Sound Recording and Popular Music

Chapter 3

“It’s not supposed to be a model for anything else. It was simply a response to situation. We’re out of contract. We have our own studio. We have this new server. What the hell else would we do? This was the obvious thing. But it only works for us because of where we are.”

—Radiohead’s Thom Yorke

Music and the Internet

Youth, Music, and Repression

1700s—waltz viewed as “savage” 1800s—tango viewed as primitive, sexual

banned in Argentina attacked by the French clergy

1920s—the Charleston vilified 1950s through 1980s—rock and roll

decried as too sexual, violent The generation gap persists

Early History of Recording

de Martinville, France, 1850s

Edison, U.S., 1877

Berliner, U.S., 1880s

Victor Talking Machine, U.S., 1900s

Radio gets an edge over recording industry, 1920s

History (cont.) Edison’s wax cylinders Berliner and vinyl records Magnetic audiotape (Germany, 1940s) Stereo sound (1950s) Digital recording (1970s) Compact discs (1980s) DVDs (1990s) MP3 and music piracy issues (now)

Figure 3.1

“Many of them have no resources to pay the $3,000 penalty. They are students.”

— Lee Bowie, Mount Holyoke College dean, on the thirteen college students forced to pay $3,000 settlements to the recording industry (or risk a lawsuit) for illegal music downloads, 2008

Records and Radio

1914: ASCAP founded to collect copyright fees for music writers and publishers.

1924: Radio competition cut’s record sales in half.

However, costs of royalties force many radio stations off the air.

Radio and the recording industry join forces in the 1950s.

U.S. Pop Music

“Music should never be harmless.” —Robbie Robertson of The Band

Pop music starts as low culture. It appeals to the masses.

Likewise blues, country, Tejano, salsa, jazz, rock, reggae, rap, hip-hop, easy listening, and more

Rock Music Divides and Joins High and low culture

Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” Sinatra vs. Elvis

Masculine and feminine Country and city North and South Sacred and secular

Ray Charles’s gospel origins

Cover Music and Racism

Dick Clark promotes white covers of black music.

Elvis listed as co-writer Pat Boone “king of cover music” Little Richard outsings Boone Ray Charles gets #1 with cover of white

musician

Payola Scandals

Payola The practice of record promoters paying

deejays to play their songs on the airAlan Freed ruined

Congressional hearings in 1959 By 2005: Payola persists.

“The white boy who sang colored”

1950s sees radio losing programming to TV. Creates void filled by rock and roll Led by R&B penetration (25% by 1953) Overtly sexual lyrics Declining segregation

Elvis Alan Freed (Cleveland deejay)

Crossover Heroes

Bill Haley and the Comets (R&B) Johnnie Ray (R&B) Chuck Berry (country) ex. “Maybellene” Ray Charles plays in a white band. Southern music (gospel and country/folk)

regains cultural respectability after CW. Delta blues, rockabilly, Hooker and Holly

The Times They Were A-Changin’ The 1960s The British Invasion

The Beatles The Rolling Stones

Motown The Supremes Marvin Gaye

Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Broadly, folk music = songs performed by

untrained musicians and passed down through oral traditions

Considered a democratic and participatory form

Folk music was popularized by radio and by grassroots activists like Woody Guthrie, who championed peace and social justice.

Punk Revives Rock

Return to the basics of rock and roll: simple chord structures, catchy melodies, and politically or socially challenging lyrics

The Ramones Blondie The Clash The Sex Pistols

The World According to Hip-Hop

Started in NYC’s party scene By mid-1980s had commercial success One of the most popular music forms today Questions class and racial boundaries Challenges status quo values

The Sound of Music

The music industry experienced

significant losses beginning in 2000. File-sharing began to undercut CD sales.

Global Oligopoly: Four corporations control most of industry

worldwide.

Figure 3.2

Making Recordings Artist development (A&R agents) Technical facilities: technical production specialists Sales and distribution

Direct retail Music clubs Internet sales

Advertising and promotion Radio MTV

Administrative operations

What Sony OwnsMusic• Sony BMG MusicEntertainment (50%ownership)– Arista, Arista Nashville,Columbia, Epic, Jive,LaFace, RCA, RCA Victor,Sony BMG Masterworks.• Sony/ATV Music Publishing(50% ownership)

Movies• Sony PicturesEntertainment Inc.• Columbia TriStar MotionPicture Group– Columbia Pictures, SonyPictures Classics, ScreenGems, TriStar Pictures• Sony Pictures Studios• Metro-Goldwyn-MayerStudios• Sony Pictures HomeEntertainment

Television• Sony Pictures Television– Jeopardy !, Wheel ofFortune, Days of OurLives, The Young and theRestless, Dragon Tales,Just Shoot Me!, TheNanny, Mad about You,NewsRadio, Seinfeld• Crackle• Game Show Network

Electronics• Sony Electronics Inc.– DVD and Blu-ray Discplayers– Bravia HDTVs– OLED digital TVs– VAIO computers– Handycam Camcorders– Cyber-shot Digital Cameras– Walkman Video MP3players

– Sony Reader Digital Book

Software• Sony Creative Software:Vegas, ACID Pro, SoundForge, Media Manager

Digital Games• Sony ComputerEntertainment America Inc.– PlayStation– PlayStation Portable– PlayStation Network– PlayStation games

Mobile Phones• Sony Ericsson MobileCommunications (50%ownership)

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4

Free Expression and Democracy

How can popular music uphold a legacy of free expression while resisting co-optation by giant companies?