Does the audience play an active role in the production of meaning in popular music?

The music industry has slowly established itself as a major money making business and in order to this it has expanded into a number of sectors such as retail, press, technology, merchandising as well as the recording companies. The primary objective of these record companies is to maximise profits so the industry creates and recreates something that they know will sell, this can be illustrated many times by looking at certain artists or groups and hearing a similar sound or look between them, for example, Boyzone and Westlife, Busted and Mcfly, Ne-Yo and Chris Browne. All of these artists' music and styles are very similar as the industry has recognised the opportunity and the popularity and has manufactured similar bands and artists to make money from what the people like. It is unrealistic to suggest that popular music can exist entirely uninfluenced by the forces of the music industry, even now when some people suggest that new technologies and websites such as Myspace.com have seen bands become established without the help of record companies , their ultimate goal will to be signed to a record label so they can make money out of the music they make. The music industry monopolises the audience by using what they know will sell and marketing it in different ways. Sony for example, is a massive business and has expanded into all different types of markets, therefore if Sony have made a film, it is almost guaranteed that the artists on the soundtrack will be signed by Sony and even the television you view the film on or the stereo you listen to the CD on could also be made by Sony. If one of these products is successful it is likely to expand to the other parts therefore on one soundtrack to a popular film Sony can promote a number of artists which then increases the chance of the audience going out to buy some of the individual artists albums if they like their sound. The audience therefore has a minor role in the production of meaning in popular music because the industry are able to recognise what sells and bring out new artists with a similar sound and style, so the audience thinks it is something knew but careful analysis will show that they are just another form of someone else who has been before them that has also had popularity in the industry of the same genre of music.

Review of MOJO

The cover drawing representing their feature on '100 records that changed the world' immediately implies that the magazine is a music lovers must have - and, as the drawing illustrates, the magazines content covers a wide range of musical talent. Phil Alexander, editor in chief, definitely has a strong and knowledgeable team behind him to be able to cover and review the range of music discussed and reviewed, including music from the 50's. This magazine undoubtedly appeals to a male audience, as many of the adverts and content are aimed at men, but also any age group could be interested in this mag - those who grew up in the 60's are able to reminisce and see how the music they grew up to is still influencing and making an impact on the youth and music industry of the 21st century. For those with an open mind about music, this magazine offers insight into up and coming bands as well as established bands who do not form part of the commercial/mainstream music industry, therefore giving readers readers the opportunity to expand their own music library and include some unique content. With information on websites to sample music and details of recommended retailers across the UK, this magazine is jam packed of everything you need to know on how to take after the MOJO team and become a music expert all for yourself.

Are 'Blackness' and 'Whiteness' useful concepts in the study of popular music?

At the time when the music industry began to establish itself as a real money making business, when laws began to be introduced surrounding music and artists' rights, the division between black and white was a lot more polarised than what we are familiar with nowadays. People viewed black and white as completely separate in everyway, they each had their own types of jobs, cultures and ultimately music. Traditionally R and B was associated with the black community and more recently, hip-hop and rap music is considered to be part of the 'black' culture. Therefore, when studying popular music in the past, the use of the terms 'whiteness' and 'blackness' were useful concepts as there was a clear distinction between the two. Music companies set up there own 'Race Records' labels highlighting further that there clearly was a distinction between what black people liked and what white people listened to, (or so the music industry thought). However, nowadays the difference is not so clearly defined, nowadays it is more difficult to pin point black/white music because what is black music? or what is white music? Many associate black music with R n B and Hip-Hop but is this just because the majority of it is performed by a black artist? UB40 released tracks that were clearly reggae so in this sense it highlights the difficulty of defining what black/white music is in modern society. Nowadays what people listen to is more diverse and what type of music people are interested in is very different and therefore more difficult to define in terms of race. For example, I'm sure 50 Cent has a lot of white fans and Eminem black fans, showing that colour is not so important nowadays and is not as associated with certain genres of music. 'Whiteness' and 'Blackness' may have been useful concepts in the past but nowadays society and popular music are much more relaxed when it comes to associating certain races with certain types of music and therefore these terms would be irrelevant to use when referring to modern popular music.