Review 'Uncut' magazine in the style of 'Uncut'

Uncut is an imformative and interesting music magazine, with an appeal to the middle aged 21st century male. The articles and music reviews in the magazine are descriptive and informative. Uncut is unique in the way that it not only wants to inform readers about issues regarding the popular music of the readers youth, but also gives an insight into the types of music they should be expected to listen to today. Although Uncut is essentially a music publication it also focuses on other elements that may appeal to its readers such as interviews with legandary actors such as Ray Winston, as well as features on technology that may appeal to the male audience. The style of writing in the magazine is done so very intelligantly but includes elements with will amuse, yet inform the audience clearly.

Uncut is ultimatley a publication that has appeal to an older audience with a great interst and knowledge in music of their youth, as well as the music of the current, and evidently leaves no rock or pop stone unturned.

Are subcultures a sign of revolt or a expression of style?

Subcultures were developed as a response to cultural and political situations of their time. They can be seen as a sign of revolt. For example, skin head culture in the UK was developed due to the working classes feeling of subordination to middle classes, especially in work opportunities. It was also a revolt against their parents, and a way for them to express themselves.
However subcultures can also be a form of expression. For example, punk. This subculture is largely dominated by a particular fashion which they used as a way to shock people and get noticed. They used their culture; particularly the punk music being created, as a way to rebel against the economic state of the time. Their creativeness aimed to cause anarchy with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash dominating the music scene.
Subcultures are therefore both to express a form of style including that of fashion and music, but at the same time a way for young people to show their rebellion against society and it conformities.

Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?

Many musical artists music has been influenced by their opinions and interpretation of politics. A famous example of this is Bob Marley’s ‘Get up, Stand up’ in which he advocates and supports the counter capitalist politics of the Rastafari movement.
It is difficult to analysis whether artists such as Marley’s music can actually make a difference or whether it just makes the public aware of their stand in politics. John Street suggests “music has symbolic force that deploys power of language to create visions”. But is this purely personal to the artist?
Billie Holidays 1939 release of Strange Fruit caused controversy, and led to her having to find another record label to release it. It was described by Time magazine as ‘a piece of musical propaganda for the NAACP’
In more recent times using the example of Acid Rave music and its accosiations, led to Criminal Justice acts put in place to stop the subcultures criminal behaviour.
Artists have also used Music as a way to promote political issues. Band Aid was created in order to help people to recognise 3rd world poverty and debt, however although it was publicised worldwide, how much change was actually established?
So then, although music can contain, or help to promote political movement, it seems unlikely that it will create a force for change as little people will take action on what they hear.

Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

Digital Rights Management is a way of protecting the copyrights of both music and film.
Today’s society is full of people ‘file sharing’, or perhaps more bluntly put, illegal downloading for free. This is problematic for the music industry because it means they are not receiving money for the purchase of a song.
Music downloads protected by DRM means that you have to pay for the download, and it can only be then passed on to a limited amount of people. This creates a solution to the problem of music (and film) piracy, and would keep both record companies and artists in profit as it may make more people to buy music.
However, although DRM’s are there to stop illegal downloading, there are still many ways to get tracks without having to pay. This proves the disadvantage to DRM’s because it may result in less people buying music, and regulations such as those put in place by i tunes having to be altered. Whilst music can still be downloaded for free, DRM will never have total control of the industry.

What is world music? And why does it exist?

World music is a type of music with no clear definition. It is put into a category of its own. For example if you went into a HMV music store you would find ‘world music’ in its own section. In order to assess what world music is you have to also think about the differences between what is considered local or global music. Guilbait says ‘world music is usually described as the blending of modern and traditional music’. World music is created by a specific country, often using traditional and modern instruments to create a trademark sound which is easy for individuals to associate with that country. The USA and the UK are the main producers of music and they have increasingly begun to acknowledge world music. Through their interest in this music, an advance in technologies have began to reach around the world allowing world music to be recorded and promoted much more widely, which means it gradually has begun to reach the USA and the UK, where it becomes increasingly more popular, and can often lead to major record deals.

Is Popular music a mass produced commodity or a genuine art form?

Theodor Adorno believed that popular music was a mass produced commodity. He said that “the whole structure of popular music is standardized”. He believed that it couldn’t be justified any other way. Adorno’s believe was that popular music was produced by the capitalist society in order to create profit and to keep audiences passive. He said popular music was too simplistic and compared it to classical music which he saw as a form of art. Whilst it is true that popular music is produced to the masses, it could be argued that it is a form of art because it something created by an artist to express a feeling. Gendrom criticises Adorno’s theory saying that you can’t mass produce a song because it’s a recording of a moment in time. So, whilst Adorno has a point that popular music is massed produced, he focuses on the industry making profit and not at how and why the artists create the music. Popular music could be considered as an art form as it privileges popular criteria, whilst Adorno’s example of classical music only appeals to a smaller, more selective audience.

what are the strengths and weaknesses of Petersons production of culture perspective on the birth or rock and roll?

Peterson’s theory on the production of culture helps us to understand how the birth of rock and roll happened. His theory concentrates on six main factors that led to this, these are: laws, technology, organisation structure, occupational careers and market. These factors are strengths of Peterson’s theory because they concentrate on the areas which help to produce the music. He said that culture can not be analysed unless we look at the context of producers. However Peterson does not pay any attention to the music itself. The emergence of rock and roll was at a time when young people were developing freedom and music was a way of rebelling against parents. Peterson shows no interest in the creation of the music and the instruments used. The music’s appeal to the audience is of no importance to Peterson. So while his theory is strengthened by the fact he looks at how rock and music was produced, the fact that he pays no attention to the music itself or the reasons for the audiences interest in it, makes his theory much weaker in these areas.

What is popular music?

Popular music has no clear definition but there are many angles that can tackle the question. Raymond Williams said that originally the word ‘popularis’ was a legal term meaning belonging to the people. Throughout the centuries popular music has been perceived very differently. In the 16th century, it was considered as vulgar and of the common people, whereas in the 18th century popular music was very widely favoured. But what exactly is popular music?
In the 19th century an American magazine took the word popular as a synonym for good. Popular music could be something that is very accessible as it is what is in the public eye. Robert Burnett says that popular music is ‘mass produced and mass consumed’. He says that is commercially orientated. ‘Commercial’ implies that it is more about making profit from the music rather than its artistic value.