Week 8 – Are Subcultures a sign of Revolt or an Expression of Style?

Subcultures have been said to have been created through political, social and/or cultural rebellion, for example the ‘skinhead’ culture (when the working classes wanted to draw attention to the inequalities that they faced against the middle class, concerning work issues). Their distinguished music was seen to be part of a degenerate culture, yet they also have to ability to represent style as a way of expressing themselves as well as to shock and cause effect and today the changes can be seen in their style and whom they represent, now being part of a racist community of football violence. Therefore, subcultures can be an expression of style however, people who become part of these subcultures do so to rebel against their initial existence.

Week 7 - Can Popular Music be a Genuuine Force for Political Change?

Popular music can be used on as a political influence yet it doesn’t mean that the music will cause long term political change. For example, Band Aid and Live Aid was created in order to bring attention to Third World countries through the use of well know artists. This proved to be successful in raising money, however there has been no long-term change, even though it had billions of people watching all over the world. Arguably, the evidence is there that music has the ability to have a stance on political subjects and to raise awareness, but it has yet to actually be a force for political change. This is not saying that it will never happen.

Week 6 - IS DRM the best way to save the music industry?

Statistics show that there has been a decrease in the music industries profits, and the development of illegal music downloading and sharing is arguably the main reason. Therefore, putting restrictions on MP3 files as to limit the amount of illegal downloads appears to be a good idea, yet not necessarily a successful method due to the amount of downloading networks still readily available. Arguably the music industry needs to adapt with technology and use music networking in way to help themselves. For example, people may preview music that they have never heard before, enjoy it, and could consequently result in them buying it eventually, tickets to gigs or relating products. However, it can be argued that the music industry is no where near being needed to be saved, it just needs to adapt to changes.