Research: Popular Culture

Popular Culture Theory

It is important to know and understand the theories  to  see  ow popular music is sold and being appealed to the mass audience, some theories say because of large industries, that have the  power to consume the audience. 

Popular culture

Popular culture is a lifestyle and tastes of the younger generation, which are mostly influenced by  artist such as Miley Cyrus, one direction who basically are basically at the top of  the charts, which most young people would follow, but popular changes a lot over certain periods of time, so in other words its very passive. There are two statements in with popular culture, people tend to believe that popular culture is used by elites, who tends to control those below, dulls people’s minds making them easier to control. The other statement is popular culture is rebelling to other dominant groups.

Gramsci

Antonio Gramsci came up with a theory of hegemony, what this means dominance and leadership, what Gramsci said that are in a bourgeoisie, have the power over the media industry, so they would show what gets shown on the television, and on the radio stations, and they also control what stories go in and what stories cannot get shown on Television. From a result of this it make the audience all think the same and not challenging cultural ideologies.
From this happening artist started publishing their own music and making their own music videos rather than being under the control of the mainstreams culture, artist didn’t want to be under control they wanted to have more of freedom of speach . The technology that was used for

Frankfurt School

 Some philosophers believes that  the music industry exploits the mass population to profit social control, in hope that they accept certain Ideologies, so the bourgeoisie class people are trying to make  everyone the same in the mass popular culture, so from this the bourgeoisie wants everyone to  share the same values from  dress sense down to  likes and dislikes. 

Theodor Adorno

Adorno was a leading member of the Frankfurt school of critical theory. Adorno argued that that the capitalist fed the cultural industry, which he believed, was the opposite. Adorno believes that culture industries, standardised interchangeable, so the pop culture would listen to one artist then another speaking about the same lifestyle but the only thing different is the song.

Adorno statement is true the reason being is with the popular culture, there is not really a change in the music and from the media institutions, this is what they want their artist to produce for the pop culture, because the media institutions want the popular culture to get passively consumed by the artist , for the artist is good because their buying in to the artist.

Birmingham School

Birmingham school is more of a modern day school who challenged some statements from the Frankfurt school and Adorno about the popular culture. The Birmingham school argued is not everyone from in the consumes music the same, they have their own interpretations to music, and their not as passive, as Frankfurt school and Adorno says, but this is some engagement the consumer about what they like and don’t like.   

Dick Hebdige

Hebdge has a different view on the audience of the popular culture, he believes that the audience are free to find their own alternative products to consume, and they can resist the power of being consummed in the  large companies. From Hebdege statement we can see that were the sub cultures come in to play, the people that turn against the popular culture, and listen to their own type of music with their twist.  

With Hebdige, what does he assume about active and passive consumers?

Conclusion

What I have learnt from the popular culture is how people’s beliefs and other stuff come in to play, and also how certain members of the audience are consumed. I don’t think me and my group would use an artist of the popular culture, and it go to a popular culture, but the song that we pick would be different not mainstream.