Studying Music

An International Conference in Honour

of Simon Frith

University of Edinburgh

10-12 April 2014

Special Guests and Speaker Abstracts  

     

     

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S   P   E   C   I   A   L       G   U   E   S   T   S        

Tom Arthurs  Drawing  influence  from  music  ranging  from  György  Ligeti  to  the  pygmies  of  Central  Africa,  the  work  of  film  directors  Andrei  Tarkovsky  and  Jean-­‐Luc  Godard  and  the  creations  of  pioneering  chefs   Ferran   Adrià   and   Heston   Blumenthal,   Tom's   warm   sound   and   all-­‐encompassing  approach  are  becoming  increasingly  well  known  across  Europe  and  beyond.  Arthurs  has  been  awarded   commissions   from   the   BBC/RPS   for   both   the   City   of   London   Festival   and   the   BBC  Proms  and  has  worked  with  a  variety  of  artists,e.g.    The  Julia  Hülsmann  Quartet,  Eric  Schaefer,  The  Miles   Perkin   Quartet,   Richard   Fairhurst,   John   Surman,   John   Taylor,   Tom   Rainey,   Drew  Gress,  Jack  DeJohnette,  Evan  Parker,  Kenny  Wheeler  and  Stéphane  Payen.  Thrice-­‐nominated  in  the  BBC  Jazz  Awards,  Tom  has  been  featured  extensively  on  BBC  Radio  3  as  part  of  the  New  Generation   Scheme  and   has   performed   internationally  with   festival   credits   including   Berlin,  North  Sea,  Cheltenham,  Moers,  Bath,  Jazzd’or,  London,  Manchester,  Belfast  and  Jerusalem.  

Robert Christgau  Robert  Christgau  began  writing   rock   criticism   for  Esquire  in   1967   and   has   also   covered  popular   music   regularly   in  Newsday,   Creem,  Playboy,  Video   Review,  Rolling   Stone,  and  Blender  and   irregularly   in   dozens   of   other   publications.   He's   best   known   for   his   work  at  The  Village  Voice,  where  he  was  a  columnist   from  1969   to  1972  and  an  editor  and  chief  popular  music  critic  from  1974  until  2006.  He  wrote  for  MSN  Music  from  2006  until  2013  and  is   a   columnist   at  The   Barnes   &   Noble   Review  and   a   regular   contributor   to   NPR's  All   Things  Considered.  Christgau  has   published   five   books   based   on   his   journalism.   He   won   a  Guggenheim   Fellowship   in   1987   and   in   2002   was   a   senior   fellow   at   the   National   Arts  Journalism   Program.   He   has   taught   music   history   and   writing   at   many   colleges,   most  prominently   New   York   University,   and   in   2007   was   a   Ferris   Teaching   Fellow   in   cultural  journalism  at  Princeton.  A  memoir  tentatively  entitled  Semi  Popular  will  appear  in  2014.    

Chris Cutler  After   8   years   in  Henry   Cow,  Cutler   founded   or   co-­‐founded   a   series   of   mixed   national  groups:  Art   Bears,  News   from   Babel,   Cassiber,  The   (ec)   Nudes,  p53,  The   Bad   Boys  and  the  Science   Group;  he   has   also   been   a   member   of  Pere   Ubu   and  The  Wooden   Birds   and  a  dozen   plus   other   bands;  toured   the   world   as   a   soloist   with   his   extended   electrified   kit;  improvised   a   lot;   made   too   many   CDs;   produced  a   year-­‐long   daily  soundscape   project  for  Resonance  FM;  wangled  p53   for  Orchestra  and  Soloists;   founded  and  runs   the   independent  label   and   distributor  ReR   Megacorp;  edited   the  Re   Records   Quarterly   and   is   author   of  File  

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Under   Popular,  as  well   as   numerous   articles   and  papers   published   in   sixteen   languages.  He  was  on  faculty  for  a  while  at  the  Museum  School,  Boston;   lectures   irregularly  on  theoretical  and  music-­‐related  topics  and   is  currently  making  Probes  –  a   radio/podcast   lecture  series   for  the  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  Barcelona.  

Beverley Diamond  Beverley  Diamond  is  the  Canada  Research  Chair  in  Ethnomusicology  at  Memorial  University  of  Newfoundland  where  she  established  and  directs  the  Research  Centre  for  the  Study  of  Music,  Media,   and   Place   (MMaP).  Diamond   is   known   for   her   research   on   gender   issues,   Canadian  historiography,  and  indigenous  music  cultures.  Her  research  on  indigenous  music  has  ranged  from  studies  of  traditional  Inuit  and  First  Nations  song  traditions  and  Saami  joik,  to  indigenous  audio   recording,   traditional   protocols   for   access   and   ownership,   and,   most   recently,  expressive   culture   in   relation   to   the   Truth   and   Reconciliation   Commission   on   residential  schools   in   Canada.  Most   recently   she   co-­‐edited  Aboriginal  Music   in   Contemporary   Canada.  Echoes   and   Exchanges   which   received   a   Choice   Academic   Book   award.   Among   her   other  publications   are  Native   American   Music   in   Eastern   North   America   and  Music   and   Gender.  Diamond   has   been   recognized   for   moving   Canadian   music   studies   in   new   directions   and  mentoring   a   generation   of   scholars   who   have   greatly   expanded   the   histories   of   cultural  diversity.  She  is  currently  the  President  of  the  Society  for  Ethnomusicology.    

Chris Frith  Chris   Frith   is   Emeritus   Professor   of   Neuropsychology   at   the   Wellcome   Centre   for  Neuroimaging,   University   College   London   and   Visiting   Professor   at   the   Interacting   Minds  Centre,   Aarhus   University.   Since   completing   his   PhD   in   1969   he   has   been   funded   by   the  Medical   Research   Council   and   the   Wellcome   Trust   to   study   the   relationship   between   the  mind  and  the  brain.  He  is  a  pioneer  in  the  application  of  brain  imaging  to  the  study  of  mental  processes.  He  has  contributed  many  papers  to  scientific  journals  and  is  known  especially  for  his   work   on   agency,   social   cognition,   and   understanding   the  minds   of   people   with  mental  disorders  such  as  schizophrenia.  For  this  work  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  in  2000  and  a  Fellow  of  the  British  Academy  in  2008.  His  book,  Making  up  the  Mind:  How  the  Brain   Creates   our   Mental   World   (Wiley-­‐Blackwell   2007)   has   been   translated   into   11  languages.  As  a  result  of  all  this  activity  his  ability  to  play  the  viola  has  sadly  deteriorated.    

Fred Frith  Fred  Frith  is  a  songwriter,  composer,  improviser,  and  multi-­‐instrumentalist  best  known  for  the  reinvention  of  the  electric  guitar  that  began  with  Guitar  Solos  in  1974.  He  learned  his  craft  as  both  improviser  and  composer  playing  in  rock  bands,  notably  Henry  Cow,  and  creating  music  

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in   the   recording   studio.   Much   of   his   compositional   output   has   been   commissioned   by  choreographers  and  filmmakers,  but  his  work  has  also  been  performed  by  Ensemble  Modern,  Hieronymus  Firebrain,  Arditti  Quartet,  Robert  Wyatt,  Bang  on  a  Can  All  Stars,  Concerto  Köln,  and  Rova  Sax  Quartet,  among  quite  a  few  others.  Fred  enthusiastically  records  and  performs  all   over   the   place  with   icons   of   contemporary  music,   younger   players   you  may   never   have  heard  of  and  everyone  in  between.    He  is  currently  leading  the  Gravity  Band,  Eye  to  Ear  (his  film  music   group),   and  Cosa  Brava,  whose   second  CD—The   Letter—was   released   to   critical  acclaim   in   2012.   Fred   teaches   at   Mills   College   in   Oakland   California   and   at   the   Musik  Akademie   in   Basel,   Switzerland.  He   is   the   subject   of  Nicolas  Humbert   and  Werner   Penzel’s  award-­‐winning  documentary  film  Step  Across  the  Border.            

S   P   E   A   K   E   R   S      Mikkel Ålvik (University of Oslo)

The Right to Perform: Simon Frith’s Performing Rites, Anglocentrism, and Popular Music

 In  Performing  Rites  (1996)  Simon  Frith  devotes  a  chapter  to  “songs  as  texts.”  At  the  end  of  the  otherwise   consistent   chapter,   he   makes   the   curious   assertion   that   global   rock   musical  conventions  –  because  of  the  way  in  which  they  reflect  “patterns  of  Anglo-­‐American  and  Afro-­‐American   speech”  –   “may  not  be   suitable   for  other   languages”   (p.   175).   This   raises   several  questions   about   popular   music   from   outside   the   Anglophone   field.   How   are   stylistic   traits  informed  and  shaped  by  language?  How  do  non-­‐Anglophone  bands  and  artists  accommodate  these  perceived  standards?  And  who   the  hell  do  artists  who  sing   rock  music   in   their  native  language,   think   they   are?   Frith’s   assertion   takes   on   relevance   for   popular  music   studies   as  well  as  for  popular  music.  English  is  taken  for  granted  not  just  as  the  language  of  lyrics  (artists  need   to   sing   in   English   in   order   to   be   heard   by   an   international   audience),   but   also   as   the  language   of   scholarship   (academics   need   to   write   in   English   in   order   to   be   read   by   an  international   audience).   For   non-­‐English-­‐speaking   artists  and   scholars,   English   becomes   the  other   language   that   they  have   to   appropriate   in   order   to   follow   “conventions”.  Mastery   of  English,  then,  is  not  only  about  imitation,  but  also  generates  and  reinforces  subjectivity.  Rock  bands   Kaizers   Orchestra   (Norway)   and   Dungen   (Sweden),   who   both   sing   in   their   native  tongue,  have  established  fan  bases  both  on  the  European  continent  and  in  the  UK  and  the  US.  Taking   these  examples   as  points  of   entry,   I  wish   to   investigate   into  how  Frith’s   contention,  while  it  might  not  hold  up  under  critical  scrutiny,  may  still  provide  popular  music  studies  with  an   example   for   us   to   follow:   Frith   inadvertently   highlights   the   need   to   deconstruct   the  

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hegemonic   position  of   English   and   investigate   into  how   the   stylistic   traits   of   popular  music  may  work  in  the  context  of  other  languages.    

 Tom Artiss (University of Cambridge)

‘Music and Identity’ Revisited: Requesting Songs in and Back Out of a Primordial Affective Soup  I  begin  this  paper  proposing  that  requested  songs  at  a  radio  station  in  the  Inuit  community  of  Nain,  Labrador,  are  engaged  as  affective  prostheses  to  reach  out  and  touch  others   in  extra-­‐tactile  extra-­‐linguistic  ways,  to  personalize  the  prepersonal  and,  ultimately,  to  both  assert  and  dissolve  subjectivity.  I’ve  been  peddling  this  idea  for  some  time  but  as  yet,  the  credit  given  to  those  who  have  made  it  possible  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  debt  owed.  I  will  finally  attempt  to  redress   this   negligence   by   returning   to   one   of   Simon   Frith’s   seminal   essays,   Music   and  Identity.  It  is  a  testament  to  his  insight  –  and  foresight!  –  that  this  pastiche  of  quotations  and  aphorisms   galvanized   and   brought   to   the   fore   such   lasting   concepts   as,   for   example,   the  processual  character  of  identity  “most  vividly  grasped  as  music”,  and  music  as  something  that  constitutes   rather   than   reflects   socialities.   But   it   is   a   third   somewhat  neglected   claim  –   i.e.  that   musical   engagement   simultaneously   affords   the   expression   and   subornment   of  subjectivity  –  that  I  wish  to  develop  here.  With  this  as  a  guide,  the  destination  is  “Music  and  Identity”  revisited.  Equipped  with  theoretical  tools  that  are,  if  not  new,  certainly  more  refined  than  they  were  in  the  mid  1990s,   I  will  try  to  extend  Frith’s  “expression”  and  “subornment”  analytic   that   considers   identity   in   terms   of   individual/group   relations   to   include   a  consideration  of   identity   in   terms  of   individual/pre-­‐individual   relations.  Stops  along   the  way  include   Rogers   Brubaker’s   “Beyond   Identity,”   Deleuze’s   “A   Life,”   and   Allesandro   Duranti’s  interpretations   of   Husserl’s   intersubjectivity:   that   of   an   empathetic   “trading   places”   rather  than  the  more  common  “mutual  understanding.”          

 

Chris Atton (Edinburgh Napier University)

Between the Notes and the Social: what can we learn from ‘Unpopular’ Music and its Audiences?  The  sociology  of  popular  music  has  tended  to  eschew  conventional  musicological  approaches  and   instead   to   locate   the   listening   experience   as   one   rooted   in   social   uses   and   pleasures.    Where  musicological  analysis  is  employed,  it  tends  to  reinforce  the  commonality  of  pleasures  by  proposing  a  reading  of  music  that  can  be  mapped  on  to  listeners’  social  experiences.    Such  studies  risk  presenting  static  and  predictable  accounts  of   listening.   Instead,  we  can  examine  the   development,   consolidation   and   renewal   of   audiences’   approaches   to   listening,   and  explore  the  tools  and  processes  they  use,  such  as  music  journalism,  amateur  writing,  rituals  of  

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collecting;  in  short,  an  ethnomethodological  approach  to  the  array  of  musical  analysis  used  by  listeners  themselves,  not  by  sociologists  or  musicologists.  A  rich  site  for  such  research  is  what  we   might   term   ‘unpopular’   forms   of   popular   music,   such   as   avant-­‐garde   rock,   free  improvisation  and  Noise.    These  styles  comprise  a  largely  unconsidered  field  of  music  where  explicit  ideologies  of  experimentation,  exploration  and  ‘progress’  can  render  genres  unstable  and  where  musical  practices  challenge  dominant  accounts  of  the  social,  the  authentic  and  the  ‘real’  in  popular  music.    

 Melissa Avdeeff (University of Alberta)

The New Gatekeepers(?): Defining the Online Music Critic  Throughout   his   career,   Simon   Frith   has   taken   on   both   the   role   of   the   music   critic   and  academic.   His   writing   style,   which   is   generally   considered   to   be   fairly   accessible   to  mainstream   audiences,   combines   ideological   discourse   from   both   music   criticism   and  academe,  notably  music-­‐sociology.  His  fusion  of  styles  raises  the  questions:  what  does  a  critic  do,  and  how  does  it  differ  from  the  role  of  the  musicologist?    

Frith   has   explored   the   educational   differences   between   critics   and   academics   with   his  paper  'Becoming  a  journalist'  (2007),  co-­‐authored  with  Meech.  They  found  that  over  the  past  thirty   years,   critics   and   music   journalists   have   become   increasingly   educated,   essentially  creating  an  institutional  career,  as  opposed  to  a  more  trades-­‐based  training  format.  To  build  on   this   research,   this  paper  will  question  whether   the   increase   in  education   levels  of  critics  translates  into  discourse  becoming  more  ideologically  similar  to  that  of  the  academic?  In  very  general  terms,  critics  have  tended  to  explore  how  a  piece  adheres  to,  or  challenges,  musical  conventions  and  historical  lineages.  Academics,  on  the  other  hand,  often  engage  with  how  a  piece  or  musician  challenges  or  reinforces  social  conventions,  within  a  pre-­‐existing  theoretical  framework.    

The  main   thrust   of   this   paper  will   be   an  exploration  of   an   area  of  music   criticism  which  Frith  has  not  yet  explored:  the  digital  environment.  How  are  these  ideologies,  and  education  levels,   being   negotiated   in   online   music   magazines   and   blogs?   Within   the   participatory  environment  of  the  internet,  there  is  a  sense  that  anyone  can  become  a  critic,  just  as  'anyone'  can  become  a  musician.  If  anyone  can  create  a  music  blog,  what  does  this  mean  for  the  future  of  music  criticism?  Will  the  ideological  differences  between  the  critic  and  the  academic  create  a  new  distinction,  or  are  the  educated  moving  into  the  digital  realm?    

           

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Mark Banks (University of Leicester), co-presenting with Kate Oakley (University of Leeds) The Dance goes on Forever? Class, Art Workers and the Myth of Mobility  Central   to   the   mythology   of   artistic,   media   and   other   cultural   labour   is   the   idea   of   class  mobility,   from   the   downwardly   mobile   bohemian   to   the   aspirational   working   class   talent.  Typified  by   the   figure  of   the  arts   school   student  who   seeks   to  dissolve   class   identity   into   a  critical   marginality,   higher   education,   particularly   in   art   and   design,   has   been   seen   as   an  engine   of   this  mobility.   Empirical   studies   of   the  media   and   cultural   labour   force   have   long  since  challenged  these  notions,  revealing  a  workforce  that  is  narrow  and  getting  narrower  in  terms  of  social  class;  while  arts  schools  have  been  pervasively  absorbed   into  the   ‘neoliberal  university.’    

However,   such   concerns   are   not   new;   in   ‘Art   into   Pop’   (1987)   Simon   Frith   and   Howard  Horne  were  amongst  the  first  to  identify  the  opportunities  provided  by  the  art  school,  as  well  as  the  threats  to  its  continued  good  flourishing,  and  the  potentially  damaging  consequences  for   class  mobility.   Taking   Frith   and  Horne’s   study   as   a   departure  point,   this   paper  uses   the  authors’   own,  more   recent,   research   to   explore   some  of   the   contemporary   (and  historical)  aspects  of  class  and  artistic  work.  It  examines  the  changing  class  profile  of  the  art  student,  as  well  as  the  class  identities  of  contemporary  art  students,  investigating  their  understandings  of  the  career  pathways  and  trajectories  now  open  (or  closed)  to  them.    In  creative  occupations  where   class   -­‐   along   with   other   forms   of   exclusion   -­‐   has   become   unspeakable,   it   further  examines  the  extent  to  which  the  art  school,  once  seen  as  the  ‘working  class  university,’  has  played   a   particular   role   enhancing   (or   challenging)   strongly-­‐established   labour   market  inequalities.      

 

Barbara Bradby (Trinity College Dublin)

The Story of My Life: Identification and Evaluation in Online Music Talk  In   the   opening   pages   of   Performing   Rites,   Simon   Frith   uses   an   account   of   an   evening   in  Sweden  spent  talking  and  debating  with   friends  about  popular  music,   to  argue  that  value   is  crucial  to  our  social  engagement  with  music.    ‘Part  of  the  pleasure  of  popular  culture  is  talking  about   it;   part   of   its  meaning   is   this   talk,   talk  which   is   run   through  with   value   judgements.’  (1996,  p.  4)      

Yet  studies  of  audiences’   talk  about  popular  music  have  been  rather   limited  –  compared  with   audience   studies   in   the   areas   of   soap   opera,   comic   books   or   film.    If   this   is   in   part  because  of  the  difficulty  of  accessing  spontaneous  talk  about  music,  then  the  advent  of  online  ‘talk’   provides   new   resources   and   possibilities.    This   paper   explores   various   forms   and  functions  of  online  talk,  using  Youtube  comments  and  song  meaning  sites.    It  analyses  various  fields  or  frames  of  online  talk,  ranging  from  the  more  ritualistic  stance,  applause  and  thanks  to  biographical  identification  with  the  emotional  scenario,  or  ‘story’  of  a  song.    A  specific  field  

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of   evaluation   where   ‘conversations’   frequently   break   out   on   comments   pages   is   the  comparison   of   different   versions   of   a   song.    The   conjuncture   of   knowledge   and   evaluation  here  will  be  explored   in  relation  to  Gracyk’s  characterisation  of  popular  music  as  uniquely  a  culture  of  versions.    

 

Steven Brown (Glasgow Caledonian University)

Why Music (Piracy) Matters: Findings from a Multidisciplinary PhD Thesis  The  digital  revolution  has  forever  changed  how  we  consume,  enjoy  and  value  recorded  music.  This   has   inspired   a   wealth   of   scholarly   research   into   the   role   of   music   in   everyday   life.  However,   research   into  music   piracy   is   largely   absent   amongst   this   growing   research   area,  despite   music   piracy   now   being   embedded   in   music-­‐listening   behaviour   for   a   substantial  proportion   of   music   fans.   An   intrinsically   multidisciplinary   research   area,   empirical  investigation   into  music   piracy   is   predominantly   seated   in   criminology,   law   and   economics;  which   aim   primarily   to   address   commercial   and   legal   issues.   Cultural   aspects   are   under-­‐researched,   and   musicologists   are   better   positioned   to   explore   this   facet   of   music   piracy.  Broadly  exploring  why  individuals  choose  to  engage  in  this  activity,  this  presentation  collates  the  findings  of  a  PhD  exploring  the  psychology  of  music  piracy.  Informed  by  a  comprehensive  review  of   literature  on  predictive   factors,   links  are  also  made   to   the   live  music   sector,  with  discussion   centring   on   the   changing   relationship   between   recorded   music   and   live   music.  Beyond   disseminating   the   findings   from   a   series   of   studies   employing  mixed-­‐methodology,  this   presentation   acts   as   a   call   for  more   cross-­‐discipline   research.   The   implications   for   the  recording   industry   are   also   considered,   ultimately   concluding   that   changing   consumer  preferences  must  be  accommodated  in  order  to  ensure  the  music  industry’s  survival  and  that  music  fans’  willingness  to  engage  with  their  favourite  artists  can  be  nurtured  in  creative  ways  to   the   benefit   of   both   parties.   Informed   speculation   on   the   future   guise   of   the   recording  industry  is  considered,  with  an  emphasis  on  the  emerging  ubiquity  of  the  internet  as  driving  new  business  models  which   can   accommodate  music   piracy.   The   challenges   of   researching  this  controversial  topic  and  the  unique  rewards  it  offers  are  also  discussed.    

 

Anja Bunzel (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)

Johanna Kinkel’s (1810-1858) Political Art Songs as an Identifier of the German Democratic Movement of the 1840s  Johanna  Kinkel   (1810-­‐1858),  a  German  composer,  writer,  music  pedagogue  and  wife   to   the  German   poet   and   revolutionary   Gottfried   Kinkel   (1815-­‐1882),   has   produced   a   remarkable  number   of   art   songs,   stage   works   and   novels   during   her   short   life,   the   last   eight   years   of  which  she  spent  in  exile  in  London.  Besides  typical  themes  of  the  romantic  period,  Kinkel’s  art  

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songs  also  include  socio-­‐political  subjects  praising  her  home,  the  Rhineland,  and  encouraging  the  democratic  revolutionary  movement  of  the  1840s  to  fight  for  a  united  Germany.  Whereas  a   great   deal   of   Kinkel’s   patriotic   songs   set   poems   by   Heinrich   Heine   (1797-­‐1856),   the  composer’s   enthusiastic   appeals   to   like-­‐minded   revolutionaries   are   mainly   settings   of  Gottfried  Kinkel’s  words.  Many  of  the  Kinkels’  poems  and  art  songs  were  created  within  the  context   of   the  Maikäferbund,   a   political   and   literary   association   founded   by   the   Kinkels   in  1840.    

In  Taking  Popular  Music  Seriously,  Simon  Frith  introduces  the  idea  that  popular  music  ‘can  stand  for,  symbolize  and  offer  the  immediate  experience  of  collective  identity’.1  Considering  the  nineteenth-­‐century  art  song  as  one  of  the  most  popular  bourgeois  art  forms  of  the  time,  this  paper  aims  to  elaborate  on  the  aspect  of  collective  identity  at  two  levels.  Firstly,  Johanna  Kinkel’s   settings   reflect   typical   nineteenth-­‐century   phenomena   of   the   bourgeoisie,   as   is  indicated  by  her  preferred  compositional   genre,   the  art   song,   as  well   as  by   the   semi-­‐public  framework  in  which  her  songs  would  have  been  performed  and  discussed.  Secondly,  it  seeks  to  ascertain  whether  Kinkel’s   socio-­‐political   art   songs  might  have  determined   the   collective  identity  of  the  Maikäferbund  and,  more  generally,  the  revolutionary  movement  of  the  1840s  as,  according  to  Kinkel’s  contemporaries,  some  of  her  political  songs  were  sung  publically  by  other  ambassadors  of  the  revolution.    

 Szu-Wei Chen (National Taiwan University)

Repositioning Taiwan in Mandopop History: A study on Four Seas Records and Zhou Lanping  When   reviewing   the   various   stages   in   the   development   of   Mandopop   in   the   twentieth  century   to   gain   a   historical   context   for   understanding   the   contemporary   Mandopop,   it   is  usually   assumed   that   the   production   base   of   Mandopop   translocated   in   a   unidirectional  temporal  fashion.    Shanghai  served  as  the  centre  of  the  industry  from  the  late  1920s  until  the  hub  for  Mandopop  was  transferred  to  Hong  Kong  after  1949,  and  then  Taiwan  replaced  Hong  Kong  to  become  the  focal  point  by  the  time  Cantopop  took  shape  in  the  1970s.  

However,  there  was  actually  concurrent  development  of  Mandopop  production  in  Taiwan  and   in  Hong  Kong  before   the  1970s.    Beginning  with   ‘Green   Island  Serenade’   composed  by  Zhou  Lanping,  one  of  the  most  renowned  Mandopop  song  among  Chinese  speakers,  Taiwan  actually   started   to  produce   its  own  Mandarin  popular   songs  as  early  as  1954  and  gradually  made  its  name  among  other  Chinese-­‐speaking  communities  in  Asia.    Hong  Kong  is  considered  the   legitimate   successor   of   Shanghai   in   the   1950s   and   1960s,   partly   because   some  songwriters   and   artist   who   had   started   their   careers   in   Shanghai   settled   down   and   EMI  resumed   its   business   in  Hong  Kong   after   1949,   and  partly   because   a   vast   number  of   songs  were  produced  along  with  the  vibrant  Mandarin  film  industry  there.  

                                                                                                                         1 Simon  Frith,  Taking  Popular  Music  Seriously  (Aldershot:  Ashgate,  2007),  p.  140

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This   paper   challenges   the   unidirectional   ‘Shanghai–Hong   Kong–Taiwan’   view   in   studying  the  historical  development  of  Mandopop.    By  investigating  the  product  strategy  of  Four  Seas  Records   and   its   cooperation   with   Zhou   Lanping   in   Taiwan,   this   paper   explores   how   the  company  and  the  songwriter  laid  the  foundations  for  a  new  era.    What  made  Taiwan  ready  in  the  1970s  to  replace  Hong  Kong’s  status  should  not  be  attributed  to  the  rise  of  Cantopop,  but  to  the  parallel  development  of  Mandopop  in  Taiwan  in  the  two  decades  after  1949.    

 Martin Cloonan (University of Glasgow)

"You can’t not be political" – Simon Frith, Politics and Popular Music Studies  Based   on   a   forthcoming   book   chapter   and   on   an   interview   with   Simon   Frith,   this   paper  examines  his   interaction  with  politics  –  both   formal  and   informal  –  during  the  course  of  his  academic   career   and   the   implications   of   this  means   for   Popular  Music   Studies.   The   central  argument  is  that  Frith  is  emblematic  of  a  generation  of  PMS  scholars  who  took  it  for  granted  that   to   be   involved   in   PMS   is   to   be   involved   in   politics.   However,   such   notions   were  increasingly  challenged  during  Frith’s  career  with  various  effects.   In  Frith’s  his  own  case  it   is  argued  here  that  rather  than  becoming  disengaged  from  politics  Frith  became   involved   in  a  different  sort  of  politics.  In  short  this  can  be  seen  as  moving  from  a  politically-­‐inspired  critique  to  more  direct  political  activity.  Above  all  the  paper  argues  that  Frith’s  career  shows  that  for  PMS  to  retain   its  vibrancy   it  must  retain  the  political  core  which  he  and  his  contemporaries  embraced.  Overall  Frith’s  work  shows  that  a  PMS  without  politics  is  not  really  PMS  at  all.      

 Claire Coleman (University of Western Sydney)

Why Do Words Have Songs?  Simon  Frith’s  1989  article  “Why  Do  Songs  Have  Words?”  offers  an  influential  appraisal  of  the  communication   of   meaning   through   song.   In   it,   Frith   critiques   the   trends   in   popular  musicology   at   the   time,   acknowledging   the   discipline’s   necessarily  multidisciplinary   nature,  and  questioning  both  the  theory  that  songs  are  a  reflective  form  of  cultural  expression,  and  the   inverse   idea   that   songs   shape  and  change  a   society’s   values  and  attitudes.   In  doing   so,  Frith   argues   in   favour   of   an   approach   to   popular   music   analysis   that   provides   sufficiently  detailed  consideration  of  the  many  facets  of  which  a  song  is  comprised  (not  words  alone,  but  music,  lyrics,  performance,  gesture,  genre,  cultural  implications,  etc)  while  still  using  language  that  is  accessible  to  scholars  from  various  fields  and  disciplines.  

The  proposed  paper  will  examine  these  issues  in  a  contemporary  context  by  turning  Frith’s  appellative   on   its   head   and   asking  why  words   have   songs.  What   is   added   communicatively  when  a  lyric  is  conveyed  through  song,  rather  than  through  another  mode?  What  are  some  of  the   ways   that   listeners   make   meaning   from   popular   song?   These   questions   have   been  

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addressed   subsequent   to   Frith’s   article   by   numerous   scholars,   including   Dai   Griffiths,   Keith  Negus,  Allan  Moore,  and  David  Machin  among  others.  This  paper  will  consider  the  aggregate  of  a  range  of  critical  conclusions  to  the  question  of  how  meaning  is  conveyed  through  song,  supporting  arguments  in  favour  of  a  holistic  approach  to  popular  song  analysis.    

 

Kyle Devine (City University)

Music and the Sociological Imagination: Pasts and Prospects  When   overviewing   the   sociology   of   music,   scholars   typically   begin   by   asserting   the   field’s  scattered  and  fragmented  history.  It  is  uncommon  to  ask  why  (let  alone  whether)  this  is  true.  But   if   the   field   has   indeed  been  disjointed,   there  must   be   reasons  —  both   intellectual   and  institutional,  personal  and  professional.  Using  archival  and  interview  research,  the  goal  of  this  paper  is  therefore  to  think  sociologically  about  music  sociology  and  to  move  toward  a  critical  intellectual   genealogy   of   the   field.   I   focus   on   John  Mueller   (1895-­‐1965),   whose   work   was  arguably   ahead   of   its   time   and   whose   letters   attest   to   his   gravity   in   the   transnational  constellation  of  people  and  ideas  that  constituted  midcentury  social-­‐scientific  work  on  music.  The  strength  of  the  associations  formed  around  and  through  Mueller  lend  a  coherence  to  this  moment  that  is   lost   in  the  existing  literature  —  which  raises  questions  about  how  much  the  disjointedness  of  music   sociology   is  a   fact  of  history  and/or  an  effect  of   the  historiography.  Tracing   the   sociology   of   music   through   Mueller   (instead   of   the   usual   Schools:   Frankfurt,  Chicago,   Birmingham)   thus   also   raises   questions   about   how,   in   Nick   Prior’s   words,  “intellectual   strategizing   is   inseparable   from   the   business   of   professionalized   cultural  production   in   academic   settings.”   This   presentation   stems   in-­‐progress   research   for   The  Sociology   of   Music   Reader   (Routledge,   forthcoming),   which   I   am   co-­‐editing   with   John  Shepherd.  

 

 Frédéric Döhl (Freie Universität Berlin)

A Question of Context and Aura. About Copyright Laws Current Reaction to Composing with Second Hand Sounds  The  CfP  starts  with  the  thesis  that  in  the  last  decades  developments  in  sociology  and  cultural  studies   increasingly  challenged  concepts  such  as  excellence,  authenticity  and  value  as  being  aesthetically   autonomous,   claiming   that   questions   of   aesthetics   have   become   intertwined  with  questions  of  politics  and  identity.  

This   talk  will   add   to   this   thesis   but   from   a   slightly   different   angle.   It   does   not   deal  with  concepts  like  authenticity,  originality  or  progressiveness  but  with  the  question  of  similarity.  It  raises  the  question  if  hearing  something  as  similar  or  even  identical  necessarily  will  lead  to  an  aesthetic  experience  of  similarity/identity.  

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This   is  what   the  German  high  court  assumes  with  regard  so  sound  sampling   in  copyright  cases.1   Particularly   due   to   widely   acknowledged,   theorized,   and   studied   technological   (pc,  samplers,   internet)   and   aesthetical   (postmodernism,   retromania)   changes,   the   use   of   well-­‐established   practices   of   employing   a  musical   reference   has   grown   exponentially   across   the  board   from  avant-­‐garde  music  and   jazz   to  all   kinds  of  popular  music  genres  during   the   last  four   decades.   This   raises   the   question   if   the   massive   quantitative   change   mutated   in   any  respect   to   a   qualitative   change,   too,   bringing   anything   new   to   the   wide   and   old   field   of  musical   borrowing   (Burkholder,   1994;   Schneider,   2004)  with   regard   to  both   the  production  procedures   and/or   the   reception   and   evaluation   of   these   kinds   of  music?   At   least   German  copyright   law   has   –   in   opposition   to   other   copyright   laws   –   recently   recognized   this  development   in  matters  of  sound  sampling  for   its  ability  to  create  new  from  old,  but  stated  immediately   an   intriguing   exception   of   this   newly   opened   up   case   of   fair   use:   you   are   not  allowed  to  sample  if  an  average  producers  will  be  able  to  produce  the  sampled  sound  in  an  identical  or  at  least  predominantly  similar  manner  on  his  own.  

This  paper  deals  with  mashup  as  a  case  example,  a  genre  of  popular  music  (McGranahan,  2010;  Sinnreich,  2010)  which  is  totally  based  on  large-­‐scale  sampling.  In  referring  to  its  classic  work,   the   Grey   Album   (2004)   –   a   mashup   of   Jay-­‐Z’s   Black   Album   and   The   Beatles’   White  Album  –,  and  its  story,  this  paper  not  only  strives  to  exemplify  how  the  ability  to  draw  upon  specific  sounds  (Metzer,  2003)   is   fundamental   to  the  aesthetic  of  mashup  but  to  show  how  this  ability   indeed  brought  some  qualitative  changes  (opposing  Reynolds,  2011)  towards  not  just  performance  quotation  (Katz,  2010)  but  the  creation  of  a  virtual  shared  performance  by  artists/ensembles  who  in  reality  did  not  perform  together,  exemplifying  how  the  mentioned  exception  for  fair  use  in  German  copyright  law  misunderstands  how  important  the  fact  is  for  the   aesthetic   experience   and   socio-­‐cultural   acceptance   of   such   music   based   on   sound  sampling   that   the   sounds   you  hear   are   actually   produced  by   specific   artists/ensembles   and  not  by  anybody,  even  if  it  would  sound  the  same:  the  difference  is  a  question  of  context  and  aura  (Danto,  1964;  Latour,  2011).  The  genre  of  mashup  challenges  the  assumption  in  current  German   copyright   law   that   hearing   something   as   similar   or   even   identical   does   necessarily  lead  to  an  aesthetic  experience  of  similarity/identity.   It  shows  that  this  assumption  neglects  the  socio-­‐cultural  and  historical  differences  that  would  exist  between  an  original  sampled  and  a   new   recording   even   if   one   would   experience   the   new   recording   as   acoustical  similar/identical   to   the   original   in   question.   By   that,   the   talk   will   give   an   example   for   the  concept  of  similarity  being  not  aesthetically  autonomous  and  just  a  question  of  hearing,  too.    

 Mark Duffett (University of Chester)

Music, Race and Genre: Beyond Abstract Listening    In  Performing  Rites  Simon  Frith  once  explained,  “My  argument  in  this  book  is  not  just  that  in  listening  to  popular  music  we  are  listening  to  a  performance,  but  further  that  ‘listening’  itself  is   a   performance.”   (1998,   203;   emphasis   mine)   My   paper   takes   his   proposition   one   step  

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further.   It   argues   that   reports   of   genre-­‐inspiring  moments   of   (usually)   cross-­‐racial   listening  can  be  productively  understood  as  expressions  of  concrete  social  relations  between  situated  racial  subjects.  As  part  of  this,  ‘innocent’  listening  is  an  ontological  fiction  or  obfuscation  that  has   perpetuated   a   process   of   differentiation   between   races.   In   the   context   of   US   popular  music   and   its   history   of   race   relations,   I   therefore   expose   a   hidden   history   by   examining   a  series  of   instances  of   listening  described  by  WC  Handy,  Sam  Phillips,  Malcolm  McLaren  and  Michael  Gregory  respectively.  While  the  historical  moment  of  each  account  is  very  different,  they  reflect  a  common  set  of  themes.  In  moments  of  musical  experience  otherwise  appear  to  embrace   racial   progress   and   musical   community,   descriptions   of   cross-­‐racial   listening   can  actually   function   to   naturalize   distance   between   subjects   of   different   races.   The   idea   that  popular  music   begins   with   discovery   of   ‘found’   musical   sounds   can   thus   act   as   an   alibi   to  transmit   the   folk-­‐derived  assumption   that   racial  difference   is  musically   interesting  only  as  a  form  of  class  separation.    

 Ninian Dunnett (University of Edinburgh)

How tall was Lou Reed?  Where   do  we   begin,   in   the   quest   to   understand   popular  music?  One   of   the   distinctions   of  Simon  Frith  has  been  his  readiness,  in  the  midst  of  complexities,  to  ask  the  simple  question.  

This,  of  course,  is  extremely  hard  to  emulate.  From  the  outset,  our  theories,  analyses  and  conclusions   rest   on   data   –   and   the   field   presents   its   own   peculiar   difficulties,   both   as   a  research   site   and   as   a   scholarly   subject.   Approaching   from   the   perspective   of   a   novice  researcher,   then,   this  paper  explores   some  of   the  methodological  problems  which  confront  the  asking  of  a  seemingly-­‐straightforward  question.  

A  range  of  well-­‐worn  orthodoxies  constrain  enquiry.  Musicians  themselves  are  notoriously  unreliable   informants   (and   in   the  case  at  hand  the  symptoms  are  pronounced.)  Turn  to   the  teeming  accounts  of  pop,  and  you  encounter  pervasive  rites  of  mythmaking.  The  Academy  is  not   beyond   reproach,   and   the   ever-­‐growing   quantity   of   information   in   libraries   and  universities  can  be  highly  questionable.  The  non-­‐disciplinary  status  of  Popular  Music  Studies  may  in  itself  contribute  to  methodological  vagueness.  

Despite   these   challenges,   it   seems   possible   that   diligent   investigation   may   yield   some  nuggets  of  little-­‐known  information  –  at  which  point  the  empirical  evidence  will  hang  on  the  subjective   idiosyncrasies   of   the   researcher.   Still,   however   illusory   our   quest   for   “truth”,  perhaps  the  best  lesson  we  can  learn  from  Simon  Frith  is  this:  that  what  happens  to  facts  -­‐  at  the  hands  of  all  the  people  who  have  a  stake  in  shaping  them  -­‐  can  be  just  as  revealing  as  the  evidence  itself.    

     

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Laila El-Mahgary (University of Turku)

Live Music in the Tourist Industry in Sharm EL Sheikh  This   study  will   focus   on   the   tourists’,   singer   -­‐  musicians’,   and   hotel  managers’   experiences  with   live  music   performances   and   popular  music   in   Sharm   EL   Sheikh’s   seaside   resorts.   The  tourist,  singer-­‐musician  and  hotel  manager  relations—  although  an  integral  part  of  the  tourist  experience,  have  received  little  attention  in  past  studies  on  tourism  and  popular  music.  Thus,  the  purpose  of  this  research  will  be  to  encourage  dialogue  between  music  and  social  science  studies,  and  to  reveal  the  different  informants  performance  rituals,  interactions  and  attitudes  towards   travel,   live  music  performances  and  popular  music   in   the  hotel   industry,   for  better  understanding   the   cultural   significance   of   live   music   performances,   often   produced   by   a  complex  nexus  of  social,cultural,  aesthetic  and  political   factors.  The  advantage  of  this  paper  will  be  in  using  some  of  the  ethnographic,  self-­‐reflective,  and  narrative  research  material  from  my  M.A.  fieldwork,  conducted  in  Hurghada’s  hotel  industry  in  the  summer  of  2006.  Thus,  the  paper  will  be  able  to  explore  the  different  contexts  of  space,  where  popular  music  occurs  in  the  hotel   industry  and  ask   ’What  can  the  hotel   industry  tell  us  about  popular  music?’.  Most  importantly,  this  study  will  explore  the  political  environment  of  popular  music  and  travel,  and  how  these  politics  encourage  new  post-­‐industrial  spaces  of    values  and  aesthetics    that  shape  live  music  performances,  local  identities  and  the  tourists  and  hosts  experiences  with  popular  music  and  travel  in  Sharm  EL  Sheikh’s  hotels.  The  distinct  spaces  of  popular  music  explored  in  this   research   will   consist   of   the   flow,   cultural   memory,   imagined   communities,   liminality,  exchange  of  knowledge  in  arts,  progress,  solidarity,  emancipation,  queer  sounds,  power,  class  and  gender  struggles,  and  oppression.  The  multi-­‐sited  ethnographic  approach  in  this  research  will  stress  on  the  politics  of  the  world  -­‐systems,  cultural  imperialism  and  multiculturalism,  and  their   impacts   on   the   aesthetics   of   music   and   travel,   and   the   ‘sacred’   and   ‘profane’  experiences.    

 

John Encarnacao (University of Western Sydney)

Mark E. Smith as Rock Singer or: HAVE A BLEEDIN’ GUESS  In  Performance  Rites  (1996),  Simon  Frith  writes  that  ‘(S)ongs  are  not  about  ideas,  but  about  their  expression.’  The  context  is  what  Frith  calls  ‘the  difficulty  we  face  if  in  interpreting  what  songs  “mean”,  we  attempt  to  separate  the  words  from  their  use  as  speech  acts’  (1996:  164).  This  might  be  seen  as  reflecting  a  default  position  in  much  academic  writing  that  the  voice  in  popular   music   is   part   of   a   musical   complex   whose   purpose   is   to   elucidate   the   meaning,  emotions,   atmosphere,   and/or   message   of   the   lyric   (see,   for   example  Moore   2010,   Burns  2010).   Lacasse   (2010)   admits   a   wider   sphere   of   vocal   possibilities,   taking   into   account  paralinguistics,  but  even  this  is  in  the  context  of  ‘phonographic  staging’,  a  construct  that  again  assumes  a  sense  of  narrative  or  literal  meaning.  There  is  a  large  body  of  work  in  pop/rock  in  

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which   the   vocal   accesses   a   range   of   non-­‐conventional   techniques   while   also   refusing  straightforward   narratives,   linearity,   and   literal  meanings.   In   The   Fall’s   album   This   Nation’s  Saving  Grace   (1985),  Mark  E.  Smith’s  range  of  vocal  gestures   incorporates  the  rhythmic  and  the   arrhythmic,   declaration   and  narration,   a   kind   of   crooning   as  well   as   yelps   and   cracking  register   shifts.  His  vocals  are  at   times   layered  or   technologically  processed  so   that   they  are  indecipherable.  An  investigation  of  these  non-­‐literal  and  ‘non-­‐musical’  techniques  may  be  of  use  in  any  analysis  of  the  vocal  in  pop/rock,  as  these  aspects  are  central  to  our  reception  of  recorded  tracks,  regardless  of  the  extent  to  which  melodic,  rhythmic  and  literal  elements  are  present.  The  ‘ideas’  expressed  in  much  popular  music  cannot  be  contained  within  a  construct  of  the  translation  of  literal  meaning,  narrative  or  message.    

 Kevin Fellezs (Columbia University)

Another Song: Karen Carpenter Drumming Against the Logic of Popular Music Studies  Listening   to   Karen   Carpenter   as   a   drummer   –   to   take   her   seriously   as   a  musician,   in   other  words  –  is  my  perhaps  perverse  conceit  in  this  paper.  But  by  taking  Karen  Carpenter  seriously  as  a  musician,  what  might  we  hear?  What  might  be  the  intellectual  stakes  involved  with  taking  her  music  seriously  that  speaks  beyond  mere  tragic  biography?  I  will  highlight  two  of  Karen’s  performances   in  order   to   think   through   the  problem  of  mainstream  pop  music  –  especially  historical  as  opposed  to  contemporary  forms  –  as  a  neglected  site  of  popular  music  studies.  I  choose   to   focus   on   the   Carpenters   because   they   have   achieved   a   kind   of   iconicity   for   a  particular  type  of  pop  rock  that  scholars  have  been  loath  to  consider.   If  part  of  the  value  of  studying  popular  music   is  due   to   the   fact   that   it   is/was  popular,   then  championing  obscure  punk  bands  or  hip  hop  crews  may  not  answer  all   of   the  questions  worth  asking.  Might   the  siblings’   links   to   a   certain   kind   of  middle   class   whiteness   and   Southern   California   suburbia  unduly  influence  critical  appraisal?  Is  aesthetic  worth  distinct  from  other  sorts  of  value?  If  so,  do   those  other  considerations,   such  as  political  orientation   for  example,   trump  musical  and  aesthetic  considerations?  Or  can  we  even  safely  assume  the  political  nature  –  and  thus,  the  aesthetic  value  –  of  mainstream  pop  or  more  specifically,  the  Carpenters?  Often  castigated  as  beneath   the   purview   of   serious   fandom,   let   alone   scholarship,   I   want   to   listen   to   Karen  Carpenter  as  drummer  in  order  to  think  through  the  assumptions  behind  musical  scholarship  in  which  pop  music’s  aesthetic  value  is  caught  within  particular  ideological  constraints.    

 Mark Fenster (University of Florida)

Of Pyramids and Pools: Prophecy, Theory, and Policy in Simon Frith  In   “Video   Pop:   Picking   up   the   pieces”   (1988),   Simon   Frith   sought   both   to   capture   popular  music’s   recent   past   and   to   lightly   prophesize   about   its   future.   Perhaps   best   known   for   its  

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evocative   and   rich   visual   representations   of   the   paradigmatic   “rock”   music   career   (the  pyramid)  and  the  emergent  “pop”  music  career  model  (“The  Talent  Pool”),  the  piece  hearkens  back   to   what   now   seems   like   a   long   outdated   past   (e.g.,   referring   to   it   as   “the   record  business”   and   discussing   that   industry’s   then-­‐obsession  with   home   taping)  while   it   reckons  with   issues   that  were  only   then  becoming   visible   (digital   formats,   copyright   issues,   and   the  convergence   of   the   media   industries).   “Video   Pop”   performs   the   typically   Frith   move:  deploying   a   hybrid   analysis   that   mixed   music   criticism,   journalism,   sociology,   and   with   a  detached,   ironic,   and   insightful   voice   to   reveal   a   rich   set   of   propositions   about   culture,  economics,   aesthetics,   and  what  he   characterizes   as   “rock  politics.”   The  essay’s   sometimes  sideways  revelations  about  the  complex  ways  music  and  its  reception  (and,  dare  I  say,  “sound  effects”)  condition  each  other   illustrate  how  Frith’s  profound  contributions  as  a  music  critic  and  scholar  transcend  field,  discipline,  and  the  critic/  theorist  divide.    

My  proposed  talk  will   read  “Video  Pop”  as  prophecy,  cultural   theory,  and  policy  analysis.  Like  any  prophetic  statement,  the  piece  is  at  once  deeply  sophisticated  and  quite  naïve  about  the  shape  of  things  to  come—and  in  this  case,  those  things  were  enormous  technological  and  institutional   upheavals.   Like   the  best   of   Frith’s   cultural   sociology,   it   also  works   through   key  questions   about   the   relationships   among   economics,   institutions,   and   aesthetics.   And   in  grappling   with   these   two   questions,   the   piece   also   reveals   the   difficulty   and   necessity   of  thinking  through  the  relationships  among  law,  cultural  policy,  and  cultural  production.  In  my  own  movement  away  from  cultural  studies  to  the  law,  Frith’s  work  and  this  essay  in  particular  have  proven  seminal  to  how  I  think  about  those  latter  relationships.    

 Mary Fogarty (York University)

On Music Itself  As  a  cultural  sociologist  and  educator,  I  have  become  increasingly  concerned  about  both  the  lack  of  dance  education  scholarship  from  a  sociological  perspective,  and  the   lack  of  dancing  and  dance  appreciation  in  music  education.  

Whatever  the  focus  of  enquiry,  there   is  always  that  pervading  question,  "what  about  the  music  itself?"  In  this  talk,  I  propose  to  interrogate  the  possible  marriage  of  the  study  of  music  and   the   study   of   dance   invoked   by   this   line   of   enquiry.   To   do   so,   I   will   talk   about   a  collaborative  project  I  am  working  on  with  Ken  Swift,  one  of  the  most  iconic  hip  hop  dancers  of   the   20th   century,  who   centers   his   dance   practice   and   teaching   on  music   in   a   variety   of  ways.  

Is  musicology   the  only  discipline  equipped   to   talk   about   the  music   itself?  What  happens  when  dancers'  experiences  and  dance  appreciation  are  genuinely  accounted  for  in  the  study  of  music?   I   argue   that   when   brought   into   view,   dancing   highlights   some   of   the   colonialist  assumptions  about  proper   listening   that  are   still   governing  our  disciplines.   Indeed,   the  very  assumption  that  one  could  talk  about  the  music  itself,  and  the  methods  used  to  activate  this  analysis,  will  be  problematized.  

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 Dai Griffiths (Oxford Brookes University)

‘I ain’t been to no music school’: Simon Frith goes to art school  I   aim   to   discuss   Art   Into   Pop,   the   book   Simon   Frith   co-­‐wrote   with   Howard   Horne   and  published   in   1987.   First,   to   suggest   that   the   British   demotic   attitude   towards   fine   art   (that  ludicrous  fine)  is  ambivalent,  veering  between  sentimental  respect    (a  single  about  L.S.  Lowry    number   one   for   three   weeks   in   1978)   and   the   satirical   conviction   that   fine   art,   since   the  Impressionists,   is   an   over-­‐rated,   publicly-­‐funded   lot   of   old   balls   (Peter   Cook   and   Dudley  Moore  in  a  gallery  in  1965,  failing  to  find  paintings  of  ducks).  Art  Into  Pop  is  by  comparison  at  least  respectful  of  fine  art’s  place,  especially  its  integration  of  theory.    

Second,  by  way  of  a  conservative  counter-­‐claim,  to  attend  to  the  consecutive  pair  of  tracks  ‘Sultans  of  Swing’  and  ‘In  the  Gallery’  on  Dire  Straits  (1978),  Mark  Knopfler  the  no-­‐nonsense  British  blues-­‐man   railing  against   three   things:  not  giving  a  damn  about  any   trumpet-­‐playing  band;  certain  trends  in  modernist  three-­‐dimensional  work  (‘he  no  junk,  he  no  string’);  and  the  ‘vultures’   of   commerce.   Dire   Straits   in   1978   -­‐   recall   Robert   Christgau’s   great   line   on   their  second   record  a  year   later:   ‘Boy,  people  are  getting  bored  with   these  guys   fast’   –  brings   in  Charlie  Gillett,  with   reference   to   the  1977  demo  of   ‘Sultans  of  Swing’   included  on  his  2009  compilation  Honky  Tonk.    

Third,   to   try   and   find   in   Art   Into   Pop   a   source   of   Frith’s   emergent   suspicion   towards  populism  which   culminated   in   his   ‘The   Good   Bad   and   the   Indifferent’   (1991),   Jon   Savage’s  ‘Blank   Generation:   Beavis   and   Butthead’   (1995),   and   their   combined   ‘Pearls   and   Swine’  (1993).    

Finally,  to  consider  Frith  and  Horne’s  emphasis  on  the  art  school   in  relation  to  the  music  school,   a   member   of   which   Frith   became   in   2006   in   Edinburgh.   The   British   art   school   no  longer   the   cradle   of  musical   invention,   in   a   context  where   educational   credit   is   offered   for  producing  pop  music.    

The  paper  will  bring  into  focus  Frith  the  collaborator  (Horne,  Gillett,  Savage).  The  aim  is  to  be   ‘funny,   interesting  and  above  all  argumentative’,  as  Art   Into  Pop   rightly  puts   it,  and  true  too  to  Frith’s  great  envoi:  ‘This  article,  not  really  research  is  it?’    

 Gestur Guðmundsson (University of Iceland)

The Critic as Organic intellectual  Rock  and  pop  criticism  can  be  enjoyed  and  invite  to  discussion,  but  in  order  to  understand  its  role   for   popular  music   Pierre   Bourdieu’s   theory   on   cultural   fields   offers   an   analytical   tool.  More  than  20  years  ago  scholars  like  Rudi  Laerman  and  Motti  Regev  used  Bourdieu  to  point  out  that  rock  criticism  has  played  a  central  part  in  the  legitimization  of  rock  as  a  cultural  form.  A   closer   scrutinisation   of   rock   criticism   (Lindberg   et   al.   2005)   has   shown   that   this  

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legitimization   was   also   a   part   of   the   democratisation   of   culture.   Rock   culture   could   be  recognized   without   being   understood   from   the   standards   of   high   brow   culture   but   as   a  popular  culture  with  distinct  qualities  that  were  not  the  constitutive  qualities  of  established  culture.  

Among  the  pioneers  of  rock  critics  in  the  US  and  UK  from  the  end  of  the  1960  Simon  Frith  stands  out,  partly  for  bridging  U.S.  and  British  criticism,  but  more  importantly  as  a  critic  who  has   paid   as   much   attention   to   pop   and   artificiality   as   to   rock   and   authenticity.   Frith   was  always  a  volatile  critic  and  often  going  against  the  grain.  He  contributed  to  the  construction  of  a   rock   canon   helped   laying   down   the   basic   rules   of   cricism,   and   he   often   challenged  dominating  prejudices,  e.g.  by  celebrating  ABBA  and  disco  in  the  1970s.  A  scrutinisation  of  his  criticism   shows   that   he   preserved   his   mod   sensibility   from   The   Who   to   Paul   Weller   and  beyond  and  thus  united  pop  sensibility  and  a  fondness  for  honesty.  More  than  any  other  critic/scholar,  Frith  has  managed  to  contribute  substantially  to  both  rock  criticism  and  academic  analytical  work.  Here  he  provided  the  rock  community  with  different  angles,  raised  new  questions  and  inspired  others,  as  a  true  “organic  intellectual”.    

 Gérôme Guibert (Université Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle)

‘French Frith’: What do the French Translations of Simon Frith’s work tell us about the Development of Popular Music Studies in France?  Although  most  French  scholars  read  English,  very  little  speak  it,  and  fewer  write  in  it.  French-­‐speaking   humanities   and   social   sciences   have   long   remained   impervious   to   the   language   –  most  university  students  stick  to  French  authors  or  translations.  Thus,  based  on  Simon  Frith’s  “French”   bibliography,   this   paper   seeks   to   show   how   this   British   scholar   has   been   read   in  France   and   therefore   how   his   work   was   received   and   understood.   We   will   see   that   the  publication  frequency,  locations  and  contexts  of  translations  of  Simon  Frith’s  work  (which  has  increased  remarkably  in  recent  years)  have  been  conveying  a  lot  of   information  for  the  past  25  years,  both  on  how  his  work  is  received  and  on  the  development  of  popular  music  studies  in   France.   First,   his   work,   which   was   initially   received   by   sociologists,   nowadays   concerns  several   key   fields.   The   first   is   communication   and   cultural   studies.   The   second   is   that   of   a  much   wider   media   sphere,   from   professional   music   business   writings   to   musicological  encyclopaedias  or  academic  journals  of  philosophy.  Of  course,  since  only  some  selected  texts  are   translated,   the   French   have   a   partial   vision   of   his   research.   In   particular,   it   is   too  systematically   associated  with   “cultural   studies”.   In   France,   his   editorial   career   has   not   yet  followed  the  steps  of  other  English-­‐speaking  music  sociologists  such  as,  for  example,  Richard  Peterson  or  Tia  de  Nora,  whose  work  has  been  published  in  major  journals  of  sociology  at  the  end   of   XXth   century.   Today   however,   Simon   Frith   is   considered   one   of   the  most   important  authors   by   young   researchers   in   French   popular  music   studies,   as   recent   bibliographies   of  published  research  (for  example  in  Volume!)  demonstrate.  This  may  be  due  to  the  challenges  the   circulation   of   knowledge   in   social   sciences   in   France   face,   which   have   at   least   three  

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concurrent   causes:   the   development   of   the   Internet   (and   the   expanded   accessibility   of  written  English),  an  increase  in  the  students’  level  of  English  and  the  gradual  establishment  of  a  small  community  of  French  popular  music  scholars  around  the  IASPM-­‐Bfe  (French-­‐speaking  European  Branch)  and  the  peer  reviewed  journal  Volume!    

 

Adam Hansen (Northumbria University)

‘Why do words have songs?’ Writing and Popular Music in the Contemporary Novel  Reversing  the  terms  of  Simon  Frith’s  1987  chapter,  ‘Why  do  songs  have  words?’,  but  informed  by   that   chapter’s   discussions   of   the   interactions   between   writing   and   popular   music,   this  paper  will  explore  and  evaluate  the  status  of  those  interactions  now,  focussing  on  the  forms  and  functions  of  popular  music  in  contemporary  fiction.  Since  Frith’s  chapter,  there  has  been  a   sequence  of   potent  novels   saturated  with   the   idioms  of   popular  music:   a  mode  we   term  ‘litpop’.   It   is   almost   25   years   since   the   publication   of   Gordon   Legge’s   The   Shoe,   intricately  recounting   the   lives  and  musical   loves  of   teenagers   living   in  a   small  Scottish   town.   In  1996,  Alan  Warner  soundtracked  one  young  woman’s  life  in  and  beyond  her  Scottish  island  home  in  Morvern  Callar   (1996).    By  1999,  and   in  the  aftermath  of   the  success  of  works  such  as  Nick  Hornby’s   High   Fidelity   (1995),   the   litpop   mode   had   attracted   the   attention   of   literary  heavyweights   such   as   Salman   Rushdie   (with   The   Ground   Beneath   Her   Feet);   later,   Suhayl  Saadi’s  2004  Glasgow-­‐based  Psychoraag  took  the  concept  of  the  litpop  novel  global.    Some  of  these  kinds  of  works  have  received  critical  attention,   from  scholars  such  as  Gerry  Smyth  (in  Music  in  Contemporary  British  Fiction:  Listening  to  the  Novel,  2008).    Yet  Smyth’s  focus  is  not  exclusively  on  literary  takes  on  popular  music;  and  useful  though  his  analyses  are,  they  cannot  entirely  account  for  what  we  might  term  the  very  recent  development  of  the  ‘high-­‐concept’  litpop  novel:  works  such  as  Jennifer  Egan’s  Pulitzer-­‐Prize-­‐winning  A  Visit  From  the  Goon  Squad  (2011),  Dana  Spiotta’s  Stone  Arabia  (  2011),  and  Michael  Chabon’s  Telegraph  Avenue  (2012).    Just  as  Hornby’s  novel  made  it  big  (or  bigger)  in  transatlantic  cinematic  adaption,  so  the  scope  and  ambitions  of  the  ‘litpop’  novel  have  hugely  expanded  in  these  American  works.  Drawing  on  our  research  for  our  edited  collection  Litpop:  Writing  and  Popular  Music  (Ashgate,  2014),  and  our  experiences  of  running  the  long-­‐standing  Litpop  Bookclub  at  the  SAGE  Gateshead,  we  hope   to  explicate  how   such  novels   build  on   their   precursors   yet  use  music   in  new  ways   to  structure   and   complicate   how   they   evoke   material,   political,   and   social   divisions   and  aspirations.    

           

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Paul Harkins (Edinburgh Napier University)

Replies to the Critics: The Grounded Theories of Simon Frith  For   more   than   thirty   years,   the   academic   work   of   Simon   Frith   has   been   central   to   the  sociological   study   of   music   and   the   development   of   Popular   Music   Studies   as   a   multi-­‐disciplinary  field.  As  well  as  the  influence  of  his  own  research,  it  is  also  worth  reflecting  on  his  support   for   the   research   of   others   and   dedication   to   developing   the   research   skills   of   his  students.  Encouraging  free  thinking  and  the  challenging  of  orthodoxies,  one  of  his  approaches  is   to   suggest   students   do  what   he   has   done   throughout   his   own   academic   career:   look   at  musical  worlds,  speak  to  the  actors  in  those  musical  worlds,  think  as  clearly  as  possible  about  the   findings,   write   about   the   findings,   worry   about   theories   and  methodologies   later.   This  largely  empirical  approach  led  to  the  accusation  by  authors  such  as  Lawrence  Grossberg  that  Frith’s  writing,  and  Popular  Music  Studies  more  generally,  was  anti-­‐theoretical.  In  this  paper,  I  want   to  examine   this   and  other   criticisms  of   Frith’s  work  as  well   as  his   responses   to   them.  Rather  than  being  anti-­‐theoretical,  the  ideas  in  Frith’s  academic  writing  tend  to  be  grounded  in  social  and  historical  realities,  not  abstract  thought.  Along  with  empiricism,  the  other    –ism  or  theory  Frith  appears  to  have  subscribed  to  throughout  his  academic  life  has  been  Marxism.  This  may   have  more   to   do   with   historical   materialism   than   any   communist   beliefs   and   he  admits   to   being   dismissed   as   a   ‘bourgeois   layabout’   by   more   ideologically   committed  colleagues.   Frith   may   be   too   subtle   and   sophisticated   a   thinker   to   accept   a   single   grand  narrative  or  adopt  a  static  theoretical  position  that  attempts  to  understand  a  changing  world.  The  failure  to  toe  any  party  line  has  been  the  gain  of  popular  music  scholars  trying  to  make  sense  of  the  social  forces,  processes,  and  practices  of  its  musical  worlds.    

 Jane Harrison (Istanbul Technical University)

Social Processes and Collaborative Creativity in the Debussyste Movement  In   his   recent   essay   “Creativity   as   a   Social   Fact,”   Simon   Frith   notes   that   contemporary  musicological  discourse  privileges   creative  acts   that   conform   to   the  Romantic  notion  of   the  autonomous  creator,  even  though  music  making  is  by  nature  social  and  collaborative.  I  have  come  up  against  the  limits  of  this  view  of  creativity  in  my  own  research,  as  I  use  sociological  lenses   to   investigate   the   activities   of   the   so   called   “debussyste”   composers   of   early   20th-­‐century   France,   thirty-­‐five   composers   who   shared   an   innovative   cluster   of   techniques   that  originated   as   a   transference   of   literary   Symbolism   into   the   musical   domain.   From   its  inception,   debussysme   has   been   associated   with   imitation,   a   concept   at   odds   with   the  modernist  ideology  gaining  traction  in  early  20th-­‐century  France  and  still  influential  on  current  scholarship   on   art   music;   other   scholars   have   limited   investigation   of   the   term   to   the  discursive   realm,   perhaps   to   shield   favorite   composers   from   this   charge   of   imitation.   As   I  explored  the  potential  of  the  term  to  describe  the  shared  musical  practice  of  a  group,  social  

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processes   became   essential.   The   sociological   work   of   Bourdieu,   Becker,   Born,   and   Everett  Rogers  offers  alternatives   to   the  problematic  Romantic  myth  of   the  artist  and  a  conceptual  pivot   from   imitation   to   collaboration.   I   discovered   that   the   creation   and   diffusion   of   the  distinctive  debussyste  techniques  resulted  largely  from  synergistic  effort:  a  network  of  small  circles  of  composer-­‐friends  in  which  members  studied  exemplary  scores,  attended  concerts,  verbalized   common   ideology,   shared   institutional   resources,   and   adopted   each   other’s  innovations.   In   this   paper   I   provide   a   sociological   perspective  of   the  debussyste  movement  that  replaces  uninspired  imitation  of  one  composer  with  the  vibrant  interaction  of  composers  and   other   powerful   cultural   actors.   I   also   engage  with   common   objections   to  my   research  from  musicologists,  with  the  hope  of  advancing  that  richer  understanding  of  musical  creativity  called  for  by  Frith  and  others  within  the  study  of  art  music.      

 Paula Hearsum (University of Brighton)

‘You don’t want to be reading all that stuff by that Simon Frith’  In   1990,   fresh   from   graduation   I   went   armed   with   a   portfolio   of   music   journalism   and   a  dissertation,  which  drew  on  Frith’s  work,  to  the  then  Editor  of  NME  for  a  job.  As  you  can  tell  by   the   quote   above,   he  was   none-­‐to-­‐pleased.   It   is   therefore  with   some   irony   that  my  own  inspiration  to  be  a  music  journalist  and  a  music  scholar  came  from  Frith  and  that  the  debate  about   him  with  my   first   employer  was   the   grounding   for   a   discussion   that   has   echoed   the  journey  through  both  my  own  journalistic  and  academic  careers.   Is   it  still  pertinent  to  ask   if  music  journalists  and  popular  music  scholars  can  learn  from  one  another?  Whilst  the  impact  of  technology  on  the  production  and  consumption  of  music  journalism  has  turbulently  rattled  the  cages  of  the  ‘ideological  gatekeepers’  and  ‘opinion  leaders’  of  the  1980s,  the  desire  for  an  engaged   word-­‐based   interpretation   of   music   remains   as   relevant   as   ever   despite   the  combination  of   two   industries   (music   and   journalism)   in   crisis.  Concurrently   there  has   seen  the   rise   of   several   thriving  Music   Journalism   undergraduate   courses   (Solent,   Huddersfield,  UCA,   Staffs)   and   Frith’s   grounding  work   in   the   subject   area   continues   to   be   drawn   on   and  debated  by  students,  academics  and  those  in  the  music  press  alike.  Originating  from  a  paper  for  IASPM  in  2010  this  year  saw  the  publication  of  a  chapter  based  on  some  interviews  across  both   spheres   I   undertook,   including   with   Frith   on   that   very   tempestuous   relationship.   The  result  is  the  attached  chapter  for  Turner,  B  &  Orange,  R.  2013.  Specialist  Journalism.  London:  Routledge.  This  paper  will  also  take  a  playful  leap  around  some  of  the  archives  of  Frith’s  work  thanks   to   Rocksbackpages   and   see   how   he   compares   and   include   interviews   with   music  journalists  influenced  by  Frith  undertaken  specifically  for  this  conference.    

       

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Scott Henderson (Brock University)

“They Blew Up the Chicken Man in Philly Last Night”: Springsteen, the ‘Faux-cal’ and the Search for the ‘Real Thing’    In   “The   Real   Thing   -­‐   Bruce   Springsteen”,   from   1987‘s   Music   for   Pleasure,   Simon   Frith  identified  that  “what  matters  in  the  post-­‐modern  era  is  not  whether  Bruce  Springsteen  is  the  real  thing,  but  how  he  sustains  the  belief  that  there  are  somehow,  somewhere,  real  things  to  be”.   Frith’s   quote   points   towards   the   slippery   notion   of   ‘authenticity’   within   rock   and   pop  music  culture,  and  the  implication  is  that  authenticity  is  not  a  tangible  quality,  but  is  a  sign,  a  performance.   Indeed,   elsewhere   in   the   same   piece,   Frith   makes   the   point   that   “to   be  authentic  and  to  sound  authentic  is  in  the  rock  context  the  same  thing”.  These  claims  came  at  the   end   of   the   first   decade   of   Springsteen’s   stardom.   In   the   ensuing   twenty-­‐five   years,  Springsteen  has  continued  to  be  rock’s  version  of  “the  real  thing”  par  exemplar.  The  aim  of  this   paper   is   to   examine   the   specifics   related   to  how  Springsteen  has   sustained   the   sort   of  beliefs   identified   by   Frith.   The   nature   of   pop   and   rock   music   is   that   of   performance.   As  ‘honest’   and   ‘authentic’   as   a   performer   may   want   to   be   (and   it   is   possible   that   this   is  something  Springsteen  strives  for),  the  bottom  line  is  that  any  communication  of  authenticity  to  an  audience  is  achieved  through  performance.  It  is  a  codified  version  of  authenticity.  One  key  component  of  Springsteen’s  work  has  been  his  use  of  space  and  geography,  both  real  and  imagined.  Throughout  his  career,  Springsteen  has  exploited  connections  to  locality.  His  public  persona   and   biography   emphasize   his   own   ties   to   working   class   Asbury   Park,   New   Jersey,  while  the  protagonists  of  his  songs  hail  from  points  throughout  the  US.  In  his  lyrical  and  sonic  creations  of  space,  Springsteen  creates  what  might  be  called  a  ‘faux-­‐cal’,  a  believable  sense  of  locality,   borrowed   largely   from   other   popular   culture   evocations   of   a   mythic   American  landscape.  Place   features  prominently   in  much  of  Springsteen’s  work,  creating  a  believable,  familiar  landscape  for  listeners  that  reinforces  notions  of  Springsteen’s  own  authenticity.  The  persona   created   via   his   music   is   then   evident   in   Springsteen’s   live   performances,   which  further  reinforce  his  blue  collar,  working  class  ethos.  Taking  his  June  2013  show  at  Hampden  Park   in  Glasgow  as  an  example,   I  want   to  consider  how  Springsteen  employs  his  persona   in  fabricating  a   sense  of   the   ‘real’   through   the  ways   in  which  he  “sounds  authentic”,   and   in  a  manner  that  reinforces  what  Frith  suggested  over  twenty-­‐five  years  earlier.    

 Roland Huschner (Humboldt-Universität, Berlin)

‘That’s a hit!’ An Ethnographic Study of Power Structures and Discourses in the Music Studio and their Influences on the Processes taking place there  The  guiding  question  for  my  study  is  a  seemingly  simple  one:  What  exactly  does  a  producer  in  the   music   studio   do?   And   following   this   initial   question:   What   conflicts   arise   and   what  decisions  are  made   in   the  process  of  generating  music?  Who  has   the  power   to  make  these  and  why?  What  are  the  consequences  for  the  sonic  events  and  the  final  result?  

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Although   there  are  quite  a   few  publications  on  various  points  of   interest   concerning   the  studio,  they  are  seldom  based  on  ethnographic  data  due  to  difficulties  in  accessing  the  field.  Notable  exceptions  are  the  works  of  Antoine  Hennion,  Louise  Meintjes,  some  papers  of   the  Journal  of  the  Art  of  Record  Production  and  –  just  recently  –  the  video  material  provided  by  the  ARP-­‐Network  for  the  online  conference  ‘Performance  in  the  Studio’.  But  even  with  those  works  there  is  no  satisfying  answer  to  the  question  asked  in  the  beginning  and  –  due  to  the  specific  conditions  of  every  studio  situation  –  there  will  never  be  a  definitive  one.  To  elucidate  the   inherent   mysticism   of   the   studio   situation,   which   dominated   its   reception   so   far   to   a  certain   degree,   I   am   undertaking   an   ethnographic   study   in   different   professional   music  studios   in   Berlin.   Aspects   of   musical   value,   the   impact   of   technology   on   the   process   of  generating  music   and   the   conflicts   which   arise   based   on   the   self-­‐perception   of   the   studio  actors  are  my  current  main  foci.    

 Mike Jones (University of Liverpool)

The Pull Economy and The Music Industry  What   is   mistakenly   referred   to   as   ‘The   Music   Industry’   has   been   deeply-­‐impacted   by   the  increasing   reach   and   sophistication   of   internet   technology.   What   has   changed   so  fundamentally   since   the   late-­‐1990s   has   been   the   erosion   of   the   certainties   enjoyed   by   the  major   record   companies.   The   ‘majors’   have   experienced   the   disappearance   of   the   near-­‐monopoly   in   recording   and   distribution   they   enjoyed   for   most   of   the   20th   century.   As   a  condition  of  these  twin  erosions,  they  must  now  find  ways  to  survive  profound  changes  in  the  behaviour   and   expectations   of   formerly   pliable   and   compliant   customer-­‐base.  David   Bollier  has   summarised   these   changes   as   the   ‘Pull   Economy’,   customers   for   recorded  music   now  want  to  pay  as  little  as  possible  for  the  widest  access  possible  for  recordings  as  ‘tracks’  rather  than   as   ‘albums’.   Along   with   theorists   such   as   John   Hagel,   John   Seely-­‐Brown   and   Yochai  Benkler,  Bollier  argues  that  virtual  space  (understood  as  a  ‘commons’)  offers  capitalism  fresh  opportunities   for   expansion   if   only   the   constraints   associated  with   intellectual   property   are  removed.   The   concept  of   intellectual  property   is   the  guarantor  of   the  deeply-­‐compromised  business  model  of  the  recording  industry  and,  through  its  trade  bodies  (notably  the  IFPI),  the  industry   continues   to   fight   a   tenacious   rear-­‐guard   action   in   its   defence.   In   mounting   this  defence,   the   recording   industry   claims   to   speak   for   the   interests  of  musicians  as  well   as   its  constituent  companies  but  here   is  a  contradiction:  on  the  one  hand  musicians  benefit   from  the  concept  of  copyright;  on  the  other  they  can  be  shown  to  be  structurally-­‐disempowered  under   the   form   of   industry   that   has   developed   through   the   capitalisation   of   intellectual  property.  Using   the   concept  of   the   ‘commons’   as   a   reference  point,  The  Pull   Economy  and  Music   Industry   explores   the   assault   on,   and   defence   of,   intellectual   property   from   the  perspective  of  musicians  who  seek  to  make  a  living  through  composing  and  performing  music  and   suggests   that   neither   the   pull   economy   theorists   nor   the   IFPI   are   necessarily   in   their  ‘corner’.  

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 Antti-Ville Kärjä (The Finnish Jazz and Pop Archive, JAPA)

The Popular, the Youth, and Music Reconsidered  My  presentation  centres  on   the   interconnections  and  articulations  of   'the  popular'  and   'the  youth'  in  the  context  of  music.  Since  the  eighties,  the  youth  has  lost  much  of  its  significance  as  an   age-­‐based   category,   being   supplanted   by   an   emphasis   on   youthful   experiences.   In   the  realm   of   popular  music   this   has   been   particularly   pronounced   in   the  ways   in  which   artists  once  representing  pinnacles  of  'youth  rebellion'  are  celebrating  their  70th  birthdays,  yet  still  going  strong  on  stage  and  tours.  Thus,  the  denominator  'popular  music'  cannot  be  considered  anymore   (if   it   ever   could   have   been)   as   a   cultural   domain   and   property   or   young   people  alone.  Conversely,   'youth  music'  may  still  connote  qualities   that  are  most  readily  associated  with   'the   popular'.   Thus,   at   issue   is   not   only   a   critical   re-­‐evaluation   of   the   concept   of   'the  popular'  but  also  that  of  'the  youth'.  Here,  instrumental  points  of  departure  and  juxtaposition  involve   the   theoretical  discussion  of  cultural   formations   that  have  been  and  maybe  still   are  considered   as   worthy   of   such   epithets   as   'popular',   'youth',   'sub-­‐',   'club-­‐',   'counter-­‐',   and  'multi-­‐'.   It   is   the   last  of   these  which   is  of  paramount  significance   for   the  post-­‐industrialised,  post-­‐secularised   and   postcolonial   world   we   inhabit,   particularly   in   its   'western'  conceptualisation.   Ultimately,   then,   my   investigation   involves   reconsidering   the  intergenerational  as  well   as   the   intersectional   implications   that   the  notions  of   'the  popular'  and  'the  youth'  carry  in  relation  to  music.    

 

Keir Keightley (University of Western Ontario)

The Provenance of the Popular  Popular   music   studies   has   long   understood   that   “Taking   Popular   Music   Seriously”   has  important  implications  for  modern  democracy.      As  his  career-­‐spanning  collection  of  that  title  (2007)  shows,  Simon  Frith  has   long  approached  the  experience  of  popular  music  as  a  space  for  enacting  and  understanding   the   important  political   and  cultural   stakes  of   a  democratic-­‐popular.  The  roots  of  this  “taking  seriously”  are  complex  and  contradictory,  running  deep  into  19th  century  class  struggles.  Lawrence  Levine  (1988,  p.  136)  points  out  that  not  taking  popular  music  seriously  supported  anti-­‐democratic  impulses,  claiming  “The  urge  to  deprecate  popular  music  genres  was  an  important  element  in  the  process  of  sacralization”  of  art  music  by  elites,  during  a  period  that  saw  the  advent  of  so-­‐called  “mass  culture”  (circa  1880-­‐1920).  This  era  of  new  media  and  expanding  democracy   (i.e.,  universal   suffrage)   is  precisely   the  period  Stuart  Hall   identifies   in   “Notes   on   Deconstructing   the   Popular”   as   experiencing   a   massive  reorganization  and  rearticulation  of  “the  popular”  by  capital.  And  it  is  in  this  period  that  what  Frith   (1987)   calls   the   industrialization   of   music   assumes   its   modern   form.   This   paper   will  examine   the  rise  of   industrialized/popular  music  and   its  processes  of  evaluation  against   the  

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backdrop   of   modern   democratic   cultures,   where   anxiety   and   suspicion   about   fraud   (both  political   and   consumer)   abounds.   It   will   revisit   the   vexed   question   of   popular   musical  authenticity   from   the   perspective   of   high   art   world   assessments   of   forgery.   Perhaps   the  crucial  test  of  a  painting’s  authenticity  involves  historical  knowledge  of  its  chain  of  possession,  supported  by  records  of  ownership.  The  provenance  of  a  painting,   like   the  provenance  of  a  popular   song,   matters   greatly   in   assessments   of   authenticity.     The   rise   of   so-­‐called   mass  culture   involved  not   only   the   conjunction  of  mass   audiences   and   the  mass  manufacture   of  cultural   texts   but,   frequently,   the   mass   manufacture   of   massive   audiences.   This   produced  something  both  new  and  democratically  dangerous:  the  forgery  of  popularity.  As  Frith  (1996)  has  argued,   the  conflation  of   large   sales   figures  with  widespread  popularity   is  a   common—and  highly-­‐problematic—misreading  of  the  politics  of  the  popular.  Drawing  on  Frith’s  corpus,  as   well   as   Joshua   Gamson’s   (1994)   work   on   the   sociology   of   celebrity,   I   will   explore   and  further  historicize  the  claim  that  the  democratic  stakes  of  popular  music  involve  grasping  the  sources   and   status   of   “the   popular.”   Here,   “taking   popular   music   seriously”   may   involve  parsing   popularity,   distinguishing   forged   and   authentic   versions,   and   thus   rehearsing   basic  democratic  procedures.    

 Gert Keunen (Fontys University College of Arts)

Alternative Mainstream – Between Aesthetics and Big Business  Simon   Frith   wrote   a   lot   about   the   difference   between   pop   and   rock:   the   latter   being   the  ‘serious’  kind  of  pop  music  where  a  certain   folk   sensibility   should  make   the  difference  with  the  commercialism  of  pop.  In  a  recent  study  I  introduced  the  term  ‘alternative  mainstream’  to  describe  and  actualise  this.  

In  popular  music  studies  we  often  find  the  terms  ‘mainstream’  and  ‘underground’,  but  the  exact  meaning  of   those   terms   is   unclear.   In  my  opinion   ‘mainstream’   is   the  music  which   is  accessible   to  a   large  audience  and  all  over   the  place   (in   the  charts,  on  television,  at   railway  stations,   etc.),  while   ‘underground’   consists  of   separate   scenes   (like  hip  hop,   techno,  punk,  metal,  etc.),  each  with   its  own  culture,  values  and   infrastructure  (venues,   labels,  magazines,  etc.),  and  which  are  unknown  to  most  people  expect  from  those  who  take  the  effort  to  get  to  know  them.    

The  alternative  mainstream  is  situated  in  between  those  two:  it’s  music  which  refers  to  the  underground   as   being   ‘authentic’   and   ‘non-­‐commercial’,   while   it’s   a   form   of   mainstream-­‐culture   anyway.   Perception   is   crucial   here:   the   alternative   mainstream   thinks   of   itself   as  alternative,  wants   to  be   ‘credible’.   It’s   the  area  of   the   ‘music   lover’   (the  one  who  reads  the  music  press,  goes  to  concerts  and  festivals,  etc.),  music  that  is  selected  by  the  most  important  national  players/gatekeepers  in  the  music  circuit  (NME  and  BBC  in  England  for  instance).  This  model  is  more  than  a  theory;  it  is  useful  to  describe  musical  careers.  An  artist  can  start  in  a   specific   underground   scene   and   can   be   discovered   by   ‘opinion   leaders’   on   the   Internet.  Other   players   in   the   national   media   and   industry   can   follow   and   push   the   artist   in   the  

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alternative  mainstream   and   sometimes   even   into   the  mainstream.   But  when   the   attention  stops  the  artist  can  be  forced  to  go  underground  again  (cf.  the  ‘pool-­‐model’  Frith  described  as  supposed  to  the  ‘rock-­‐model’).  

Interesting   to   look   at   (and   that’s   the   main   focus   in   my   study)   is   how   selections   in   the  alternative   mainstream   are   being   made,   how   these   are   the   result   of   –   and   a   pragmatic  interaction  between  –  organisational,  economical,  positional  and  social  logics  and  how  these  selections   are   always   legitimized   by   referring   to   the   music   itself.   The   business-­‐side   of   the  music  industry  is  always  countered  by  the  romanticism  of  the  personal  taste.    

Holly Kruse (Rogers State University)

Music, Knowledge, and the Politics of Gender  As   an   undergraduate   student   and   rock   music   fan   in   the   1980s,   I   read   a   review   of   Bruce  Springsteen’s  Born  in  the  USA  album  in  the  university  newspaper.  The  review  prompted  me  to  write   my   first   letter   to   the   editor.   The   review   indicated   that   the   album   represented   the  essential   experience   of   rock   and   roll  music.   It   wasn’t  my   experience,   or   the   experience   of  many  others,  as  I  argued  in  my  letter.  The  album  didn’t  resonate  with  me  in  the  way  that   it  seemed  that  rock  criticism  dictated,  even  as   I  could  appreciate   its  appeal.   In  that  moment   I  realized  that  I  didn’t  have  the  language  to  enter  into  the  patriarchal  discourse  of  rock  music  criticism.  I  didn’t  have  an  encyclopedic  knowledge  of  the  history  of  rock  and  roll,  and  unlike  the   reviewer,   I   was   unable   to   attribute  meaning   to  Born   in   the   USA   within   the   context   to  Springsteen’s  discography  or  within  discourses  of  the  previous  decades  of  rock  music  history.  In  their  1978  article  “Rock  and  Sexuality,”  in  contrasting  rock  and  pop  music,  Simon  Frith  and  Angela   McRobbie   observed   that   the   “euphoria”   of   the   live   rock   music   experience   is  dependent  on  “the  absence  of  women”  (7).  The  prevailing  notion  at  the  time  of  articulation  of  rock   music   and   gender   was   that,   they   state,   “It   is   boys   who   form   the   core   of   the   rock  audience,  who  are   intellectually   interested  in  rock,  who  become  rock  critics  and  collectors…  who  experience   rock   as   a   collective   culture,   a   shared  male  world  of   fellow   fans   and   fellow  musicians”  (8).  Discovering  the  early  work  of  Frith  (and  of  McRobbie)  in  articles  like  “Rock  and  Sexuality”  and  books  like  Sound  Effects  when  I  entered  graduate  school  allowed  me  to  finally  interrogate   the   central   role   of   gender   socialization   and   its   institutionalization,   including   in  notions   of   musical   aesthetics   and   in   the   structures   of   the   music   industry.   While   some  dynamics  have  changed  for  women  and/in  rock  music   in   the  past  35  years,  many  have  not.  Frith’s  work  remains  a  critical  intervention  in  the  area  of  rock  and  gender,  and  one  I  that  will  explore  in  this  paper.    

     

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Robert Labaree (New England Conservatory)

Variability and Performer Control in Early Twentieth Century Turkish Recordings: The Transmission of Ottoman Aesthetics and Affect into the Twentieth Century  The  recording  industry  entered  the  Middle  East  at  about  the  same  time  as  in  Europe  and  the  United   States,   in   the   decade  before   the   First  World  War.   The   technology   itself  was   almost  identical   in   each   region   but,   given   differences   in   local   culture   and   history,   its   impact   on  musicians  and  audiences   in  each  area  was  not  uniform.   In  the  early  20th  century  the  radical  piece-­‐ness   of   recorded   arias,   marches   and   waltzes   could   be   absorbed   into   western  consciousness  as  an  extension  of  the  piece-­‐ness  normalized  over  four  centuries  of  European  history,   through   published   scores,   penny-­‐sheets   and   editions.   However,   in   Turkey   music  publication  began  only  in  the  19th  century  and  did  not  become  a  mass  phenomenon  until  the  early  20th  century.    

This   paper   isolates   just   one   of   the   indisputable   effects   of   audio   technology—its  contribution   to   the  commodification  of   traditional  practice   through   the  creation  of  uniform  and   invariant   pieces   of   repertoire—and   examines   it   against   an   Ottoman   background.   The  aesthetic   impacts  of  mechanical  reproduction  of  music  in  a  non-­‐European  setting—a  setting  where   uniformity   and   invariability   themselves   have   a   distinct   history   and   aesthetic  significance—add  a  fresh  perspective  to  the  ongoing  scholarly  re-­‐examination  of  Euro-­‐centric  and  work-­‐centric  approaches  to  music.  

To   dig   deeper   into   the   aesthetic   impact   of   recording   technology   in   Turkey   requires  examining  the  historical  roots  of  two  signature  performance  values  of  Ottoman  makam  music  which   were   especially   challenged   by   mechanical   reproduction:   1)   the   tendency   toward  continuous   variation,   and   2)   the   emotional   and   religious   associations   with   performer-­‐controlled   performance,   or   improvisation.   Four   types   of   sources   provide   insight   into   these  aesthetic  benchmarks:  recordings  made  in  Turkey  between  1900  and  1950;  Ottoman  musical  terms   for   fixed   and   variable  musical   forms   from   the  15th   to   the  20th   century;   and  Ottoman  concepts  of   fixity  and  variability  outside  of  music  performance   in  organology,   literature  and  Islamic  philosophy.      

 Dave Laing (University of Liverpool)

Considerations on Low Theory  In   the   brief   intellectual   autobiography   to   found   in   the   2007   introduction   to   his   essay  collection  Taking  Popular  Music  Seriously,  Simon  Frith  states:  ‘The  key  to  an  understanding  of  popular  music  was,  I  had  come  to  realise,  not  high  but  low  theory’.  

In   a   conversation   with   Andrew   Goodwin   at   the   IASPM   international   conference   in  Stockton,  California,   Simon  Frith   referred   to  his  own  work  as  an  example  of   ‘low   theory’,   a  term   he   would   repeat   in   a   scathing   comment   on   his   former   comrade-­‐in-­‐arms   Lawrence  

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Grossberg,  who  had  declared  popular  music  studies  to  have  been  a  failure.    Taking  Frith  at  his  word,  this  paper  attempts  a  preliminary  archaeology  of  Frith’s  low  theory  and  its  ideological  and  conceptual  components.  

‘Low’   itself  was  a  brilliant  choice  of  modifier,  with   its   rich  connotations  of  solidarity  with  the  popular  against   the  elite’s  high  culture  and   its  underlining  of   the   lower-­‐case   ‘theory’,   in  contrast  to  the  ‘Theory’  and  ‘do-­‐it-­‐yourself  structuralism’  espoused  not  only  by  Grossberg  but  by  others  in  popular  music  studies  whose  formation  was  in  cultural  studies.    

The  paper  will  consider  several  principal  motifs  of  Frith’s  low  theory.  Among  them  will  be  the  conspicuous  absence  of  citations  from  other  authors  in  his  writings,  and  the  consequent  aura   of   autonomy   which   results;   the   frequency   of   tripartite   figures   in   his   arguments;   the  hostility   to   what   an   early   paper   called   the   ‘myth’   of   rock   and   its   associated   notion   of  ‘authenticity;  the  unresolved  concern  with  the  problem  of   ‘value’,  and  the  atypical  espousal  of  one  concept  from  ‘Theory’,  the  grain  of  the  voice.  

Concluding   remarks  will   examine  whether   low   theory   is   in   reality  no   theory  –  and,   if   so,  whether  it  matters.    

 Paul Long (Birmingham City University)

On Endings in Music and The End of Popular Music Culture  This  paper  considers  a  motif  of  ending  which  has  been  a  recurring  theme  in  the  discourse  of  pop.  Notification  of   the  end  of  music   itself   comes   in  a  number  of  pop  songs:  Don  MacLean  lamented   ‘The   Day   the  Music   Died’   (1971),   while   the   Beatles   self-­‐consciously   summarized  their  significance  at  the  point  of  their  own  dissolution  with  the  advice  that  ‘in  the  end  the  love  you  take  is  equal  to  the  love  you  make’  (1969).  The  significance  of  the  end  of  the  Beatles  was  marked  too  by  John  Lennon  in  ‘God’  (1970)  with  this  ‘dream  weaver’  insisting  that  ‘the  dream  is   over’.   This   theme  of   ending   is   echoed,   too,   in  writing   about   pop:   Julie   Burchill   and   Tony  Parsons'   ‘The  Boy  Looked  at  Johnny’  (1978)  is  subtitled  ‘The  Obituary  of  Rock  'n'  Roll’,  while  Donald   Clarke   has   written   of   ‘The   Rise   And   Fall   Of   Popular   Music’   (1995).   In   ‘The  Industrialization  of  Music’  (1988),  Simon  Frith  too  has  written  that:  ‘We  are  coming  to  the  end  of   the   record   era   now   (and   so,   perhaps,   to   the   end   of   pop  music   as   we   know   it)’.   Frith’s  observations  anticipate  a  current  sense  of  ending  attendant  on  the  disappearance  of  record  stores,  the  decline  in  particular  formats:  the  45,  ‘B’  sides,  albums  or  mixtapes.  Practices,  sites,  artefacts  and  ideas  that  have  long  been  central  to  pop  and  its  experience  now  seem  less  and  less  important.  In  this  paper  I  ask:  to  what  degree  do  such  developments  suggest  something  more  monumental  than  a  reiteration  of  familiar  trope  of  endings  in  pop?  What  does  it  mean  to  think  about  The  End  of  a  particular  era  of  popular  music  culture,   its  rituals  and  reference  points?   How   might   we   begin   to   conceptualize   a   distinctive   historical   period   in   which   pop  mattered  in  particular  ways  and  which  are  now  exhausted?  What  does  this  suggest  for  how  we  make  sense  of  pop  as  producers,  consumers  and  scholars?    

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 Marion MacLeod (University of Chicago)

Just My Soul Responding: Studying Vocal Timbre as Ideological Marker    Many  American  vocal  genres  are  defined  by  their  timbral  signatures.  Timbral  quality  is  seen  as  a  stylistic  marker  with  genre  affiliations,  but  these  associations  are  often  extended  to  suggest  that  vocal  timbre  is  a  lifestyle  marker  as  well.  When  the  voice  is  seen  as  a  truth-­‐marker  or  a  grassroots   indicator   of   the   natural,   unadulterated   human,   listeners   (consciously   or  unconsciously)   read   into   timbre   ideas   of   class,   education,   gender,   and   race.   Encouraging  sympathy   in   the   listener,   the   voice   is   thought   to   communicate   interiority   and   sincerity   and  performers  take  on  extra  semantic  potency  when  the  voice  is  their  medium.  Musical  writing  reflects   this   tendency.   The   language   used   to   describe   vocal   timbre   in   the   bulk   of   musical  writing   is   often   socially   suggestive—voices   are   “pure”   or   “rich”;   singers   have   “smoky”   or  “whiskey”   voices;   they   are   “laidback”   or   “soulful”   or   “warm”   or   “rough.”   Consider   the  responsibility   given   to   substance   abuse  when   Janis   Joplin’s   timbre   evolved   from   sweet   and  resonant   to   raspy   and   explosive,   or   consider   the   “white   sounding”  music   of   black   country  singer,   Charley   Pride   and   questions   will   surface   regarding   the   degree   to   which   habits,  conditions,   preferences   or   persuasions   are   able   to   alter   “natural”   vocal   timbre.  Simultaneously   hearing   the   music,   the   performer   and   the   performer’s   cultural   position  highlights   one   of   the   key   differences   among   the   aesthetic   evaluations   of   distinct   popular  genres.   It   also   calls   to   mind   one   of   Frith’s   central   questions   in   his   examinations   of  authenticity.   Frith   asserts   that   authenticity   is   caught   up   in   the   notion   that   it   reflects   social  conditions   and   he   discusses   genre-­‐specific   associations   with   escapism,   truth,   fantasy,   etc.  Throughout,   Frith’s   important  question   is,   “Why  are   some   reflections   chosen  over  others?”  The   timbral   discussion   presented   in   my   paper   extends   this   question   to   include   ideas   of  “cultural  competence”  and  availability,  asking  how  timbre,  in  the  performer  and  the  listener,  can  signal  degrees  of  attunement  to  socio-­‐musical  happenings.    

 Gabriele Marino (University of Turin)

Writing about Imaginary Music (is like Dancing about Real Music)  The  contribution  will  analyze  the  practice  of  writing  reviews  of  imaginary  records  within  rock  journalism,  from  its  golden  age,  in  the  Sixties  and  the  Seventies,  up  to  nowadays.  It  is  a  niche  form   of  music   criticism   able   to   enlighten,   due   to   its   particular   paroxysmal   and   paradoxical  nature,  the  key  features  of  the  whole  “writing  about  music”  field.  A  canon  of  nine  American,  English  and  Italian  representative  case  studies  has  been  selected  (the  authors  considered  are  Greil  Marcus,  Lester  Bangs,  Riccardo  Bertoncelli,  Maurizio  Bianchini,  Massimo  Cotto,  Vittore  Baroni,  Dionisio  Capuano,  Simon  Reynolds  and  Paul  Morley,  Richard  Meltzer),  through  which  

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it   is  possible  to  build  up  a  typology,  and  underlining  the  common  features  and  the  relevant  differences  between  them.  

Apparently   homologues,   the   reviews   actually   differ   in   intentions,   contexts,   style   and  reception:   mainly,   it   is   possible   to   distinguish   between   imaginary   records   by   truly   existing  artists   and   imaginary   records   by   imaginary   artists;   between   reviews   of   imaginary   records  planned  to  be  hoaxes  and  reviews  intended,  more  or  less  explicitly,  as  a  complicity  play  with  the   reader.   The   latter   category,   with   Dionisio   Capuano’s   regular   column   “Mission:   It’s  Possible”   (published   in   “Blow   Up”  monthly  magazine,   from   2005   to   2012)   as   a   prominent  example,  stands  as  the  most  interesting  and  complex  case.  Marked  by  a  strong  game-­‐like  and  intertextual   nature   (they   construct   a   network   of   references   that   requires   a   field-­‐specific  knowledge),  these  reviews  represent  a  proper  form  of  music  criticism  (they  talk  about  existing  music  through  imaginary  records),  and  of  meta-­‐criticism  in  particular  (their  ideal  readers  are,  first  of  all,  music  critics  themselves).  At  the  same  time,  emphasizing  the  subjective,  narrative  and   transfigurative   features   of   any   music   criticism   act,   they   go   beyond   proper   music  journalism.    

 Lee Marshall (University of Bristol)

On the Value of Popular Music    ‘On   the  value  of  popular  music’   is,  of   course,   the   subtitle  of  Frith’s  1996  book,  Performing  Rites.   In   the   book,   Frith   investigates   the   discourses   of   value   inherent   within   the   everyday  routines  of  engaging  with  popular  music  and,  in  so  doing,  asserts  that  popular  music  can  be  as  valuable  as  art  music.  The  value  under  discussion,  though,   is  aesthetic.  What   is  absent  from  the  discussion   is   financial  value:  what   is  music  worth,  and  what   is   the  relationship  between  aesthetic  value  and  financial  value?  Current  trends  within  popular  music  industry  and  culture  have   brought   this   question   to   the   fore,   with   arguments   about   music   becoming   ‘less  important’   coinciding   with   dramatically   declining   revenues   for   the   recording   industry.  Through  a  discussion  of   contemporary  discourse,   this  paper  offers  an   investigation   into   the  connections  between  the  aesthetic  and  financial  value  of  popular  music.    

 

Johanne Melançon (Laurentian University)

The Interpretation of Popular Music: How Discourses Construct Meaning  In  Performing  Rites.  On   the  Value  of  Popular  Music   (1996),   Simon  Frith   “suggested  ways   in  which  we  can  use  a  sociology  of  music  as  the  basis  of  an  aesthetic  theory,  how  we  can  move  from  a  description  of  popular  music  as  a  social  institution  to  an  understanding  of  how  we  can  and  do  value  it.”  (276).  He  also  makes  it  clear  that  “[t]he  'meaning'  of  music  describes  [...]  not  just  an  interpretative  but  a  social  process  :  musical  meaning  is  not  inherent  [...]   in  the  text.”  

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(250)  In  this  paper,  I  wish  to  factor  in  how  sociology  can  also  contribute  to  an  understanding  of  how  we  give  value  to  a  song  and  how  we  construct  what  a  particular  song  can  mean  for  us  by  considering  discourses.  As  Pierre  Bourdieu  states  in  Les  règles  de  l'art  (1992),  “le  discours  sur   l'œuvre   n'est   pas   un   simple   adjuvant,   destiné   à   en   favoriser   l'appréhension   et  l'appréciation,  mais  un  moment  de   la  production  de   l'œuvre,  de   son   sens  et  de   sa   valeur.”  (242;   “The   discourse   concerning   the   work   is   not   a   simple   adjunct   meant   to   further   its  apprehension   and   appreciation,   but   a  moment   in  the   work's   creation,   of   its  meaning   and  value”  —  my  translation).  Everything  that  is  said,  from  comment  to  opinion,  from  promotional  statements,   including  videoclips,   to   interviews  and  critics,   is  part  of   the  construction  of   the  meaning  of  a  song  as  it  is  to  the  construction  of  the  image  of  the  artist  and  therefore  to  the  value   and  meaning   we   give   to   his   music.   Therefore,   it   is   not   only   a   piece   of   music   which  produces  popular  values  (Frith,  1996  :  270),  but  also  every  discourse  on  this  piece  of  music.  That   is   what   this   paper   shall   demonstrate   using   as   an  example   the   Québécois   singer  songwriter   Richard   Séguin’s   song   “Rester   debout”   (D'instinct,   1995),   released   one   month  before   the   second   Quebec   Referendum   on   sovereignty,   shedding   light   on   how   discourses  gave  value  to  this  song  and  how  they  changed  its  meaning  after  the  Referendum.    

 Juan Carlos Meléndez-Torres (University of Pennsylvania)

Creative Differences: Copyright Law Reform as a Tool for Industrial Formalization and Economic Exclusion in the Popular Music of Dakar, Senegal  Though  still  largely  an  informal  sector  due  to  lack  of  infrastructure,  government  support,  and  audience  purchasing  power,  Senegal’s  music  industry  is  on  track  to  be  the  home  of  one  of  the  first  artistic  sociétés  de  gestion  collective,  or  collective  management  societies,  in  West  Africa.    Thanks  to  a  drastic  overhaul  of  Senegalese  copyright  law  passed  in  2008  but  only  signed  into  action   in   January  2013,   the  new   société  will   put   artists   thoroughly   in   control   of   all  matters  related  to  le  droit  d’auteur  et  les  droits  voisins  –  author’s  rights  and  neighboring  rights.    The  elimination   of   the   state-­‐administered   Bureau   Senegalais   du   Droit   d’Auteur   (BSDA)   and  creation  of   this  new  society   represent  what   is   supposed  to  be  a  significant  democratisation  and  radical  decentralisation  of  previously  state-­‐held  responsibilities:  a  romantic,  hard-­‐fought  handing-­‐over  of  artists’  matters  into  artists’  hands.  

The  reality  of  the  situation  is  a  much  more  complicated  one.    The  process  of  forming  this  new  society  (projected  to  stretch  over  a  year)  has  led  to  the  growth  of  substantial  rifts  within  communities   of   musicians   and   music   industry   professionals   in   Dakar,   particularly   in   rap  circles,   as   certain   voices   are   valorized   over   others   in   the   fight   to   ensure   that   this   society  protects   all   artists   equally.   This   paper,   informed   by   a   critical   engagement   with   musical  scholarship  on  copyright  by  Simon  Frith,  Anthony  Seeger,  and  Dave  Laing  as  well  as  14  months  of  fieldwork  in  Senegal,  presents  an  ethnographic  overview  of  the  perspectives  of  musicians,  music   producers,   recording   technicians,   artistic  managers,   and   legal   experts   in   the  ongoing  struggle   to   have   their   economic   interests   preserved   through   the   formation   of   this   society.    

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With  almost  all  music  professionals   in  Dakar  clamoring   for  a  more   formal,   structured  music  industry,  is  this  new  society  the  right  way  to  achieve  this  dream,  or  will   it  simply  perpetuate  the  extant  economic  elitism  of  Dakar’s  musical  community?    

 Michael Murphy (Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology)

A Social History of Record Labels in the Republic of Ireland  As  Simon  Frith  demonstrated,  the  major  movements  in  popular  music  ‘have  originated  at  the  social  margins  –  among  the  poor,  the  migrant,  the  rootless,  the  “queer.”’  (Frith  1998,  274).2  While  initially  Ireland  may  not  currently  appear  an  obvious  member  of  the  above  categories;  the  industrial  development  of  its  music  practice  was  shaped  by  distinctive  relationships  with  hegemonic  Anglo-­‐American  cultural  production  centres.  Ireland’s  geographical  and  economic  proximity   to   Britain   and   a   long   history   of   emigration   to   both   Britain   and   the  United   States  influenced  how  Irish  society  responded  to  the  major  international  labels.    

A  number  of  distinctive  stages   in   the  development  of   the   ‘domestic’   Irish  music   industry  need  to  be  identified;  each  had  specific  impacts  on  local  musicians  and  entrepreneurs.  

This   paper   examines   the   history   of   the   major   record   labels   in   the   Irish   Republic.   It  interrogates  the  evolving  tactics  and  strategies  utilised  on  their  path  toward  market  share  and  industry  dominance.  Drawing  on  archive  material  and  discourse  analysis  I  document  how  the  labels  engaged  with  genres  and  local  entrepreneurs.    

 Keith Negus (Goldsmiths)

Struggling for Fun and Being Cheerful – Reflections on Frithism, Embedded Theory and Popular Music Studies  I   can   still   recall,   as   a  mature  undergraduate   student   in   the  mid-­‐1980s,   reaching   the  end  of  Sound  Effects  and  being  a  little  disappointed  and  somewhat  bewildered:  ‘the  struggle  for  fun  continues’  –  what   is/was  that  all  about?  By  the  time  I  was  a  knowing  professional  academic  reading  ‘Reasons  to  be  cheerful’  (a  2004  essay  review  of  Rock  Over  the  Edge  critiquing  Larry  Grossberg’s  grand  theorising)  I  knew  full  well  what  it  was  all  about,  and  I  laughed  out  loud  –  many   times,  which   is   not   something   I   am   inclined   to   do  when   reading   the   journal  Popular  Music.  I  want  to  use  this  opportunity  to  reflect  on  ‘theory’  in  the  study  of  popular  music.  This  will   entail   a   little   self-­‐reflection   on   those   inverted   commas:   As   the   person   responsible   for  calling  a  book  Popular  Music  in  Theory  –  a  title  I  have  regretted  almost  since  it  was  published  –   I   have   often   pondered   this   issue.   My   point   will   be:   One   of   Simon   Frith’s   important  contributions  to  the  study  of  popular  music  is  to  offer  a  particular  sensibility,  a  way  of  wryly  puncturing  pretension,  a  clear  and  systematic  way  of   illuminating   issues   (usually   involving  3  

                                                                                                                         2 Simon  Frith  Performing  Rites:  On  the  Value  of  Popular  Music  (Harvard:  Harvard  University  Press,  1998)

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key  points)  along  with  an  often  understated  and  ironic  way  of  taking  unexpected  twists  and  turns;   qualities   probably   informed   by   his   experience   as   a   rock   journalist   as   much   as   his  suspicion   of   high   theory.   Frith’s   work   is   not   a   coherent,   orderly   and   systematic   body   of  thought   (another   error   I   once  made   in   an   article  written  with  Mike  Pickering).   SF’s  work   is  testament   to   the   value   and   importance   of   untidy   embedded   theory   (rather   than   orderly  elevated   theory);   a   type  of  argument  and   insight   that   lurks  deep  within  a   text,   a   sensitivity  and  sensibility  that  wears  its  knowledge  lightly  but  which  is  no  less  profound  for  doing  so.    

 Pedro Nunes (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)  

‘A Matter of Survival and of Communication’: Synergies in the Recording Industry in Portugal in the years 2000-2008  This   paper   will   address   the   space   of   record   labels   in   Portugal   in   the   years   2000   to   2008  through   an   examination   of   the   strategies   and   policies   towards   the   domestic   repertoire  developed  by  the  majors  and  the  independent  labels  operating  within  Portugal.  I  will  focus  my  analysis   over   a   ten   year   period   which   saw   the   recording   industry   within   Portugal   going  through  a  period  of  crisis  arguably  caused  by  the  worldwide  practice  of  illegal  downloading  of  music  files  (among  other  factors).  I  will  sustain  my  findings  on  data  collected  from  interviews  conducted  with   record   label  managers   and   other   staff   at  major   and   independent   labels   as  well  as  on  quantitative  data   from  the  Portuguese  Phonographic  Association   throughout   the  mentioned   period.   Through   a   critical   discussion   of   some   the   key   approaches   to   the   topic,  namely  Wallis  &  Malm  (1984)  and  Williamson  and  Cloonan  (2007)  I  will  suggest  that  the  study  of  the  recording  industry  in  small  countries  during  a  period  of  crisis  needs  further  inquiry  into  the  role  played  by  local  independent  labels  rather  than  focusing  solely  on  the  Big  Four  as  the  results   suggest   that   the   former   have  been   able   to   cope  better  with   the   downfall   in   record  sales.  Also  I  will  take  into  account  the  debates  about  the  local  versus  the  transnational  in  the  recording  industry.    

 Kate Oakley (see Mark Banks)  

 Richard Osborne (Middlesex University)

I Am a One in Ten: Success Ratios in the Record Industry  At   various  points   in  his   career   Simon  Frith  has   contemplated   the   success   rate  of   the  music  industry.  In  ‘A  Year  of  Singles  in  Britain’  (1974)  he  conducted  one  of  the  few  empirical  studies  into   the   subject,   documenting   the   number   of   releases   in   a   given   year   that   made   the   UK  charts.   The   result   was   a   success   rate   of   one   in   eleven.   In   Sound   Effects   (1983)   he   quoted  

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music  business  commentators  who  stated  that  only  about  10%  of  all  records  released  make  money.  By  the  time  of  ‘The  Popular  Music  Industry’  (2001)  he  was  arguing  that  ‘more  than  90  per  cent  of  the  product  is  loss-­‐making’  and  that  the  music  industry  has  been  orientated  more  towards  ‘the  production  of  failure  than  success’.  

In  my  paper  I  wish  to  take  a  look  at  this  phenomenon.  As  Frith  concedes,  until  the  present  century  the  industry  has  conducted  ‘little  formal  market  research’  (2001).  Moreover,  despite  increased  monitoring  of  the  business,  a  similar  success  rate  continues  to  be  put  forth  (e.g.  in  Pop  Music,  Pop  Culture  (2011)  Chris  Rojek  states  that  only  10%  of  artists  are  profitable).  Given  the  changes  the  music  industry  has  encountered  in  40  years,  the  10%  success  figure  has  been  remarkably  persistent.  

I  will  examine  this  figure  from  various  angles.  Firstly,  in  what  ways  has  it  been  measured?  (It   has  been  quoted   in   relation   to   chart   success,   recoupment  of   advances   and   ‘break-­‐even’  figures  amongst  others.)  Secondly,  what  purposes  has   it   served   for   the  music   industry?   (On  the  one  hand,  it  has  been  used  as  evidence  that  companies  sponsor  new  music;  on  the  other,  it  has  underpinned  the  structure  of  contracts  and  the  pricing  of  recordings.)  Thirdly,  what  is  its  appeal  to  academic  scholars?  (Frith  is  amongst  a  distinguished  group  of  writers  who  have  been  drawn  towards  market  failure.)    

 Tom Perchard (Goldsmiths)

New Riffs on the Old Mind-Body Blues: African American Rhythm and Music Theory in the 21st-Century    We   are   by   now   accustomed   to   the   critique   of   those   mind-­‐body   binaries   that   have   long  informed  musical  discourses   in   the  west.  Gary  Tomlinson,   Ian  Cross  and  others  have  shown  how  taxonomic  divisions  of  humanity  –  constructed  in  earnest  by  European  anthropology  and  philosophy  from  the  Enlightenment  on  –  were  reflected   in  18th  and  19th-­‐century  theories  of  music,   with   intellectualised   form   always   pulling   away   from   base   rhythm,   just   as   light   skin  supposedly   pulled   away   from   dark;   Ronald   Radano   and   Simon   Frith   have   shown   how   such  distinctions  also  manifested  and  proliferated  in  the  popular  music  discourses  of  the  19th  and  20th-­‐centuries.  But,   the   faults  of  old  and  now  disreputable  scholarly  approaches  articulated,  it’s   high   time  we   cast   an   eye   over   our   own   activities:   in   this   paper   I   argue   that,   despite   a  common  tone  of  advocacy  and  celebration,  a  number  of  recent  academic  studies  of  African  American  rhythmic  practice  still  stumble  over  such  racialised,  mind-­‐body  faultlines.  Personal  sympathies  are  seen  to  be  overwhelmed  by  problems  inherent  to  the  historical  field  in  which  music   academics   operate.   The   first   generation   of   popular   music   scholars   continually  examined  the  conflicted  nature  of  the  position  they  occupied,  but,  popular  forms  ever  more  ensconced   in   the   university,   such   problems   seem   ever   less   entertained;   the   paper   closes,  then,   by   asking   whether   we   wouldn’t   do   well   to   reassess   and   reassert   the   ‘political’   and  methodological  problems  inherent  to  the  academic  study  of  popular  music.    

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 Mark Percival (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh)

Pop, Rock and the Illustrated Word: Music and Musicians in Comics  In  the   introduction  to  1990's  On  Record  (the  second  Frith  related  book  I  read  as  part  of  my  rapidly   developing   interest   in   pop   music   scholarship),   Simon   Frith   and   Andrew   Goodwin  discuss   the   roots   of   the   sociology   of   pop   and   rock   in   the   study   of   "mass   culture",   and   the  study  of  youth  and  deviance.    They  argue  that  these  concerns  merge  with  the  arrival  of  rock  and   roll   in   the  1950s   -­‐   "the   first  unavoidable  mass   culture   commodity   aimed  at   teenagers"  (p.1).    Rock  and  roll  became  part  of  the  20th  century  narrative  of  moral  panic  around  popular  culture,  but  a  similar  story  was  unfolding  at  the  same  time  around  another  popular  cultural  product,  the  comic  book.    Wertham's  (1954)  highly  critical  "Seduction  of  the  Innocent"  led  to  his   appearance   in   front   of   a   Senate   Subcommittee   on   juvenile   delinquency   in   which   he  suggested  that  comic  books  were  a  central  cause  of  juvenile  crime.  The  consequent  sanitising  of  comics  in  the  1950s  paralleled  the  mainstreaming  of  rock  and  roll  in  the  mid  to  late  1950s,  particularly   with   the   dilution   of   the   sexuality   of   Elvis   Presley's   stage   (and   particularly  television)  performances.    This  paper  suggests  that  pop  music  and  comics  as  two  potentially  subversive   cultural   forms  moved   closer   together   in   the   following   decade,   as   both   popular  music   and   comics  went   to   college   and   as   Stan   Lee's   development   of   the   fictional  world   of  Marvel   Comics   superheroes   became   peppered   with   references   to   contemporaneous  pop.     Frith   has   argued   for  many   years,   quite   correctly,   that   the   defining   nature   of   popular  music   as   it   emerged   in   the   20th   century   was   its   seamless  merger   of   the   creative   and   the  commercial.    More  than  any  other  creative  medium,  I  would  argue  that  comic  books  are  the  same.    This  paper  explores   some  of   the  key  moments  of   cross-­‐over  between   these  popular  cultural  forms  and  argues  that,  from  the  1960s  onwards  pop  music  made  comics  more  "real".    

 Devon Powers (Drexel University)

What Hath Frith Wrought? Towards a Future of Writing about Popular Music  As   a   pioneer   of   popular   music   studies   as   well   as   the   most   well-­‐known   rock   critic-­‐turned-­‐academic,  Simon  Frith  has  forged—and  lived—the  relationship  between  popular  music  and  its  academic  study.  Likewise,  his  work  has  been  the  inspiration  for  a  wide  range  of  scholarship  as  well   as  an   impetus   for  greater  appreciation  of   the   intellectual  and  cultural   labor  pop  music  critics   do.   Yet   two   observations   should   give   pause   to   any   unmitigated   celebration   of   this  convergence.   The   first   observation   is   that,   despite   the   contributions   of   Frith   and   others   as  well  as  the  permeability  between  the  professions,  tension  remains  between   journalistic  and  academic   critics   of   popular   music.   These   tensions   concern   not   just   the   scope,   mode   of  address,  and  audience  for  writing  critically  about  popular  music,  but  also  whether  journalistic  critics   and   academics   can,   or   should,   envision   themselves   as   allies   or   similarly-­‐located  

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knowledge  workers.  The  second  observation  follows,  somewhat  ironically:  that  music  writers,  scholars,   and  “expert”   critics  of  all   kinds   face  parallel   institutional,  economic,   technological,  and   sociocultural   challenges,   especially   in   the  wake  of   the  democratizing   forms  of   criticism  and  music  sharing  that  the  Internet  enables.  These  challenges  may  in  fact  be  exacerbated  by  the  aforementioned  tensions,  as  the  two  camps  increasingly  compete  for  publicity,  jobs,  and  claims  to  expertise  in  a  noisy  and  ruthless  mediascape.    

We  might  ask  then:  when  popular  music  entered  the  academy,  was  more  harm  done  than  good?  In  exploring  this  question,  this  paper  will  consider  the  unintended  consequences  of  the  birth   and   development   of   popular  music   studies   in   the  wake   of   popular  music   journalism.  Rather   than   merely   indicate   some   of   these   negative   externalities,   though,   the   paper   will  explore  the  productive  possibilities  to  consider  how  the  positives  and  negatives  of  the  world  Frith   helped   to   create   might   lead   us   toward   strengthened   alliances   and   more   creative,  intelligent  means  of  writing  about  popular  music.    

 Helen Reddington (University of East London)

Whose Voice is it Anyway?  A  proportion  of  music  production  has  moved  from  major  studios  to  the  laptop;  some  women  have   become   empowered   by   the   reduction   in   scale   and   relative   affordability   of   laptop  production  (Woolfe,  2012);  Goodwin’s  (1992)  hoped-­‐for  democratization  finally  looks  to  be  in  sight.   However,   by   acting   as   gatekeepers,   music   producers   and   sound   engineers   still   have  considerable   control   over   the  way  we   hear   gender   in   pop   and   rock  music,   and   the   recent  debunking  of   Beyonce’s   feminism  by   the  press,  who  delighted   in   identifying   a   collection  of  male  writers  behind  her  hits,  has  a  depressingly  familiar  ring.  

The  innate  conservatism  of  the  British  music  industry  affects  education  and  apprenticeship  alike  and  it  is  within  this  network  of  assumptions  that  today’s  female  engineers  and  producers  operate.  Our  image  of  women  and  girls  in  pop  and  rock  music  is  constructed  by  men,  if  not  at  the  beginning  of  the  song-­‐writing  process  then  as  intermediaries;  vital  elements  of  the  public  profile   of   female   artists,   both   visual   and   sonic,   escape   their   control   once   they   enter   a  professional  studio  environment.  

Would  this  be  different  if  there  was  greater  gender  equality  at  the  point  of  recording  and  mixing  the  tracks?  

Based  on  the  author’s  original   interviews,  this  paper  will  explore  the  professional   lives  of  female  studio  personnel  in  Britain  and  question  what  it  is  we  actually  hear  when  we  listen  to  a  recording.  The  author  examines   the   reasons   that   the   interviewees  developed  an   interest   in  sound  production  and  the  strategies  they  have  developed  to  progress  in  their  careers,  linking    technological  skills  to  monetization  and  articulating  the  tensions  between  ‘the  body’  and  ‘the  brain’  played  out  in  recording  studios.  Following  in  Frith’s  footsteps,  music  industry  practice  is  translated  from  interview  to  academia,  drawing  on  McClary  (1991),  Wajcman  (1991),  Bradby  

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(1993),   Theberge   (1997),   Green   (1997),   Bayton   (1998),   Frith   (2009,   2012),   Fine   (2010),  Armstrong  (2013),  Lieb  (2013)  and  others  to  frame  the  primary  research.    

 Motti Regev (Open University of Israel)

Pop-Rock Scholarship as a Sociological Aesthetics      Looking  retrospectively  at  popular  music  studies,  this  paper  proposes  that  in  its  major  body  of  work,   pop-­‐rock   scholarship   has   in   effect   constructed   a   sociological   aesthetics   of   pop-­‐rock  music.  That  is,  a  body  of  inquiry,  research  and  knowledge  that  reflects  on  issues  of  value  and  taste   in   pop-­‐rock   music,   as   these   are   contextualized   by   various   factors   –   social,   cultural,  historical   and  organizational.  While  only   sporadically  dealing  directly  with   issues  of   value   in  the  mode  of   traditional  aesthetics  of  music,   the  bulk  of  pop-­‐rock  scholarship  has  addressed  such  issues  by  examining  their  mediation  by  the  music  industry  (broadly  understood),  or  how  they   are   received   and   perceived   by   groups   of   fans   and   audiences.   Frith's   work   has   been  pivotal  in  this  project.  The  paper  seeks  to  demonstrate  that  this  particular  nature  of  pop-­‐rock  scholarship   was   an   almost   unavoidable   consequence   of   the   cultural   and   institutional  condition  from  which  such  scholarship  emerged.  Faced  with  a  cultural  situation  in  which  pop-­‐rock   music   was   widely   considered   a   lesser   form   of   musical   art,   and   with   an   institutional  structure   from   whose   curriculum   and   research   agendas   pop-­‐rock   music   was   practically  absent,   pop-­‐rock   scholars   were   geared   into   a   dual   mission   of   demonstrating   the   cultural  relevance   and   artistic   value   of   pop-­‐rock  music,   as  well   as   gaining   academic   credibility   as   a  research  area.  While  not  necessarily  contradictory,  a  certain  tension  does  exist  between  these  two   scholarly   stances.   The   first   might   involve   a   measure   of   evaluative   practices,   making  scholarly   work   an   academic   arm   of   music   criticism,   while   the   other   has   to   manifest  commitment  to  analytic  neutrality.  By  discussing  judgments  of  taste  as  empirical  phenomena  practiced  by  fans,  critics,  and  music  industry  professionals,  pop-­‐rock  scholarship  has  found  a  way  of  delineating  the  aesthetic  specificity  of  pop-­‐rock  music  without  engaging  in  evaluative  practices,  yet  functioning  as  a  cultural  force  that  advances  recognition  in  the  cultural  value  of  pop-­‐rock  music.    

 

François Ribac (Université de Bourgogne)

What does Social Construction mean? The case of The Beatles in the Recording Studio  It   has   been   generally   accepted   that   The   Beatles   and   their   team   invented   a   new   way   of  producing  music  in  the  recording  studios  at  Abbey  Road.  Indeed,  in  the  mid-­‐sixties,  the  group  started  to  compose  music   in  the  studio   instead  of  recording  songs  that  had  been  rehearsed  previously.  Within   this  context,   their   sound  engineers  developed  a  series  of   techniques  and  items  which   enabled   them   to  work   on   their   sound   (by   bringing  microphones   closer   to   the  

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source,   for  example)  and  to  augment   their   tracks  as  well   (by  synchronising   tape  recorders).  Moreover,  George  Martin  drew  upon   instruments  and  sounds   in  his  orchestrations  that   the  Beatles   -­‐as  a  band-­‐  did  not  have.  As  we  know,   these   innovations   (overdubbing   in  particular  and  the  space  devoted  to  production)  deeply  changed  the  functioning  of  the  music  industry  and   the   professional   world.   Then,   thanks   to   the   home   studio   in   the   eighties,   the   Beatles’  technique   spread   a   little  more   again.   However,   whatever   its   veracity,   this   analysis   has   the  disadvantage  to  explain  these  metamorphoses  by  the  only  genius  of  a  team.   In  this  paper,   I  would   rather  highlight  a   social   fact   that  culturally  promoted   the   innovations  at  Abbey  Road  and  influenced  The  Beatles:  the  cinema.  This  influence  is  shown  in  at  least  two  ways:  On  one  hand,   the   methods   and   the   temporality   of   the   cinema   (recording-­‐editing-­‐mixing),   its  conventions  (for  example,   layering  various  sounds  or  adding  non-­‐diegetic  music  and  voices),  its   experts   (engineers,   film   editors   and   producers)   and   even   its   working   area   (the   studio!)  inspired   the   method,   and   the   organisation,   of   work   at   Abbey   Road.   On   the   other   hand,  cinema  also  caught   the  attention  of   the  generation  of  British   teenagers  born   in   the  Forties.  Movies  such  as  The  Girl  Can’t  Help  It  (Tashlin,  1957)  showed  them  how  to  dress  and  play  rock  'n'   roll,   whereas   Jailhouse   Rock   (Thorpe,   1957)   taught   them   how   to  work   in   the   recording  studio.  If  we  take  into  account  that  the  cinema  introduced  The  Beatles  and  their  young  sound  engineers  to  a  non-­‐naturalistic  use  of  sound  and  to  rock  ’n’  roll,  then  we  can  understand  how  this  team  managed  to,  in  a  way,  invent  “a  cinema  for  the  ears”  in  the  mid-­‐Sixties,  and  above  all,   how   the   records   and   the   films   found   their   audience.   In   other   words,   the   Beatles   gave  substance   to   a   technical   and   social   organization   that   the   cinema   (which   is   as   much   a  technique  as  a  way  of  organizing  the  world)  made  culturally  possible.  Of  course,  other  factors  such  as  the  radio,  the  distribution  of  Dansette  turntables  and  the  generational  gap  made  the  advent   of   The   Beatles   possible.   But   the   most   important   here   is   to   express   that   even  technology  and  musical  genius  are  social  constructions  that  can  be  discussed,  as  Simon  Frith  has  shown  us.  However,  this  doesn’t  stop  us  loving  them!    

 David Robinson (Leeds Metropolitan University)

The Ethics and Aesthetics of Country and Americana Music and the Quest for a More Democratic ‘American Music’? Part One: Race  Dismissed   by   cultural   gatekeepers   as   clichéd   and   reactionary,   country   music   has   long  epitomized  the  essence  of  ‘bad’  or  ‘stupid’  music  to  sophisticated  taste.    Condemned  not  only  as   connecting   with   its   audience   at   a   ‘gut’   emotional   level,   but   also   for   its   depiction   and  celebration  of   a  white,  patriarchal,   class-­‐denying  and  exceptional  United  States  of  America,  country  music  is  often  positioned  with  right-­‐wing  media  and  issue-­‐lobbies  as  a  cultural  barrier  to   a   more   inclusive   liberal   society.   However,   the   appropriation   of   country   music   by  postmodern  aesthetes  during  the  1980s  -­‐  marrying  the  genre’s  hard-­‐edged  grittiness  to  their  own   ironic   post-­‐punk   sensibilities   -­‐   first   produced   the   contrasting   musical   styles   of   high-­‐energy   cowpunk   and   the  more   introspective   alt.country,   through  which   the   taste   aesthetic  

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that  came  to  be  labeled  Americana  emerged  during  the  following  decade.   In  this  paper,  the  first  of  two  in  which  I  consider  Americana  in  terms  of  a  discriminating  and  democratic  music  community,  I  examine  ways  in  which  Americana  in  its  institutionalized  form  lays  claim  to  a  de-­‐racialised   or   de-­‐whitened   alternative   to   country   music.     I   evaluate   how   the   blue-­‐collar  cowpunk  aesthetic  and  the  college-­‐grounded  alt.country  aesthetic  are  reflected  differently  in  cross-­‐racial   twenty-­‐first-­‐century   musical   forms:   Through,   on   the   one   hand,   the   realist  depiction   of   social   alienation   across   rust-­‐belt   America   by   the   bluegrass/hip-­‐hop   band  Gangstagrass;   and,   on   the   other   hand,   through   the   imagined   old-­‐time   common   culture  depicted   in   the   music   and   performance   of   the   African-­‐American   string   band,   the   Carolina  Chocolate   Drops.   In   this   paper   I   present   a   critique   of   institutionalized   Americana’s   racial  tokenism   and   its   reliance   on   an   imagined   mythical   past   for   its   dominant   narrative;   and  suggest,  by  contrast,  a  real  cross-­‐racial  connectness  that  hip-­‐hop  and  ‘hard’  country  music  can  claim  with  inhabitants  of  methamphetamine-­‐ravaged  post-­‐industrial  America.     In  my  second  paper   (for   a   future   conference)   I  will   argue   that  Americana   fairs   better   in   empowering   the  women  previously  disenfranchised  in  country  music.            

 

Barry Shank (Ohio State University)

Chaos in Mali and the American Reception of Tinariwen  When  Tinariwen,  a  Tuareg  band  of  guitarists,  drummers  and  singers  from  Northeastern  Mali,  perform  with   TV  on   the  Radio,   an   indie   rock  band   from  Brooklyn,   they   stage  an  encounter  that   presumes   a   fundamental   equality.     They   momentarily   establish   what   Paul   Gilroy  describes   as   “a   uniquely   cosmopolitan   space  where  musicians   from   all   sorts   of   places   and  backgrounds   could  begin—once  again   in  opposition   to   the  hierarchies  of   race  and   logics  of  empire—to  meet  one  another  as  equals.”  Jayna  Brown  cautions  us,  however,  that  this   ideal  encounter   is   based   on   fantasy,   “a   belief   that   at   the   heart   of   any   encounter   is   a   moment  powerful   enough   to   transcend   even   its   own   politics   of   inequality.”   A   fantasy   of   reciprocity  saturates   this   kind  of  musical   exchange.   Tinariwen’s   droning   verses   and  hammering   guitars  merge   with   TV   on   the   Radio’s   harmonic   dispersions   and   rising   falsetto,   creating   a   shared  aesthetic  of  a  realigned  sensible.  But  there  is  no  equality  here.  Not  among  the  musicians  and  certainly  not  among  their  listeners.  The  intermittent  decades-­‐long  armed  insurgency  that  the  Tuareg   have   been   engaged   in   against   the   Mali   state   has   been   subsumed   into   a   better  organized  and  better  armed   Islamist   rebellion.  Even  after   the   reported  death  and  apparent  resurrection  of  the  warlord,  Mokhtar  Belmokhtar,  secular  music  remains  banned  in  Azawad,  the   northeastern   section   of   Mali   that   the   Tuareg   had   been   fighting   for.  Wars   among   the  stateless  create  deserts  of  chaos.  American   listeners  can  no   longer  engage   in  the  fantasy  of  supporting   romantic   rebels   through   purchasing   and   listening   to   Tinariwen’s   music.     The  beauty   of   the   music   remains,   however.     Its   aesthetic   appeal   is   not   lessened.   If   Jacques  Rancière  is  correct,  if  an  aesthetic  act  establishes  the  grounds  for  new  political  relations,  does  

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the  pleasure  derived  from  listening  to  Tinariwen  carry  new  debts,  new  obligations?  When  do  musical  exchanges  beget  political  obligations?    

 David Shumway (Carnegie Mellon University)

The Effects of Sound Effects  This  paper  will  argue  that  Simon  Frith's  Sound  Effects  was  foundational  to  what  became  the  dominant   paradigm   in   popular  music   studies.  While   that   paradigm  may  or  may  not   still   be  dominant,  it  was  so  until  quite  recently.  The  academic  influence  of  this  text  may  be  surprising  because   it  was  written  as  a  popular  book  which  apparently  did  attract  an  audience  beyond  the   academy.   But   the   academic   influence   is   demonstrated   conclusively   by   Google   Scholar,  which  shows  the  book  to  have  been  cited  1108  times,  second  only  to  Performing  Rites  among  Frith's  works  and  more   than   twice   the  number   for  Music  and   Identity.  Sound  Effects  was  a  kind  of  revision  The  Sociology  of  Rock,  which  was  published  two  years  earlier,  and  it  was  read  by  more  academics  because  it  was  written  in  a  more  popular  style  and  could  more  readily  be  assigned   in   courses.   It   was   influential   because   it   solved   a   problem   that   had   previously  troubled  academic  attempts  to  study  rock:  the  need  to  celebrate  the  music  aesthetically  while  at   the   same   time   recognizing   it   as   a   product   of   contemporary   consumer   capitalism.   Frith  solves  this  problem  by  embracing   it.  He  shows  both  how  rock  culture  believes   it  evades  the  effects  of  commercialism  and  why  this  is  impossible,  yet  also  that  what  rock  promises,  "fun,"  makes   it   more   than   a   mere   commodity.   By   acknowledging   the   dual   character   of   rock-­‐-­‐its  aesthetic   and   commercial   values-­‐-­‐Frith's   approach   can   be   read   as   a   new   instance   of   an  opposition  fundamental  to  the  humanities,  which  have  always  existed  by  both  insisting  on  the  value   of   texts   for   their   own   sake   and   by   calling   into   question   that   status   through   various  strategies  of  critique.  Thus,  Sound  Effects  was  so  influential  because  it  gave  the  study  of  rock  (which  was  the  focus  of  popular  music  studies  for  many  years)  a  familiar  form.        

 Jennifer Skellington (Independent Researcher)

Raising Stars from the Underpass: An Examination of Simon Frith’s Music Journalism in the English Quality Press from 1982 to 1990  This  paper  will  examine  Frith’s  navigation  of  the  complex  relationship  between  sociology  and  criticism  as  evidenced  through  his  journalistic  output  in  the  English  quality  press  of  the  1980s.    A   detailed   critical   discourse   analysis   of   a   carefully   selected   sample   of   Frith’s  music   writing  published   in   the   Sunday   Times   and   The   Observer,   from   his   inaugural   rock   column   in   the  former  titled  Stars  from  the  underpass  (1982)  until  the  end  of  the  1980s,  will  also  shed  light  upon   the   means   by   which   Frith   sought   to   meet   the   needs   of   general   readers   without  compromising  his  academically  inflected  and  sociologically  informed  critical  voice.  

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Frith’s  own  reflections  upon  the  practices  and  priorities  of  the  quality  press  of  the  1980s,  (Frith,   S.   and   Savage,   J.   (1993)   and   Frith,   S.   as   in   Jones,   S.   (2007))   will   help   to   inform   the  context  for  this  analysis,  as  will  a  recent  study  on  the  changing  nature  of  music  journalism  in  the  English  quality  press  between  1981  and  1991  (Skellington,  2010).    Set  against  a  politically  charged  backdrop  in  which  a  series  of  significant  developments  in  the  political  and  publishing  climate  served  to  destabilise  traditional  approaches  to  music  criticism,  including  the  Wapping  Dispute  and  launch  of  The  Independent  and  Q  magazine  (all  in  1986),  Frith  acted  as  one  of  the  early  pioneers  responsible  for  embedding  rock  coverage  upon  the  broadsheet  arts  pages  and  establishing  a  new  lexicon  for  the  genre  to  suit  the  needs  of  a  general  readership.      

This  paper  will  ultimately  suggest  that  the  body  of  music  journalism  discussed  here  offers  both   a   valuable  means   by  which  we  might   begin   to   evaluate   current   orthodoxies   in  music  criticism   in   the   English   quality   press,   and   perhaps   beyond,   and   a   benchmark   against  which  they  might  be  constructively  problematized  or  indeed  resolved.      

 John Street (University of East Anglia)

Prize Fighting: Simon Frith and the Politics of the Mercury Music Prize  Simon  Frith  has  chaired  the  Mercury  Music  Prize  since  its  inception  in  1992.  In  that  time,  the  Prize  has  assumed  a  credibility  and  authority  that  places  it  on  a  par  with  the  Booker  Prize  for  literature.  For  some  commentators,  this  is  of  no  great  significance  –  all  such  prizes  are  trivial  exercises   in   cheap   publicity   and   gossip.   For   others,   these   prizes  matter,   but   only   for   their  deeply   corrupting   effects   on   ideals   of   cultural   excellence.   Talk   of   trivia   and   corruption   also  affects  discussion  of  the  choice  of  winner  –  either  it  is  a  random  and  arbitrary  consequence  of  a  passing  mood,  or  of  the  victory  of  vested  and  established  interests.  This  paper  argues  that  such  judgements  are  largely  wrong.  Or  at  least,  that  prizes  are  significant,  but  not  necessarily  in  malign  ways.   It   does   so,   first,   by   drawing   on   the   arguments   that   Frith   himself  makes   in  Performing  Rites   for  the  importance  of  discrimination  in  culture.     It  then  goes  on  to  analyse  the  performance  of  the  Mercury  Prize,  and  to  compare  this  with  both  literary  prizes  and  other  music  awards  (notable,  The  Brits).  The  evidence  suggests  that  the  Mercury  has  done  much  to  promote  the  work  of  artists  and  of  genres  that  might  otherwise  have  been  neglected.  It  ends  by  arguing  that  these  achievements  are  a  product  of  the  micro-­‐politics  of  the  Mercury;  that  is,  the  way  that  it  is  organised  –  and  the  role  that  Simon  Frith  has  played  in  its  organisation.      

 Joe Stroud (University of Edinburgh)

Rock Against Racism and its Imitators  In  ‘Rock  Against  Racism  and  Red  Wedge:  From  Music  to  Politics,  from  Politics  to  Music’,  Simon  

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Frith  and  John  Street  compared  the  ideologies,  strategies,  and  legacies  of  two  British  political  causes   based   on   popular  music.  While   Red  Wedge  was   constrained   by   the   ideology   of   the  political   party   it   sought   to   promote—that   of   the   Labour   Party—Rock   Against   Racism   (RAR)  was   able   to   operate   “outside   the   formal   political   agenda”   (p.79)   in   its   promotion   of   racial  tolerance  and  integration.  With  the  collapse  of  its  opponent,  the  National  Front,  the  activities  of  RAR  were  placed  into  a  narrative  of  popular  music  being  used  to  achieve  social  change.  RAR  has  been  a  source  of  inspiration  not  only  for  causes  with  similar  goals  and  objectives  -­‐  such  as  Love  Music  Hate  Racism   -­‐  but   also  more  generally   for   the  promotion  of   social   and  political  causes  through  popular  music,  particularly  through  “mega-­‐events.”  This  paper  reassesses  the  activities  of  RAR  and  the  ways  that  they  have  been  remembered,  mythologised  and  invoked.  While   RAR   has   mostly   been   lauded   for   its   work,   such   accounts   often   neglect   the   less  successful  aspects  of  RAR,  particularly  its  role  as  inspiration  for  the  extreme-­‐right  group  Rock  Against  Communism,  which  became  the  pre-­‐eminent  means  of  disseminating  extreme  right  ideology,  as  well  as  a  means  of  financing  extreme-­‐right  political  movements.  More  generally,  this   paper   critiques   the   ways   that   popular   music—specifically   through   its   use   by   such  “megaevents”  -­‐  has  been  advocated  as  a  means  of  achieving  social  and  political  change,  and  how  such  narratives  potentially  obscure  the  complexities  involved  in  such  issues.    

 Jason Toynbee (Open University)

The Decline of Rock and Soul  Is  popular  music   in  decline?  This  paper  argues   that   it   is,   and   that  an  explosion  of   creativity  which   lasted  from  the  mid-­‐1960s  to  the  mid-­‐1980s  has  been  followed  by  re-­‐iteration  to  the  extent   that   the   popular   music   of   the   advanced   capitalist   economies   has   today   grown  moribund.  The  paper  explores  how  this  has  happened,  examining  examples  of  popular  music  along   the   way.   But   it   also   seeks   a   social-­‐historical   explanation.   Most   fundamentally,   it   is  suggested   that   the  emergence  of   rock  and  pop   in   the  1960s  and  70s  was   the  product  of   a  cultural   revolution   in   the   capitalist   system.  Much   of   the   cultural   superstructure  which   had  reinforced  late  capitalism  was  swept  away,  and  the  emerging  forms  of  rock  and  soul  played  a  key  part.  This  musical-­‐cultural  revolution  was  itself  animated  by  a  more  thorough-­‐going  anti-­‐capitalist   revolt   across   the   globe.   At   its   high   point   in   1968   it   threatened   to   overturn   the  system.  However  the  revolution   failed.  As  a  consequence  the  new  music  was   left  without  a  social  dynamic  of  the  sort  which  had  stimulated  the  innovations  of  the  original  moment  of  the  60s   and  early   70s.   Increasingly   popular  music   listened   inwards   to   its   own  narrow   tradition,  rather   than   outwards   towards   other   musics   and   the   contested   terrain   of   the   social.   The  culture  industry  has  contributed  here,  amplifying  the  logic  of  self-­‐referentiality,  most  notably  through  the  rise  of  the  television  talent  show  as  a  commissioner  and  promoter  of  new  music.  However  this  is  not  a  straightforward  process.  A  major  contribution  of  Simon  Frith  to  popular  music   studies   has   been   to   show   how  music   industries   do   not  merely   homogenise  musical  form  and  value  which  somehow  already  exist  in  an  innocent,  pre-­‐commodified  state.  Rather  

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Frith  suggests  that  popular  music  is  ab  initio  an  industrial  product.  Moreover  the  commercial  imperative  works   in   productive   tension  with   the   creativity   of  music  makers   and   their   ideas  about  authenticity   and  musical   value.   The  paper   concludes  by  asking  whether   such   tension  still   animates  music  making   today,   or   whether   perhaps   the   logics   of   self-­‐referentiality   and  commodification  now  converge  so  completely  as  to  have  killed  off  the  animating  spirit  of  rock  and  soul.    

 Gábor Vályi (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

‘Let’s take it back to the old school!’ Making Music Historiography Matter  Scholars  of  popular  music  often  define  the  scenes  they  study  by  referring  to  the  emergence  and  formation  of  the  particular  genre  of  music  appreciated  within  the  particular  social  world  they   explore.   Weaving   their   narratives   of   stylistic   development   around   key   bands   and  influential   records,   such  accounts   certainly  bear  marks  of   the  narrative  conventions  of  high  aesthetics.   However,   it   could   be   just   as   convincingly   argued   that   they   also   more   or   less  faithfully   reproduce  the  ways   in  which  references  to  a  shared  musical  history  work  towards  evoking   –   at   times   defining   –   an   imagined   community   (Anderson   1983)   in   the   accounts   of  scenic   participants:   musicians,   music   journalists,   collectors   and   fans.   In   Performing   Rites  Simon  Frith  remarked  upon  the  centrality  of  “the  writing  of  genre  histories”  to  how  collective  identities   are   conceived   in   music   scenes.   His   observations   do   not   only   illuminate   the  significant   roles   that   music   historiographers   play   in   preserving   and   crystallizing   scenic  histories,   but   also   the   responsibilities   they   have   in   articulating   and   shaping   shared  understandings  of  a  common  trajectory  along  with  its  meanings  and  values  (Frith  1996:  89).    So  far,  however,  the  sociology  of  popular  music  seems  to  lag  behind  in  further  exploring  the  role  of  historical  imagination  in  weaving  together  shared  aesthetic  sensibilities  and  collective  identities.   I   find   this   lack   of   reflexive   engagement   with   historical   narratives   odd,   almost  disturbing   in   the   case   of   academic  works  which   themselves   implicitly   draw   on   as  much   as  propose  and  further  such  constructions.  My  paper  will  explore  the  ways  in  which  a  collective  engagement  with  scenic  history  contributes  towards  evoking  a  sense  of  shared   identity  and  belonging  among  participants  of  the  crate  digging  scene,  a  translocal  hip  hop  related  record  collecting  community.  Based  on  my  research  as  an  academic  commentator  of  scenic  history  it  will  also  remark  upon  the  dilemmas  of  the  ethnographer  as  a  music  historiographer.    

             

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Job van der Velden (Erasmus University)

The Distinctiveness of Dance Music: A Qualitative Study on a Genre that Operates Outside the Mainstream Routines and Structures  The   article   considers   the   place   (Dutch)   Dance   has   within   the   music   industry.   Through  interviews  with  directors  of  various  labels  (Armada,  Spinnin’,  Mixmash  Records),  I  explore  the  distinctiveness   of   this   genre   when   compared   to   the   structures   present.   Also,   I   study   the  division  between  labels  within  this  particular  genre.  The  analysis  shows  that  the  Dance  genre  is   not   compatible   with   the   presently   available   models   (developed   by   Negus   and  Hesmondhalgh)  that  would  explain  the  structures  and  (power-­‐)  division  in  the  music  industry.    

In   fact,   the  genre   looks   to  have   isolated   itself   from   the   traditional   ‘mainstream’   industry  and  to  have  created  its  own  niche  (Frith,  2001).  Interestingly,  majors  are  not  keen  to  integrate  it   into   their   portfolio,   despite   the   profitability   of   the   genre.   With   this,   the   genre   moves  outside  the  three  markets  described  by  Frith  (2001).  

The  article  looks  at  the  unique  characteristics  of  this  genre  and  what  this  has  meant,  and  means,  amidst  all  digital   advancements,   for   its  development.   It   also   identifies  a  new  power  division  between  large  and  small  independents  within  the  genre  itself.  Without  majors,  large  Dance  independents  seem  to  become  increasingly  major-­‐like  in  their  strategies  and  income-­‐models,   creating   an   industry   similar   to   ‘the  mainstream   industry’.   This   contests   Bourdieu’s  binary  division  as  a  division  has  arisen  within   this   independent   genre.  The  art-­‐for-­‐art’s   sake  attitude  does  not  remain  in  place.  Like  in  other  initial  independent  cultural  sectors,  this  entity  seems  to  end  up  in  the  binary  division  as  well.    

This  study  wishes  to  understand  the  structures  and  practices  of  this  distinct  forerunner  in  this  dynamic   industry.  By   choosing  a   supposedly   trendsetting  genre,   the   study  aims   to  gain  insight  into  the  future  of  the  industry  as  a  whole.  Moreover,  this  study  wishes  to  contribute  to  our   understanding   of   the   music   industry.   It   aims   to   give   this   genre   a   place   in   today’s  frameworks.      

 Simone Varriale (University of Warwick)

Music as a Resource for (Local) Critique: the Reception of Anglo-American Rock and Jazz in Italy  Drawing  on  the  work  of  Simon  Frith  (1998),  music  sociologists  have  increasingly  stressed  the  active  role  of  music  in  shaping  social  practices  and  experiences  (e.g.  De  Nora  2000,  Hennion  2008,  Marshall   2011,   Hesmondhalgh   2012).   From   this   perspective,   they   have   criticised   the  standard   sociological   account   of   cultural   practices   as   'determined'   by   either   social   class   or  institutional   arrangements   (e.g.   Di   Maggio   1982,   Bourdieu   1984).   However,   while   opening  new   avenues   for   empirical   research,   scholars   stressing   the   autonomy   of   music   have  downplayed  the  impact  of  national  contexts  on  musical  practices  as  well  as  differences  among  the  musical  practices  of  different  groups  (e.g.  musicians,  critics,  and  audiences).    Drawing  on  a  

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three-­‐year  doctoral   research,   this  paper  analyses  the  ways   in  which   Italian  music   journalists  received  Anglo-­‐American  rock  and  jazz  between  1973  and  1977.  More  specifically,  it  explores  the  influence  of  two  entwined  social  spaces  on  journalists'  reviewing  practices:  on  one  hand,  a  diversified  'field'  (Bourdieu  1993)  of  popular  music  journalism;  on  the  other  hand,  a  national  society  (1970s  Italy)  which  was  experiencing  significant  cultural  and  political  transformations  (Ginsborg  1990).  The  paper  will  argue  that  these  contexts  shaped  both  how  journalists  made  sense  of  the  differences  between  rock  and  jazz,  and  their  conception  of  music  journalism  as  a  professional  practice.  In  this  respect,  some  journalists  interpreting  jazz  as  more  'political'  than  rock  redefined  music  criticism  as  a  broader  critique  to  Italian  cultural  and  political  institutions  as  well  as  to  magazines  deemed  to  be  too  compromised  with  the  logic  of  the  market.  Overall,  the   paper   explores   the   specific   ways   in   which   rock   and   jazz   'moved'   Italian   critics,   but   it  recovers  Frith's  attention  to  social  contexts  and  practices  in  order  to  study  how  they  mediate  the  affective  and  cultural  power  of  different  music  genres.    

 Simon Warner (University of Leeds)

Where to Now? The Current Condition of Popular Music Studies in UK Universities  There   is   little   doubt   that   the   rise   of   Popular   Music   Studies   as   a   distinct   area   of   learning,  teaching  and  research  owes  much  to  the  pioneering  activities  and  publications  of  Simon  Frith.  His  early  sociological  volumes  on  this  area  –  Sound  Effects:  Youth,  Leisure,  and  the  Politics  of  Rock’n’Roll  (1981)   and  Music   for   Pleasure  (1988),   for   example   –   set   in   train   a   stream   of  thinking  that  continues  to  inform  the  way  this  academic  terrain  is  explored  today.  But  where  does   PMS  now   sit   in   the  wider   canon  of   the   British   university   campus,   some  25   years   and  more   after   Frith’s   early   and   ground-­‐breaking   writings?   The   rise   of   undergraduate   degrees  branded  with  popular  music  became  a  feature  after  Salford’s   innovative  projects   in  the   late  1980s.  The  appearance  of  the  world’s  first  Master’s  in  the  subject  at  Liverpool  in  1990  was  a  further   indication  of  a  swelling,  and  increasingly  confident,  field.  But,  after  a  proliferation  of  BAs  with   a  popular  music   core,   the   trend  has  now   reversed.  Universities   like   Liverpool   and  Leeds  have  created  and  now  dropped  such  programmes.  One  argument  is  that  PMS  has  now  established  a  strong  enough  profile   to  stand  alone   in,   for  example,  Music  departments.  Yet  there   remains   a   sense   that   the   young   shoots   of   this   discipline   have   been   returned   to   the  dense  forest  of  traditional  music  studies  and  the  newcomer  may  be  simply  overwhelmed  by  the  weight  of   longer-­‐standing   interests  and  approaches.  Or  perhaps  PMS  can   thrive  best   in  non-­‐Music  schools  –  Communications,  Sociology  and  Media  Studies,  for  example.  This  paper  will  offer  a  short  survey  of  PMS’s  progress  so  far   in  HE  and  consider  where   it  heads  next  to  ensure  its  distinctive  character,  perhaps  even  its  survival.    

     

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Lyndon Way (Izmir University of Economics)

Frith and Social Semiotics: Music Videos and Discourses of War  Frith’s  contributions  to  the  study  of  popular  music  are  widespread.    Here,  three  of  his   ideas  inform  a  social  semiotic  analysis  of  popular  music  videos.    Firstly,  Frith  expresses  concern  that  music  and  video  analysis  does  not  say  enough  about  the  music  itself.    Frith  (1981,  56)  notes  how   meanings   in   music   are   wrongly   assumed   to   be   at   the   verbal   or   visual   level,   later  identifying  non-­‐lyrical  elements  such  as  accent,  voice  and  rhythm  as   important   (Frith,  1996,  169).     Secondly,   Frith   (1988,   58)   notes   that   authenticity   is   a   discourse   of   “sincerity”   and  “playing  from  the  heart”  listeners  ascribe  to  music.    And  thirdly,  Frith  (1988a,  472)  observes  an   incompatibility   between   popular  music   and   conventional   politics,   though   some   political  movements  have  more  success  with  pop  than  others.    Despite  production,  political,  social  and  consumption   contexts   constraining   potential   meanings   (Frith   1988   &   1981),   artists,   record  companies   and   their   managers   use   semiotic   resources   to   articulate   discourses   of   both  authenticity  and  protest.    Examining  a  Turkish  popular  music  video,  this  paper  considers  how  semiotic   resources   such   as   music,   visuals   and   lyrics   articulate   discourses   which   not   only  express   popular   protest   to   dominant   Turkish   political   ideas,   but   also   authenticate   artists.    Protest,   even   at   this   level,   takes   on   significance   in   Turkey   where   Turkish   media   and   its  government   are   intertwined   to   the   extent  where   protest   is   all   but   silenced.     How   political  issues  become  articulated  through  a  form  of  simplified  popular  politics   is  examined,  despite  being  presented  as   serious  and  authentic.       This   case   study  demonstrates  how  protest   and  authenticity  are  articulated  in  music  in  order  to  consider  its  likely  place  in  political  debate.            

 Hans Weisethaunet (University of Oslo)

Rock Criticism, Authenticity, and the Carnival of Words  “One   of   the   most   extraordinary   things   about   rock”,   Simon   Frith   writes,   in   his   classic   The  Sociology   of   Rock,   “is   the   amount   of   words   it   generates”   (1978:   139).   The   agency   of   rock  criticism  is  often  reduced  to  a  question  of  taste,  about  what  is  good  or  bad,  or  music’s  linkage  to  identity  politics.  Both  as  a  critic  and  popular  music  scholar,  Simon  Frith  seems  to  challenge  such  limits  and  boundaries.  Based  on  a  forthcoming  article  on  “Simon  Frith  as  critic”  (2014),  a  co-­‐written  study  on  rock  criticism,  Rock  Criticism  from  the  Beginning   (Lindberg  et  al.  2005),  and   a  more   recent   article   on   ‘authenticity’   in   rock   journalism   (Weisethaunet   and   Lindberg  2010),  this  presentation  attempts  to  draw  some  lines  from  the  bourgeoning  rock  criticism  of  the   1960s   to   the   present,   arguing   that   the   play   of   words,   the   deployment   of   new   and  alternative   musical   metaphors,   “a   rock   speak”—in   part   an   alternative   to   musicology   and  existing  musicological   theory—strongly   contributed   to   the   legitimation   of   rock   and   popular  music   in   the   20th   century.   This   “carnival   of   words”  might   be   understood   as   a   struggle   for  

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cultural   legitimation,  however  also  as  an  alternative  route  to  musical  knowledge  and  the  art  of  listening.      

 Sean Williams (University of Edinburgh)

Pinging Filters: Culture Technology Narratives across Stylistic Boundaries in Electronic Music Practice  Whilst  traditional  musicological  analysis  tools  work  well  in  some  situations,  very  few  work  so  well   outside   the   genre,   style,   and   instrumentation   boundaries   associated   with   traditional  musicology.  As   a   result   of   Simon  Frith's  work   in   the   study  of  popular  music,  we  have  been  forced   to  develop   a  much  greater   array  of   tools   and   techniques   to   think   about   all   kinds  of  music  practices.    

This   paper   uses   a   narrative   approach   to   examine   culture   technology   alignments   in  electronic  music,  from  the  high  serialism  of  the  West  Deutsche  Rundfunk  Studio  for  Electronic  Music   in   Cologne   in   the   1950s,   through   voltage   controlled   synthesizer   compositions   in   the  1960s   and   1970s,   drum  machine   use   in   1980s   Hip-­‐hop,   1990s   dance  music   production,   to  2010s   DIY   modular   synth   communities.   The   examples   I   use   concern   essentially   the   same  technology  but  used  in  an  extraordinarily  wide  range  of  ways.  This  easily  allows  us  to  get  past  any   arguments   of   technological   determinism   and   poses   some   really   interesting   questions  about  the  use  of  technology   in  music  practice.   I   try  to  find  some  common  ground  based  on  use   of   a   particular   type   of   technology   -­‐   the   pinging   filter   -­‐   that   links   these  widely   differing  styles,   attitudes,   social,   economic   and   cultural   music  making   practices.   Since   Simon   Frith's  work  has  already  removed  the  obstructive  idea  of  high  versus  low  music,  I  am  able  to  explore  a   variety   of   different   ways   in   which   all   kinds   of   musicians   have   engaged   with   this   highly  specific   technique,  and  thereby  suggest  a  different  kind  of  order  which  we  can  use  to  think  about  the  practice  of  music  in  the  technological  context.    

 

Richard Witts (Edge Hill University)

Frith’s Hearth – Entertainment at the BBC  In  Simon  Frith’s  essay  The  Pleasures  Of  The  Hearth  (1988)  he  opened  out  scholarship  on  the  creation  by   the  BBC  of   ‘mass,  British,  middlebrow  culture’.  The  broadcasting   institution  had  undertaken   this   task   as   a   national  monopoly   (in   radio   1922-­‐1973,   in   television   1936-­‐9   and  1946-­‐55)   that   worked   ‘to   bond   together   a   community   that   underlay   the   BBC’s   vision   of   a  common   culture’   (Frith   1988:   34).   As   its   mission   statement   the   BBC   has   retained   from   its  earliest   days   the   Reithian   formula   that   it   exists   in   order   ‘to   enrich   people's   lives   with  programmes  and  services  that  inform,  educate  and  entertain’.  Yet  now  an  inversion  has  taken  place.  In  its  set  of  values  it  is  ‘one  BBC  [where]  great  things  happen  when  we  work  together’  

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that  is  today  directed  to  ‘celebrate  our  diversity’.    This  paper  examines  the  shifts  of  policy  that  have   taken   place   since   the   broadcaster’s   foundation.   Special   attention   is   paid   to   the  corporation’s  notion  of  ‘entertainment’.  As  Firth  wrote  in  his  essay,  ‘Much  more  attention  has  been   paid   to   the   BBC’s   notion   of   public   service   that   its   equally   problematic   idea   of  entertainment.’  That  is  not  something  that  this  paper  aims  to  avoid.          

 Nabeel Zuberi (University of Auckland)

From Identities to Affects? Considering the ‘Black’ and the ‘Muslim’ in some ‘Western’ Music  As  a  student   in   the  mid  1990s  working  out  my   ‘Englishness’   through  a  PhD   in  Texas,  Simon  Frith’s  writings  were  influential  in  complicating  ideas  that  attached  music  to  social  groups  and  their   locations.   Frith   asked  how  music   imagined  and  enabled  belonging   and   connectedness  rather   than   how   it   reflected   forms   of   community   and   affiliation.   He   also   sought   to   bring  conversations  about  music  in  the  hallway  into  dialogue  with  the  discourse  of  the  classroom.  One   strategy   might   have   been   the   autobiographical   voice   in   his   academic   writing   and  journalism.  In  a  Village  Voice  column,  he  critiqued  identity  talk  at  a  US  conference  by  pointing  out  that  his  own  subjectivity  as  a  white  heterosexual  man  was  significantly  formed  by  listening  to  African-­‐American  women  singing  in  the  disco  music  associated  with  gay  men.  With  growing  scepticism  about   identity  politics,   scholars  such  as   Jason  Toynbee  and  David  Hesmondhalgh  argued  that  homology   is   just  one  type  of   link  between  music  and  subjects.  Keith  Negus  and  Patria   Román   Velázquez   contended   that   an   emphasis   on   the   power   of  music   to   engender  belonging   obscures   how   it   activates   ambivalences   and   detachments.   Often   at   odds   with  identity   discourse,   the   affective   turn   in   cultural   studies   has   stressed   the   circulation   of  emotions  and  embodied  experiences   in  and   through  music.   These  different  and  developing  approaches   to   music’s   relationship   with   particular   social   groups   must   remain   in   tension,  sensitive  to  agency  and  structure,  subjectivity  and  context,  musicians  and  listeners,  and  to  the  power   relations   and   forces   that   shape   ideologies   and  discourses   of   identity.   In   this   paper   I  negotiate  these  debates  as   I’ve  encountered  them  in  two  projects  that  deal  with  music  and  racialization  –  one  related  to  the  ‘Black’  in  Black  Popular  Music  in  Britain  since  1945,  and  the  other   to   the   ‘Muslim’   in   hip   hop,   punk   and   electronica   in   the   UK   and   US   during   the   last  decade.