Transcript No Slide Title

Sound Recording and
Popular Music
Chapter 5
“How will we ‘consume’—or ‘appropriate,’ poach,
pirate, remix and mashup—popular recorded
music in the future?…Who will control the
sound-recording industry in the years to
come…? What messages will songwriters,
singers, and musicians convey to us through
their work? And how will artists profit from their
efforts?”
From Cylinders to Disks
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The development stage
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de Martinville, France, 1850s
The entrepreneurial stage
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Edison develops phonograph, 1877
Bell and Tainter develop graphophone, 1886
From Cylinders to Disks (cont.)
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The mass-medium stage
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Berliner develops gramophone, invents massproduced records, 1887
Victrolas become first record-playing
phonographs, early 1900s
Electric record players replace Victrolas,
1920s
LPs and 45s become widely available, 1950s
From Records to Tapes
to CDs to MP3s
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Stereo sound developed, 1950s
Portable cassette players replace reel-to-reel,
1960s
Digital recording, 1970s
CDs, 1980s
MP3 and illegal file-swapping issues, 2000s–
present
Records and Radio
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ASCAP is founded, 1914
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Establishes music-rights fees for radio
Starts charging stations to play music, 1925
Many can’t afford fees and have to leave the air
Radio and the recording industry join forces
against TV, 1950s
Recording industry pushes for high royalty
charges in reaction to Internet streaming, 2000s
U.S. Pop Music
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Tin Pan Alley helps transform pop into big
business, late 1800s
Jazz develops in New Orleans, early 1900s
“Crooners” gain prominence,1930s–1940s
Blues and R&B sets stage for rock,1940s
Rock and Roll is born, 1950s
Rock Blurs Boundaries
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High and low culture
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Masculine and feminine
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Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”
Androgynous male performers
Country and city
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Rockabilly
Sounding “black” or “white”
Rock Blurs Boundaries (cont.)
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North and South
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R&B influences move north
Sacred and secular
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Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
Rock and Roll Embattled
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White artists cover black music
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Transform R&B songs to hits on white charts
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Black artists receive little recognition or money
Turning point occurs when Ray Charles covers
No. 1 hit of white musician
Censorship
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Delinquency on the rise in 1950s; rock blamed
Clean-cut white singers promoted by music
industry in response
Evolution of Pop Music: 1960s
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British invasion splits rock into two styles
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Gritty, high-volume rock
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Melodic, softer sound
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Rolling Stones
Beatles
Motown
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Develops soul music
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Supremes
Marvin Gaye
Evolution of Pop Music: 1960s
(cont.)
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Folk music
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Artists protest poverty, racism, war
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Bob Dylan
Joan Baez
Psychedelic era
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Artists use drugs to enhance artistic prowess,
defy government
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Jefferson Airplane
Jimi Hendrix
Evolution of Pop Music: 1970s
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Mainstream rock
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“Faceless” supergroups play to arenas
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Boston
REO Speedwagon
Punk
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Returns to roots of simple chords, catchy
music, socially challenging lyrics
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Sex Pistols
Ramones
Evolution of Pop Music:
1980s–90s
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Alternative rock
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Grunge one of many types of experimental
rock
Broke from “glam” rock of 1970s
More commercially successful than punk
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Builds on spirit of punk with bands like Nirvana
Evolution of Pop Music:
1980s–90s
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Hip-Hop
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Emerges to defy polished, professional world of soul
Spawns gangster rap
One of the most popular music forms today
Country
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Popular genre since early days of pop
Many styles represent variations in development
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Nashville sound
Pop country
New country
Economics of Sound
Recording
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Traditional business model breaks down
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Money comes from sources other than sales
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Tours, download fees
Three corporations now control most of industry
worldwide:
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music
Group, and Warner Music Group
Critics say they only promote mainstream artists
Five thousand indies left to take risks
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Promote new or older artists
Economics: Money In
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Sales down dramatically
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By 2010, U.S. music sales had fallen to $8.5
billion from $14.5 billion peak in 1999
Internet has replaced record stores, general
retail outlets, and music clubs as the major
music retailer
Illegal downloads and unauthorized
recordings hurt sales
Economics: Money Out
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Artist development (A&R agents)
Technical facilities: technical production
specialists
Manufacturing costs
CD packaging design
Advertising and promotions
Artists’ royalties
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Performance and mechanical royalties
Music in a Democratic Society
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How can popular music uphold a legacy of
free expression while resisting co-optation by
giant companies?