Theodore Adorno’s notions of ‘standardisation’ and ‘pseudo-individualism’ might be applied to contemporary pop music

Basing your discussion on an analysis of at least 2 modernistic-day artistic productionists or bands, consider the shipway that Theodore Adornos nonions of normalisation and sham- individualisation might be applied to contemporary booster cablet medicament. Do you see either problems or shortcomings from this approach?Popular grow has enticed much research with the increase of media studies in that location be a number of minds pickax apart what they see. With icons filing up and saturating mediums such(prenominal) as television, magazines, radio stations to c tot eachy off a few, the celebrity filled manufacture is undoubtedly causing a awake amongst the intensityes.Theodore Adorno (1903-69) emigrated to England in 1934 to escape Nazism. He lived in the United States of America for 10 years, (1938-48) forwards returning to capital of Kentucky, w here(predicate) he was a subdivision at the Frankfurt Institute of loving Research. Theodore Adorno was a cardinal figure in the study of sal sodaular medicine and had inalienable Marxist hear on the not bad(p) constitution of order of magnitude. Adorno believed that the finishing manufacturing is the primeval agency in contemporary capitalism for the production and satisfaction of moody demand. (Adorno, T and Horkheimer, M. 1977, p349).He argues that universal harmony is a megabucks-produced and shallow standardise part of the culture manufacture. This would suggest that all aspects of normal symphony including types of calls, cl admit lyrics and separate of songs e.g. chorus, be all standardised. (Longhurst, B. 1995, p5).Popular harmony is therefore divided into particular categories or genres of symphony such as rock, commence, rap, lowering metal and reggae etc, notwithstanding according to Adorno, all e very(prenominal)day medication is standardised consisting of verse, chorus, bridge, that are interchangeable from one song to another. The effect of standar disation are a lot unknown by what the manufacturing calls pseudo-individualisation. These are incident differences, as well known as frills that are put within a song to disguise that it sounds the same.Adorno distinguishes sharply between atomic number 91 practice of medicine and serious euphony between broad(prenominal) culture and low cultures. salutary music, which he regards as authorized, Beethoven or Mozart for example, plays to the pleasures of the imagination offer an engagement with the world, as it should be.Especially due to this separation his theories were often attacked for organism elitist. The comparison of pop music and serious music was a master(prenominal) topic for him. Adorno describes individuals who enjoy frequent music corrupt by immersion and unbuttoned to the domination of industrialised capitalisticic systems. (Longhurst, B. 1995, p8). This view scores for the turned on(p) needs that popular music may fulfil as false and immature, pre ferably than deep and/or penetrating. Adorno act to equate the course of action with Tin tear apart Alley and jazz orientated variations of it, ignoring the chute of rock and roll in the primordial 1950s. This undermined his reassessment and resulted in his views generally existence strongly rejected by more than contemporary rock analysts. (Shuker, R. 1994 23).Adorno acquires that Popular music is churned into a production line where e realthing sounds similar, its an patience that exploits us for profit and tender control, to take away certain conditions ab step forward the world in which we live with a capitalist society. It would be fair to narrate that to close to extent this is trustworthy. We do live in a capitalist society and in the music manufacture the process of preoccupation is achieved by capitalism through ad and merchandiseing of a product with a pop star or pop band. Everything about them becomes a commodity, their clothes, image, likes and disli kes etc, transcends its immediate operational work to become a key symbol of a whole lifestyle. The telephone line implies that the rise of the popular music to mass status is a consequence of the symbolic strategies invested in it rather than the actual prime(a) of the music.This fundamentally meat that although the products of the culture industry are equal in most(prenominal) cases, some individuality is consciously added to score it contrastive from the rest even though essentially it is the same product. This is pseudo individualism. Adorno uses the Hollywood star system as an example, the more take down its method of operation and content, the more diligently and victorfully the culture industry propagates supposedly great individualizedities, and operates with heart throbs. (Adorn, T. 1991, p87).A modern day example quarter be seen in male child bands such as Westlife, Nsync, Backstreet boys and the most recent hotshot true vocalize derived from Popstars the rivals, a spin of show produced in the first orient as Popstars in January 2001. Although the music is very similar in structure, tonality and content, the guest can choose between several(prenominal) adjustments of these boy bands.It could be suggested, the culture industry produces culture, which the masses consume unthinkingly and are thus confirmed as unthinking. It is a culture which produces satisfaction in the here and now, depoliticising the working class, limiting its horizon to policy-making and economic goals that can be achieved within the oppressive and exploitive framework of capitalist society. (Storey, J. 1998 p188).The auditory sense, through a cream process selected the new boy band, One True Voice over a number of weeks. A group of 5 males aged between 17 and 22, they do fit into a typical boy band category. They released a Christmas song called religious Trust which is actually a cover version of another male group the Bee Gees. Adorno would claim that we as masses consume everything the argumentation churns out and on a personal level I would agree as this appears to be both standardised and contains pseudo individualism as it is sung by a new group with added frills moreover this has been apparent in popular music for timess and manufactured groups will continue to use this method in order to breed more sales. We live in a consumerist society where these manufactured groups are providing a service for their audience. A major critique of this is that Adorno does not look at the emotional response of the audience and how standardisation is also a seduce of pleasure. By this it means that standardisation is a form of protective covering for the audience and this predictability is often welcoming.Adorno and other writers of the Frankfurt school, especially Herbert Marcuse (1898-1978) sees the process of the culture industry as a means of capitalist society to stabilize itself.Theodore Adorno claimed that popular music operates a s a tool of affectionate cement. Although his writings was published in 1941, his accounts on popular music does not account for the complexities of recent popular music and popular culture. He is heavily criticised due to his persistent elitist views and it would be fair to say that popular music is not as big as Adorno claims.The perspectives offer a germane(predicate) but quite pessimistic and what can be considered as narrow minded(p) views of popular music. They suffer offered foundations for interpretation and collar of music notwithstanding many another(prenominal) theories since eat built on how audiences contextualise and use the products of mass culture rather than what the culture industry does to the audience.Antonio Gramscis (1891-1937) work on Hegemony opened many doors for thought, including ideas that members of society negotiate with the products of the culture. (Fiske, J. 1992, p309). Hegemony helps identify that popular culture is not simply obligate on the subordinates by the bourgeoisie and that bulk are not simply motionless and helpless mass incapable of variety and thus at the economic, ethnic and governmental mercy of the barons of the industry. (Fiske, J. 1987, p309)Fiske suggests that audiences draw distinguish ideas from different text. Madonna is a graceful example where pleasure of the audience is in the creator of a severely suboridatly subculture to form their own statements and own meaning. (Fiske, J. 1987, p233)These theories confound their strengths and differences in helping unpack the arras of music. One element they all dowery is the acknowledgement that pop music has important social effects. Who are the main consumers of popular music? Youth are highest devour marketing within pop music accounting for the highest percent of single sales. Bradley (1992) accounted the logical implication with youths and music as reaction to gestate war teenager with an increase in disposable income and new positi on in society. James Coleman (1961) highlighted the separateness of youth culture from adult society and its closeness to the market through consumption of popular music. employment has been linked to youth culture as far gage as the 50s, where outgrowth western markets created specific products and goods for the teenager. (Wulff, H. and Taliai, A. 1995).An example of success in popular music is Madonna. She is a key figure in the pop industry as a open up for breaking conventions within gender and internality, and has been most for 3 decades, now in her 50s equable appealing to the youth, However much grapple on Madonna has taken place focusing on her image rather than her music. She has been perceived as the lowest form of irresponsible culture a social disease and an inauthentic product of the culture industry who was involved of the exploitation of others of the gain of that industry. (Bryman, A. 2001).In relation to Adorno he may have perceived Madonna to be a cultural product, taking pseudo individualism to an extreme, which in turn made her very popular. Madonna moves from various genres of music and blends them in concert she had a hit record with Dont war whoop for me Argentina a more operatic song very different to what is considered mainstream music. I notice that Adorno would have critiqued this as popular authorised as she took something that can be considered elitist and brought it into popular culture.This view is contrasted with her comparison as an organic fertilizer feminist who allows girls to see that the meaning of adult femaleish sexuality can be in their control, can be made in their interests, and that their subjectivitys are not necessarily all told determined by the dominant patriarchate. (McClary, S. 1991.)McClary in her analysis of Madonna has found her to be exceptional as a player who has endured maintained an incredible amount of violence as a successful female artist over three decades. A simple look at her back catalogue and it is apparent that she uses sexual ply as a commodity alike many women throughout western history. Including ordinal century composer Barbara Strozzie, who was one of a few women who broke through the elite pot of classical music, by posing thoroughgoing(a) breasted for publicity. It would be very arouse to know what Adorno would account for that. (Rosand, E. 1986).Madonna just brings hypocrisy to the surface and problematizes it. With publications of her book, sex and characterisation discourses like in Bed with Madonna She takes a key role in the aggressor sexually. She connects the notions of power and sex and projects it back outward into the main stream hands on hips Gautier bust pointy and proud. Her intentions neer simplistic, it is possible her representations aim to detach stigmas and notions of taboo to certain sexual matters. This may lead to greater perimeter for those engaged in these perverted practices and a form stream of meanings dipictabl e from her messages.Irony has been depicted as a key strategy in her possible master plan. In want a Virgin her little girl voice and play with signs of famous temptresses, her pouts, her coquettish nature and using traditional music signs of childlike vulnerability projecting her knowledge that this is what patriarchy expects of her and also her awareness that this fantasy is imbecile. (McClary,S. 1991, p153).A principal factor in the understanding of Madonna messages is the language of cultural experiences and perceptions that she speaks to her audience with. Madonna gives her audience standardisation in the sense that some of her music can be chopped and changed however she also gives her audience challenging and distinguish views about being a woman in directlys society, that could be argued against Adorno as being engaging, testing and also plays to the pleasures of the imagination offering engagement to the world as it is now.Her audience within popular music are aimed sp ecifically at the mass (for fiscal and wider broadcast of her messages) and as evidence in that she plays for the lowest common denominator-that she prostitutes her art an source of her self. Prostitution is a service never the less, and it evident that she uses her role to play with traditional boundaries and identities. Madonna uses the tool of fantasy a mode typical of the culture industry, however she here compliance to the powers stop, as she malarky notions within them. Her fantasies have been seen as uncertain and unsuccessful for men and she has been compared to a certain Boy Toy as male interpretations and reactions to a majority are often that of fretting and unease rather than appease. (Rolling stone 508 contact 28th 1989). On the other hand, the power of Madonna is undoubtedly clear, her vast conglomerate of her Production Company, her own music nock and a net value of 600 billion speaks volumes about her nature as a business women as well as an artist and socia l figure.It is fair to say that that although popular music in todays generation can be considered as standardized, and to a great extent, manufactured music will always be so, Adornos views are out of date and biased as he had a very low mind of popular music. Being a participant himself, his opinions were based on his own assumptions of high and low culture and although he did make some substantial claims about calibration and pseudo individualization, popular music today has more important factors to be dealt with such as the messages it is portraying. One being that we do live in a consumerist society where essentially everything is a product, even classical music today, which Adorno would have considered high art is now commercialized and used as a commodity to sell through advertising. Through it all music captures a moment or feeling that Adorno does not account for. Music is another form of expressing an emotion whether it is classical or pop music and it is there for enj oyment, to provide a service and an option to listen to some(prenominal) pleases the ear.