across these three aspects of hyperaurality. By demonstrating its connective power, I assert that vibration is a source of affective politics within popular music, one with the power of repurposing capitalism's excesses.

Popular Music, the Devil, and Aerobics

2021 ◽  
pp. 141-194
Author(s):  
Peter J. Schmelz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Piano Concerto ◽  
Film Scores ◽  
Concerto Grosso ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Entire Career ◽  
First Time ◽  
Group Center

This chapter advances the argument of Sonic Overload by turning to the interactions between art and popular music in Schnittke’s Symphony No. 1, Requiem (1975), Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977), Piano Concerto (1979), Symphony no. 3 (1976–81), and Faust Cantata (Seid nüchtern und wachet, 1983), as well as several of his film scores. It considers for the first time Schnittke’s ongoing negotiations between high and low across his entire career, giving careful scrutiny to his declaration in the late 1980s that “pop culture is a good disguise for any kind of devilry.” Schnittke’s change of heart, from embracing popular music—and specifically jazz and rock—from the late 1960s through the 1970s, to expressing grave concerns about its effects a decade later, mirrored the sentiments of many. In the turbulent final years of the Soviet Union, rock supplanted poetry as the conscience of the nation yet it still inspired deep anxiety among those embracing traditional Soviet conceptions of being “cultured.” Schnittke’s apprehensions about popular music in the 1980s stemmed from its growing presence in the fragmented late-Soviet soundscape and its growing prestige among newly influential tastemakers, chief among them younger intellectuals and other cultural figures. The elevation of pop music in the USSR (as in the West) expanded a growing generational divide. Schnittke’s own rejection of popular music seems to have been instigated in part by his son, Andrey, who in the early 1980s was a member of the noted Moscow rock group Center (Tsentr), a fact overlooked by previous scholars.

Nordic Modernity and the Structure of the Musical Landscape

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Holt
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Cultural Geography ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Global Modernity

This chapter outlines macro structural changes in the Nordic music landscape, drawing from sociological theory of modernity. The chapter identifies popular music in wider tensions in Nordic modernity, particularly in relation to shifting hegemonic cultures to uncover the underlying dynamics of tensions between shifting mainstream formations and their alternatives. Following this logic, musical style and taste involve positionings in relation to issues of capitalism, nationalism, and mass media. The chapter analyzes changes in the region’s music landscape within the region’s evolving modernity, particularly in the transition from a national to a more global modernity. This is illustrated by the declining status of Stockholm’s Anglo pop music industry as the region’s center into a more decentralized and networked transnational cultural geography.

Buck Owens, country music, and the struggle for discursive control

Popular Music ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Fenster
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Country Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Studio Musicians ◽  
Music Publishers ◽  
Music Genre ◽  
Recording Studios

In the early- and mid-1960s, as mainstream popular music began to reach and exploit the growing youth market, the country music genre was going through a number of important transformations (see Malone 1985; Hemphill 1970). During this period the country music industry, including record companies, recording studios, managing and booking agents, music publishers and musicians, was becoming more fully consolidated in Nashville. In addition, a different kind of dominant sound was beginning to coalesce, based on a more ‘uptown’ feel and intended for a more cosmopolitan audience accustomed to mainstream, adult pop music. The beat and whine of the honky-tonk song, as epitomised by the rural twang in the music of Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell and Webb Pierce, was being replaced as the dominant country music sound by the smooth and urbane ballad styles of Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline. This shift was both caused by and helped to foster the development of a steady set of studio musicians who would appear on thousands of country recordings per year. The musical style that coalesced in Nashville studios through the regular collaboration of these musicians and the record label producers who loosely arranged them became known as the ‘Nashville Sound’, a marketable and identifiable name for a particular set of musical conventions. This sound, nearly as similar to Rosemary Clooney as it was to Hank Williams, called into question the generic boundaries between ‘country’ music and mainstream ‘pop’ music.

Brazil

Popular Music ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-226
Author(s):  
Charles A. Perrone
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Urban Regions ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Musical Cultures ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

With its blends of Amerindian, African and European sources, Brazil has one of the richest and most diverse musical cultures in the world. Primitive tribal musics flourish in the Amazon, rural and urban regions practise many folk/traditional forms, and cosmopolitan art music has been produced since before the time of Villa-Lobos. Various musics that can be considered popular reflect both this wide national spectrum and the impact of international mass media pop music. Here, a description of the major tendencies in contemporary urban popular music of Brazil will be followed by bibliographical and discographic indications for further study or research.

Perspectives in popular musicology: music, Lennox, and meaning in 1990s pop

Popular Music ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Western Music ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Music Research ◽  
Popular Music Analysis ◽  
Music Study

Scholars of popular music in the 1990s are increasingly aware that traditional musicology has failed to recognise commercial pop music as a legitimate academic area of study. Intransigence on the part of many Western music institutions towards recognising the field of popular music study is attributable to issues that have been heatedly debated and discussed in most disciplines of popular music study. Even withstanding the expansion of critical approaches in the 1970s, which paved the way forward to the emergence of new musicological discourses by the late 1980s, musicologists engaged in popular music research have continued to feel some sense of isolation from the mainstream for obvious reasons. The implications of consumerism, commercialism, trend and hype, with the vigorous endorsement of modernist ideologies, have repeatedly curtailed any serious opportunity for studying popular music in Western music institutions. To start accommodating this area of music within any musicological discourse, scholars active within the field of popular music have had to branch out into new interdisciplinary directions to locate and interpret the ideological strands of meaning that bind pop music to its political, cultural and social context. Musical codes and idiolects are in the first instance culturally derived, with communication processes constructing the cultural norms that determine our cognition and emotional responses to musical sound (Ruud 1986). Any proposal of popular music analysis therefore needs to seek the junctures at which a range of texts interlock with musicology. Similarly, the point at which consumer demand and musical authenticity fuse requires careful consideration; it is the commodification of pop music that continues to problematise the process of its aesthetic evaluation within our Western culture.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document