Love, fame and money; heartbreak, obscurity and the rise and fall of immense industries. Popular musics touch, move, drive and become almost everyone on the planet, and yet how do we study the songs and sounds we hear everywhere and everyday. What makes music popular? Why do we like music? What identities, values and messages do we share through popular music? 

In this course we will connect a dizzying range of popular music genres –from rock to reggae, from global hip hop to country, from EDM to love ballads – tracing fascinating stories that inevitably link love and temptation, money and crime, dreams and death.

Our special topics will include a close look at global hip hop, global rock, and the rise and fall of the recording industries

MUSI 2070: Popular Musics

Fall 2015

Mon Wed 09:00 – 09:50am

Minor Hall 125

Course instructor:   

Noel Lobley, Assistant Professor of Music (Critical and Comparative Studies)

Contact:                                     noel.lobley@virginia.edu

Office hours:           Wednesdays 14:30 – 16:30 (or by appt.), Wilson 109 (434-297-6987)

 

Teaching Assistants

Courtney Kleftis (PhD student, Critical and Comparative Studies) 

cbk2gz@virginia.edu
 

Tanner Greene (PhD student, Critical and Comparative Studies)

tjg6ph@virginia.edu

 

SYLLABUS SUBJECT TO REVISION – Definitive version always on Collab

Course description:

Love, fame and money; heartbreak, obscurity and the rise and fall of immense industries. Popular musics touch, move, drive and become almost everyone on the planet, and yet how do we study the songs and sounds we hear everywhere and everyday. What makes music popular? Why do we like music? What identities, values and messages do we share through popular music?

In this course we will connect a dizzying range of popular music genres –from rock to reggae, from global hip hop to country, from EDM to love ballads – tracing fascinating stories that inevitably link love and temptation, money and crime, dreams and death.

Our special topics will include a close look at global hip hop, global rock, and the rise and fall of the recording industries

 

COURSE MATERIALS

 

During the semester, we will read and be guided by the following key texts, all of which will remain on reserve at the Music library in Old Cabell Hall, and copies will also be available to buy at the Bookstore according to demand.
 

Essential Reading (it is highly recommended that you purchase as many of these as possible)

Barker, H. & Y. Taylor. 2007. Faking It: the quest for authenticity in popular music. New York: W. W. Norton.

Bennett, A., B. Shank & J. Toynbee (eds.). 2006. The Popular Music Studies Reader. London & New York: Routledge.

O’Brien, L. 2012. She Bop: the definitive history of women in popular music (3^rd edition). London: Jawbone.

Starr, L. & C. Waterman. 2013. American Popular Music: from minstrelsy to MP3. New York: Oxford University Press.

[Please note that the 2009 edition is much cheaper to buy, and heavily truncated sections of the book are available online as ‘American Popular Music: the rock years’]

Taylor, T. 2014. The Sounds of Capitalism: advertising, music, and the conquest of culture. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

Witt, S. 2015. How Music Got Free: the end of an industry, the turn of the century, and the patient zero of privacy. New York: Viking.

 

Most other reading, listening and viewing materials will be available online, and there is also a general bibliography at the end of the syllabus.
 

Useful Journals

Popular Music

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PMU

Journal of Popular Music Studies

http://popmusicstudies.org

Journal of World Popular Music

http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JWPM

Popular Music and Society

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpms20/current#.Vc1oGHg0qRM

 

 

Useful Websites and Blogs

Allmusic

http://www.allmusic.com

Egotripland

http://www.egotripland.com

FACT Magazine

http://www.factmag.com

Guardian Music

http://www.theguardian.com/music
 

One Week One Band

http://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com

Pitchfork

http://pitchfork.com

Pop Justice

http://www.popjustice.com

Spin

http://www.spin.com

The Quietus

http://thequietus.com

 

Assessments

This semester we will complete four assignments in a range of  creative formats: three short pieces of work [(i) a blog entry, (ii) a listening journal, and (iii) a curated playlist with commentary], plus a final project.

The first three assignments should be approximately 1500-2000 words in length unless otherwise stated. For the final project (approx. 3000 words) you will be asked to identify a specific topic/ idea/ series of case studies that will enable you to explore some of the major themes of our course.

Please discuss your ideas for your final paper with me during early November. I encourage you all to propose possible alternative creative formats for your final paper, which need not be, but also certainly can be, a standard written paper.

 

Course work will be assessed on the following basis:

15%     Participation (including attendance, timeliness of submissions, and overall engagement)

45%     Written assessments count as 15% each [(i) artist blog entry, (ii) listening journal submission, and (iii) curated popular music playlist and commentary]

40%     Final project broadly addressing the question ‘what makes music popular?’ [due in the last week of the semester]

 

Key Assessment Deadlines

1. First Written Assignment [Week 4]: a blog entry on a favourite artist or genre – due by 17:00 Friday 18^th September [Approximately 1500-2000 words]

2. Second Written Assignment [Week 8]: Polished Listening Journal Submission – due by 17:00 Friday 16^th October [Approximately 1500-2000 words]

3. Third Written Assignment [Week 12]: a curated popular music playlist and commentary exploring a narrative – due by 17:00 Friday 13^th November [Approximately 800 words].

4. Fourth Written Assignment [Week 16]: Final Paper answering the question ‘What makes music popular?’ – due by 17:00 Friday 11^th December [Approximately 3000 words]
    

Course attendance and participation
 

Attendance and respectful participation are expected. More than two unexcused absences from class will adversely affect the final grade.

 

Course policies

No late assignments will be accepted without very good reason. It is always best to advise me in advance if you anticipate any problems meeting deadlines.

Please remember to turn off all cell phones during class. In general, no emailing or social media use is allowed during class. However, there will be occasions when I invite us all to conduct brief research in class using our devices.

 

Honor

I trust every student in this course to comply with all of the provisions of the UVA honor system. You must pledge and sign your three written assignments. Your signature on the papers affirms that they represent your original work, and that any sources you have quoted, paraphrased, or used extensively in preparing the paper have been properly credited in the footnotes or bibliography.

 

Thematic Course Questions

Through a wide-ranging variety of literature, case studies, and audio-visual sources our course will address the following three broad thematic areas of investigation:

 

Course questions 


• What is popular music? What makes it popular? How does it vary across global music scenes? 


• What and how does popular music communicate? 
What are its values? What does it mean? How do people make, use and share it?

• What are the relationships between popular music, youth, sexuality and money?

 

Overview of Topics

I. Popularity

Week 1: Welcome and introduction
Week 2: What makes music popular?
Week 3: Music, emotion and advertising

II. Popular Identities

Week 4: Creating youth
Week 5: Dividing gender
Week 6: Complicating race

III. Mass appeal

Week 7: Music Everywhere: Karaoke, muzak, and easy listening
Week 8: Popular music on big screens
Week 9: EDM (Electronic Dance Music)
 

IV. Fame and obscurity

Week 10: Pop divas: women innovating pop
Week 11: Music, money, fame, obscurity
Week 12: The underneath: sampling, authenticity and integrity

 

V. Special topics

Week 13: (1) global hip hop

Week 14: (2) global rock music

Week 15: (3) free music?

Return

Week 16: Revision: what makes music popular?
 

 

COURSE OUTLINE

 

 

I. POPULARITY
 

Week One: Welcome and introduction

Class 1:                      Wednesday 26^th August

Introduction – Scope of the course: what makes music popular?

Preliminary reading, viewing and listening

None

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture One (Wednesday 26th August 2015 - Week One)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QAV28GJmde_8ITUy5j-6gE

 

Week Two:  What makes music popular?

Classes 2 & 3:           Monday 31^st August & Wednesday 2^nd September

Required reading for discussion group

Please browse the One Week One Band blog and read as many of the entries for artists that interest you. Begin to think about how you would write an entry for this blog in preparation for your first assignment (due Friday 18^th September).
 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Two (Monday 31st August 2015 - Week Two)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103SnnS6LqGtCi2hu0xSvpRuS

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Three (Wednesday 2nd September 2015 - Week Two)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QfZMYR09z-BpG3nvU70Hyn

 

Week Three: Music, emotion and advertising

Class 4 & 5:   Monday 7^th & Wednesday 9^th September

Key questions:

1. How is music sold?

2. What does music sell?

3. What did recording music change?

Texts:

Taylor (2014) - Chapters 3 & 4 (pp. 65-125)

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee (eds.) (2006) - Part Six ‘Music Industry’, and Part Eight ‘Popular Music Media’

Readings for Discussion Groups:

Suisman (2009) [see general bibliography - available online via UVa Virgo]

http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.its.virginia.edu/lib/uvalib/reader.action?docID=10402530

[Prologue (pp. 1-18) and Chapter One ('When Songs Become a Business' [pp. 18-55]) of David Suisman's 'Selling Sounds: the commercial revolution in Amercian Music'.]

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Four (Monday 7th September 2015 - Week Three)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103RmyLZha3PaidnyI6naRTS3

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Five (Wednesday 9th September 2015 - Week Three)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103S_XfY8jY5F6fnsieUCPDhd

 

II. POPULAR IDENTITIES

 

Week 4: Creating youth
 

Classes 6 & 7:           Monday 14^th & Wednesday 16^th September

Key questions:

1. Is popular music young?

2. Should popular music remain young?

3. Who invented teenagers?

Texts:

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 8 ‘Rock around the Clock’, and Chapter 9 ‘Good Vibrations’

Taylor (2012) – Chapter 6 ‘The Discovery of youth in the 1960s’
 

Readings for Discussion Groups:

Taylor, T. 2014. The Sounds of Capitalism: advertising, music, and the conquest of culture. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

- Chapter 6 'The Discovery of Youth in the 1960s' (pp.147-178)

Starr, L. & C. Waterman. 2013. American Popular Music: from minstrelsy to MP3. New York: Oxford University Press.

- Chapter 8, '"Rock around the Clock": Rock 'n' Roll, 1954-1959' (240-283)

- Chapter 9, '"Good Vibrations: American Pop and the British Invasion, 1960s"' (pp. 284-321)

And for those that have time, Chapter 7 of The Sounds of Capitalism 'Consumption, Corporitization and Youth in the 1980s (pp. 179-204) is also very worthwhile and links nicely to last week's classes.

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Six (Monday 14th September 2015 - Week Four)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103R8yjVasK8UUyZApZS17G7m

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Seven (Wednesday 16th September 2015 - Week Four)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103TpWLDawE2Bd4_jj7cqXyC8

 

Week 5: Dividing gender

Classes 8 & 9:           Monday 21^st & Wednesday 23rd September

Key questions:

1. Who makes popular music popular: women or men?

2. What are the alternative histories of popular music?

3. How is gender expressed, repressed, reproduced and changed through popular music?

Texts:

O’ Brien (2012)

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee (eds.) (2006) - Part Nine ‘Popular Music, Gender and Sexuality’

Readings for Discussion Groups:

Two chapters from She Bop!:

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Eight (Monday 21st September 2015 - Week Five)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103Qr7HRbf-uIZNF1U4ka6eMa

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Nine (Wednesday 23rd September 2015 - Week Five)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QJhmaUAk719_fLDGUtkEZ5
 

Week 6: Complicating race

Classes 10 & 11:       Monday 28th & Wednesday 30th September

Key questions:

1. Where is race in music?

2. What are the alternative histories of popular music?

3. How is race expressed, repressed, reproduced and changed through popular music?

Texts:

Barker & Taylor (2007)

[Chapter 1: ‘Where did you sleep last night? Nirvana, Leadbelly, and the Allure of the Primeval’; Chapter 2: ‘Nobody’s Dirty Business: folk, blues, and the segregation of southern music’; and Chapter 4 ‘Heartbreak Hotel: the art and artifice of Elvis Presley’]

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee (eds.) (2006) - Part Five ‘Musical Diasporas’

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 5 '"St Louis Blues": Race Records and Hillbilly Music, 1920s and 1930s'

Readings for Discussion Groups:

The required reading for your discussion groups this week is selected from within the above literature, and is:

*** Please choose one chapter from the Barker and Taylor book (Faking It) that most interests you from the three below:

[Chapter 1: ‘Where did you sleep last night? Nirvana, Leadbelly, and the Allure of the Primeval’; Chapter 2: ‘Nobody’s Dirty Business: folk, blues, and the segregation of southern music’; and Chapter 4 ‘Heartbreak Hotel: the art and artifice of Elvis Presley’]

Plus please also read these two short sections from Part Five ‘Musical Diasporas’ in Bennett, Shank & Toynbee (eds.) The Popular Music Studies Reader (2006).

- Introduction to part Five by Barry Shank (pp. 175-8)

- Ch. 20 "'Jewels brought from bondage': Black Music and the Politics of Authenticity" by Paul Gilroy (pp. 179-186)

You will be expected to demonstrate to either Courtney or Tanner through participation that you have read and thought about the short readings above, and are thinking through the texts in relation to the three key questions above and any other questions or issues and connections you want to make.

Credit will be given to any students who attempt to read more widely within the broader recommended literature above.

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Ten (Monday 28th September 2015 - Week Six)

III. MASS APPEAL

 

Week 7: Music Everywhere: Karaoke, muzak, and easy listening

Class 12:        Wednesday 7th October

Key questions:

1. What are the places of popular music?

2. How does popular music gain and lose its communicative power? When does it become unpopular?

3. What is furniture music?

Texts:

Lanza (1994)

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twelve (Wednesday 7th October 2015 - Week Seven)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103R5EZiOhfeCQeKA_Py7N4Gj

 

Week 8: Popular music on big screens

Classes 13 & 14:       Monday 12th & Wednesday 14th October

Key questions:

1. How do we see popular music?

2. Is popular music sold to and with the ears or the eyes?

3. Why is music powerful in cinema and on TV?
   
   Texts:

Mundy (1999)

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 13 ‘The 1980s: Digital Technology, MTV and the popular mainstream’.

Taylor (2012) – Chapter 4 ‘Music, Mood, and Television: the use of emotion in advertising music in the 1950s and 1960s’, and Chapter 7 ‘Consumption, Corporitization, and youth in the 1980s’

Readings for Discussion Groups:

Two short chapters from the 'Popular Music Studies Reader' edited by Bennett, Shank, and Toynbee:

Ch. 27: 'Musicians in Hollywood: work and technological change in entertainment industries, 1926-1940' by James P. Kraft (pp. 239-245)

Ch. 37: 'Popular Songs and Comic Allusion in Contemporary Cinema' by Jeff Smith (p.. 326-332)

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Thirteen (Monday 12th October 2015 - Week Eight)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103TXXLM0dBGznis74S8pRzKR

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Fourteen (Wednesday 14th October 2015 - Week Eight)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QYZ3ycV1KjlsHCPbjkl6-T

 

Week 9: EDM (Electronic Dance Music)

Classes 15 & 16:       Monday 19th & Wednesday 21st October

Key questions:

1. How did Electronic Dance Music (EDM) become massive in the US?

2. Is it new?

3. How is EDM marketed?

Texts:

Matos (2015)

Reynolds, S. (2013) – Chapter 13 ‘America the Rave: US rave culture 1990-1997’, and Chapter 25 ‘The Future is Now: EDM in the USA, or 2012: the year rave broke America.

Reading for Discussion Groups:

Please try and read Chapter 25 of Reynolds, and any of Matos (2015) The Underground is Massive: How EDM Conquered America will be valuable.

The absolute minimum reading is Simon Reynolds' article 2012 article in the Guardian, 'How Rave Music Conquered America' (Thursday 2nd August 2015):

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/02/how-rave-music-conquered-america

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Fifteen (Monday 19th October 2015 - Week Nine)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103SsAMjm6q_AkswGtwhxi989

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Sixteen (Wednesday 21st October 2015 - Week Nine)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103Qt1q-UwcHti2hJXiIeBwl4

 

IV. FAME AND OBSCURITY

Week 10: Pop divas, pop geniuses: women innovating pop

Classes 17 & 18:       Monday 26th & Wednesday 28th October

Key questions:

1. Do women own popular music?

2. Who owns and advertises sexuality?

3. What should feminist popular music solve?

Texts:

O’ Brien (2002)

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee (eds.) (2006) - Part Nine ‘Popular Music, Gender and
            Sexuality’

Reading for Discussion Groups:

For discussion groups you will focus on chapter 9 of O'Brien's 'She Bop', the chapter is called 'Deconstructing the Disco Diva'. Please make sure everyone reads at least this one chapter. Credit will always be given for anyone who reads more widely.

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Seventeen (Monday 26th October 2015 - Week Ten)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103SGKa6XGCX1g2KJmUwGE7yB

 

NB. Lecture Eighteen is a 'Green Dot' overview talk by Melinda Baumann and Sara Surface

http://notonourgrounds.virginia.edu/greendot

 

Week 11: Music, money, fame, obscurity

Classes 19 & 20:       Monday 2nd & Wednesday 4th November

Key questions:

1. Is popular music pure?

2. Who owns and sells popular music?

3. Who are celebrities? Are celebrities and obscurities necessarily odd?

Texts:

Fisher (2009)

Suisman (2009) – Chapter 1 ‘When song becomes a business’, Chapter 2 ‘Making Hits’, and  Chapter 8 ‘The Musical Soundscape of Modernity’

Reading for Discussion Groups:

The texts that will guide the lectures and discussion classes are as below

Texts:

Fisher [ed.] (2009) - The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson

and

Suisman's Selling Sounds (2009) – Chapter 1 ‘When song becomes a business’, Chapter 2 ‘Making Hits’, and  Chapter 8 ‘The Musical Soundscape of Modernity’

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Nineteen (Monday 2nd November 2015 - Week Eleven)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103RLn5z21EeKif4nRT5UJ0kO

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty (Wednesday 4th November 2015 - Week Eleven)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103RkWqYd7fHCZ8erg5lBZ6Zh

 

Week 12: The underneath: sampling, authenticity and integrity

Classes 21 & 22:       Monday 9th & Wednesday 11th November

Key questions:

1. Does popular music steal from people?

2. Who owns and sells popular music?

3. Where do popular songs come from and go to?

Texts:

Barker & Taylor (2007)

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 1 ‘Themes and Streams of American Popular Music’, Chapter 2 ‘ “After the Ball: Popular Music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries”, and Chapter 15 ‘Conclusion’.

Reading for Discussion Groups:

For your discussion groups, please make sure that you read at least one of the two chapters below:

American Popular Music by Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 1 ‘Themes and Streams of American Popular Music’ (pp. 1-44)

or

Faking It Chapter Ten - 'Moby, the KLF, and the Ongoing Quest for Authenticity' (pp. 319 - 337)

As always, credit will be given for anyone that reads beyond the minimum requirements.

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty One (Monday 9th November 2015 - Week Twelve)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103Q-t_x2PC734nM1dZSLw5tU

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Two (Wednesday 11th November 2015 - Week Twelve)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103R4LYOJNCSVVCVwW4-oNHhy

 

 

V. SPECIAL TOPICS

Week 13: (1) global hip hop

Classes 23 & 24:       Monday 16th & Wednesday 18th November

Key questions:

1. Why is hip hop massive?

2. What and how does it communciate?

3. What does hip hop sell, resist, and remix?

Texts:

Charry [ed.] (2012)

Mitchell (2001)

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 14 ‘“Smells like Teen Spirit”: hip hop, “Alternative”
            Music, and the Entertainment Business’
 

Reading for Discussion Groups:

For your reading and discussion groups, please make sure that you all read at least one of the following three sections from three of your key texts:

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 14 ‘“Smells like Teen Spirit”: hip hop, “Alternative” Music, and the Entertainment Business’ [read pp. 491-509, and 'Women's Voices: alternative folk, hip-hop, and country' (pp. 521-527)]

or

O'Brien (2012) She Bop! - Chapter 10 'In Search of Our Mother's Gardens: the true story of women in rap and reggae' (pp. 251-279)

or

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee [eds.] (20006) The Popular Music Studies Reader - Chapter 25 'Voices from the Margins: rap music and contemporary cultural production' (pp. 216-223).

As always, it will be valuable to read as much as possible, especially as we move towards final projects. Knowing and thinking about the content of our six key texts will very much enhance your final projects.

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Three (Monday 16th November 2015 - Week Thirteen)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QHqX2ET6wQgMWRqa8Qh9b4

 

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Four (Wednesday 18th November 2015 - Week Thirteen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e-ls-s-pNU&index=1&list=PLuoiSwM3103RY5KRyR43FVd--7YuvDmwP

 

Week 14: (2) global rock music

Class 25:        Monday 23rd November

Key questions:

1. Why is rock music popular?

2. What does it look and sound like across the globe?

3. Are men in charge of rock?

Texts:

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 4 ‘“I Got Rhythm”: the golden age of Tin Pan Alley Song’, Chapter 8 ‘“Rock Around the Clock”: Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1954-1959, and Chapter 11 ‘The 1970s: rock music, disco, and the popular mainstream’.

Wald (2009)

Reading for Discussion Groups:

The following texts will guide the class on Monday (there will be no class on Wednesday due to Thanksgiving recess).

Starr & Waterman (2013) – Chapter 4 ‘“I Got Rhythm”: the golden age of Tin Pan Alley Song’, Chapter 8 ‘“Rock Around the Clock”: Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1954-1959, and Chapter 11 ‘The 1970s: rock music, disco, and the popular mainstream’.

Wald, E. 2009. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: an alternative history of American music. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
[*** Available online via Virgo ***]

In order to prepare for your discussion groups, please make sure you all read at least one of the following:

Starr & Waterman American Popular Music (2013) - Chapter 8 ‘“Rock Around the Clock”: Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1954-1959

or

O'Brien (2012) She Bop - Chapter 4 'Can the Can: whatever happened to the rock chick?' (pp. 86-109)

or

Bennett, Shank & Toynbee [eds.] 2006 The Popular Music Studies Reader - Chapter 40 'Smells Like Teen Spirit: Riot Grrls, Revolution, and Independent Rock' (pp. 355-361), by Joanne Gottlieb and Gayle Wald.

Please also think through some of your own favourite examples of rock music and whether the songs and artists include global influences.

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Five (Monday 23rd November 2015 - Week Fourteen)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103QPqYnYR4i9_RN6FzOPpK9V

 

Week 15: (3) free music?

Classes 26 & 27:                   Monday 30^th November and Wednesday 2^nd December

Key questions:

1. Is the music industry dead?

2. Who owns music?

3. How do artists live and die?

Texts:

Barker, H. & Y. Taylor  (2007) – Chapter 10 ‘Play: Moby, the KLF and the Ongoing Quest for Authenticity’

Taylor (2012) – Chapter 9 ‘New Capitalism, Creativity and the New Petite Bourgeoisie’

Witt (2015)

Reading for Discussion Groups:

Starr and Waterman (2014) American Popular Music: from minstrelsy to MP3 - Chapter 15 'Conclusion' (pp. 542-565)

or

Witt (2015) How Music Got Free - Introduction (pp. 1-4) and Chapter 12 (pp. 153-163)

[The whole book is wonderful, and one of the most important books on music in recent times - I highly recommend you read as much as time allows]

I also recognise that most people will have been out of town this week with little access to libraries etc. Therefore, those that really want to read Witt but have not had access to it can read the article by Stephen Witt in the New Yorker, titled 'The Man Who Broke The Record Business: the dawn of online business', available online in the 27th April 2015 issues. The article gives a version of the full story in the book. I highly recommend spending time with both.

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Six (Monday 30th November 2015 - Week Fifteen)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103R7SHTDRY7oUnrOSL1lQOLE

You Tube Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Seven (Wednesday 2nd December 2015 - Week Fifteen)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103Qc9AjHeoW8Wfm47D0L8o2p

 

RETURN and REVISION

 

Week 16: Revision: what makes music popular?

Class 28:                    Monday 7^th December

Key questions:

1. What makes music popular?

2. Who owns music?

3. Who should own popular music?

Texts:

All texts, plus resources identified and chosen by yourselves in consultation with myself.

Playlist and Listening Examples for Lecture Twenty Eight (Monday 7th December 2015 - Week Sixteen)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuoiSwM3103T7KiNoSHt3cbc5Vi8kdDfB

 

General Bibliography

Charry, E. 2012. Hip Hop Africa: new African music in a globalizing world. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
[*** Available online ***]

http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.its.virginia.edu/lib/uvalib/reader.action?docID=10604288

Fisher, M. (ed.) 2009. The Resistable Demise of Michael Jackson.  Winchester, UK & Washington, USA: Zero Books.

Frith, S. 1998. Performing Rites: Evaluating Popular Music. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.

Middleton, R. 2010 (1990). Studying Popular Music. Milton Keynes & Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Lanza, J. 1994. Elevator Music: a surreal history of muzak, easy-listening and other moodsong. London: Quartet Books.

Matos, M. 2015. The Underground is Massive: how electronic dance music conquered America. New York: Dey Street Books.

Mitchell, A. 2001. Global Noise: rap and hip hop outside the USA. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press

Mundy, J. 1999. Popular Music on Screen: from the Hollywood musical to music video. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Reynolds, S. 2013. Energy flash: a journey through rave music and dance culture. London: Faber & Faber.

Shuker, R. 2005. Popular Music: the key concepts. London & New York: Routledge.

______      2008. Understanding Popular Music. London & New York: Routledge.

Suisman, D. 2009. Selling Sounds: the commercial revolution in American music. Cambridge, Ma. & London: Harvard University Press.
[*** Available online ***]

http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.its.virginia.edu/lib/uvalib/reader.action?docID=10402530

Wald, E. 2009. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: an alternative history of American music. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
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Xun, Z. & F. Tarocco. 2007. Karaoke: the global phenomenon. London: Reaktion Books.

 

Student Life

 

I and my teaching assistants will work hard to encourage a safe and equitable learning environment in this course.  But, what happens in the classroom will be just one element of your experience at UVA this semester. Although I may not always be able to address your questions and concerns, I will certainly be able to guide you towards all necessary support and resources, so please do not hesitate to contact me about any issues that may be affecting your experience of this class.

Additional resources that are available to you:

Resources for Addressing Sexual Violence:

 

The University’s central site is: http://www.virginia.edu/sexualviolence/.

You can also contact the Office of the Dean of Students: 434- 924-7133 (or after hours and weekends call 434-924-7166 for the University Police Department; ask them to refer the issue to the Dean on Call)

Sexual Assault Resources Agency (SARA) hotline: 434-977-7273 (24/7)

Shelter for Help in Emergency (SHE) hotline: 434-293-8509 (24/7);

UVA Women's Center: 435-982-2361; and

Student Health (CAPS).

 

Resources for Addressing Racial Violence or Other Instances of Harassment or Discrimination:

http://www.virginia.edu/justreportit/.

You can also contact the Office of the Dean of Students: 434-924-7133 (or after hours and weekends call 434-924-7166 for the University Police Department; ask them to refer the issue to the Dean on Call); and Student Health (CAPS).

In addition, the Center for Teaching Excellence (formerly the Teaching Resource Center) has assembled a wide-ranging list of sites and offices that can help respond to both academic and non-academic concerns.

You can find it at: http://trc.virginia.edu/resources/support-for-uva-faculty-and-students/.

Finally, if you have any questions about academic integrity or what counts as plagiarism, please let me know. The Honor Code applies to all assignments for this course. The Library also offers helpful information at:

http://guides.lib.virginia.edu/content.php?pid=385908&sid=3162708

 

Please see below for recommended actions to prevent and respond to violence involving students, faculty and staff in the department. These guidelines aim to promote safety, community and awareness amongst students in classes and ensembles, musicians and other members of the department.

Syllabi statement

The McIntire Department of Music is committed to providing a safe and equitable learning environment for all students, and holds the following two values as critically important:

1. Power-based personal violence will not be tolerated.

2. Everyone has a responsibility to do their part to maintain a safe community on Grounds.

Please know that as a faculty member, I support a safe and violence-free campus. If you or someone you know has been affected by power-based personal violence, more information can be found on the UVA Sexual Violence website, which describes reporting options and the many available resources. A link is given for reporting misconduct through the university’s Title IX process.

If you have concerns or questions about any aspect of this, you can approach any faculty or staff member of the music department, or any of these offices:

• ODOS Dean on Call: (434) 924-7166; DeanofStudents@virginia.edu

• CAPS (individual counseling) :

  • Day time – (434) 243-5150

  • After hours – (434) 972-7004

• SARA 24-hr Sexual Assault Hotline: (434) 977-7273

• University Women’s Center: (434) 982-2774 or sdvs@virginia.edu

• Campus Police à Call 911 for emergencies or (434) 924-8843

Reporting misconduct

• Misconduct includes any type of power-based personal violence and any type of sexual conduct and / or sexual intercourse that occurs without effective consent; misconduct includes intimate partner violence, domestic violence and stalking, as well as sexual harassment, defined as unwelcome verbal, written, physical or other conduct that is sex or gender-based and creates a hostile environment

The Gigging Musicians’ Guide to Getting Home Safely

Arrange how you’re getting home before you go

- Don’t wait and see if you can hitch a ride home, get in touch with the people you know who will be there and figure out a car pool! Don’t be shy; getting to know your fellow musicians may even turn out to be a great networking opportunity to line up future gigs!

- If you need to walk or take transportation after all, map out a route along the busiest streets where you are least likely to be alone.

On your way home: STAY ALERT

                        - Know what is going on around you, even in unfamiliar situations.

                        - If you’re walking or taking public transportation:

Stay awake

Don’t let yourself get lost in your phone or a book

- If your surroundings become unsafe, you need to be able to react quickly.

 

“Keep your cards close”!

- Keep your phone, wallet, laptop and any other valuables out of sight

- Take off any valuable jewelry before you leave and put them out of sight

- Wear instrument cases and other bags strapped as closely as possible to you

- If anyone asks you any questions, be polite but don’t give them any information that makes you look vulnerable and just keep walking or otherwise move away, for example:

            “Where are you headed so quickly?”

                                                “My friends are expecting me; have a good night!”

                                    “What do you have in that big bag? Is that an instrument?”

                                                “Too much stuff! Have a good night!”

 

Preventative measures

• Contact Buddies on Call to accompany you home after rehearsals, concerts and other evening events Thursday – Sunday: (434) 260 -0545

• Contact Campus Police for safe rides home: (434) 242-1122

• Safe Ride (434) 924-4225

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