Adorno has stated that ‘the whole structure of popular music is standardized, even where the attempt is made to circumvent standardization. Standardization extends from the most general features to the most specific ones’ in On Record. The suggestion that popular music is homogenous and this leads to the notion that the entire culture industry must be standardized and therefore it is a mass-produced commodity. Suggesting popular music is homogenous means that every track produced is the same; the structure of it is the same and therefore cannot be a genuine art form. Art should be something that is unique and makes a point of self-awareness; it can also be something to express feelings of its producer. Popular music is not unique, every ‘artist’ follows the tried and tested method and therefore popular music is a mass produced commodity whose only purpose of existing is to make money from its passive audience.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Is popular music a mass produced commodity or a genuine art form?
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You certainly seem to accord with Adorno's position but what of the contrary one expressed by Gendron?
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