Adorno and His Continuing Relevance to Popular Music Today-libre (1)
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As a contemporary musician, I found these popular music readings very interesting. I have never read the early musicological discourse on popular music and enjoyed reading the range of perspectives and discussions. Adorno's paper was instantly frustrating and conjured a passionate reaction in myself, which was discussed thoroughly in the seminar. For this reflection I will focus on an interesting point that was raised in the seminar: what, if at all, is the relevance of this 70-year-old assessment of popular music? 83 Firstly, it is historically important because it is an early initiator of scholarly discourse on popular music. Musicology had not discussed this musical style by assessing it in relation to ‘serious music’. Ironically, Adorno champions popular music by bringing it into the musicological sphere and gave us a basic framework to understand it. 150 Secondly, Adorno introduces the idea of music as a commodity; and product of consumerism. The commercialisation of music dates back to sheet-music reproduction in the mid-18th-century, which was also the time of the first wave of popular music as discussed in Middleton’s paper. Adorno points to this commodification as a key reason for the simplification and predictability of popular music forms. This idea of popular music as dictated by consumer behaviour is very relevent today and is an important consideration for defining modern popular music (especially ‘bubblegum pop’). Thirdly, the overt prejudices present in Adorno’s article are relevant because there still exists traces of this attitude of the inferiority of popular music. My experience in classically-dominated institutions has shown me that there is a prejudice against contemporary musicians especially from institutionalised classical musicians. In society the idea of high-art versus low-art still permeates, however I believe this is mainly among the upper classes or older generations. Perhaps this distaste for popular music is a class indicator, indicating more about social standing than music. This brings me to the question: will there always be a upper-class prejudice towards the music of the masses?
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Theodor W. Adorno
Transcript of Adorno and His Continuing Relevance to Popular Music Today-libre (1)
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As a contemporary musician, I found these popular music readings very interesting. I have never read the early musicological discourse on popular music and enjoyed reading the range of perspectives and discussions. Adorno's paper was instantly frustrating and conjured a passionate reaction in myself, which was discussed thoroughly in the seminar. For this reection I will focus on an interesting point that was raised in the seminar: what, if at all, is the relevance of this 70-year-old assessment of popular music? 83
Firstly, it is historically important because it is an early initiator of scholarly discourse on popular music. Musicology had not discussed this musical style by assessing it in relation to serious music. Ironically, Adorno champions popular music by bringing it into the musicological sphere and gave us a basic framework to understand it. 150
Secondly, Adorno introduces the idea of music as a commodity; and product of consumerism. The commercialisation of music dates back to sheet-music reproduction in the mid-18th-century, which was also the time of the rst wave of popular music as discussed in Middletons paper. Adorno points to this commodication as a key reason for the simplication and predictability of popular music forms. This idea of popular music as dictated by consumer behaviour is very relevent today and is an important consideration for dening modern popular music (especially bubblegum pop).
Thirdly, the overt prejudices present in Adornos article are relevant because there still exists traces of this attitude of the inferiority of popular music. My experience in classically-dominated institutions has shown me that there is a prejudice against contemporary musicians especially from institutionalised classical musicians. In society the idea of high-art versus low-art still permeates, however I believe this is mainly among the upper classes or older generations. Perhaps this distaste for popular music is a class indicator, indicating more about social standing than music. This brings me to the question: will there always be a upper-class prejudice towards the music of the masses?
