102100 Week 2

Can popular music ever really be unplugged?  If popular music were to be defined as the music that is popular among the people at any given time, then the answer to this question would be yes.  For example, classical music was popular music during its time and this type of music was indeed unplugged.  However, if by "popular music" one is referring to today's music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, then the answer would be a definite and obvious "no".  Unplugged basically means "not recording".  This would mean none of our music could be heard through the radio, computer, CDs, or in any other of today's forms.  There would be no amplifier or transistor, no microphone use or recording with multitrack or digital technologies.  So, in essence, when our favorite artists call their CDs "unplugged", they are very wrong, and we can all be very grateful for their mistake!

Music, Culture, & Technology (Week 1)

The term “popular music” can be difficult to define.  Many agree that popular music must be good music that is easy to understand.  It must be home-made and commercially oriented, having no artistic value.  However, there are many examples of popular music that defy these characteristics.  For example, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti performed “Nessun Dorma” at the 1990 world cup.  Most people do not consider opera popular music, yet the selection reached the top of the billboards. 

“Popular” derives from the legal term “popularis”, which means “belonging to the people”.  The dictionary definition of popular music is “any genre of music having wide appeal”.  More specifically, an appropriate definition of popular music comes from Roy Shuker.  He says that popular songs derive from an array of heterogeneous styles, sources, and musical customs.  Also, even while these songs make a profit, they are artistically and conceptually significant to their consumers.