The Rock Mountain Music Experience
  • RM HOME
    • About Rock Mountain (RM)
    • RM Lay-Out
    • Contact, Sponsor, Support, Advertise With RM
    • Site Map
    • JOIN/LOGIN
  • RM'S MUSIC INGREDIENTS
    • RM'S MUSIC INGREDIENTS
    • Jazz >
      • Many Forms of Jazz
    • The Blues >
      • Slave Music
      • Gospel
    • Soul >
      • Motown
    • Funk
    • Rhythm and Blues
    • Rockabilly
    • Surf Rock
    • Rock N Roll >
      • Skiffle
      • History of Rock n Roll
    • Rock >
      • Progressive Rock
      • Psychedelic Rock
      • Folk Rock
      • Glam Rock
      • Punk Rock
      • Country Rock
      • New Wave >
        • New Wave - Sub Genres: Ska, New Romantics & Others
    • MTV
    • Folk >
      • Country And Western
      • Bluegrass
    • Disco
    • Electronic
    • Grunge
    • Metal >
      • Thrash Metal & Others
    • Hip-Hop And Rap
    • Reggae
    • World Music
  • ROCKING THE WORLD
    • ROCKING THE WORLD
    • 1. Music as Power
    • 2. Music & Mass Production >
      • Part B. Pop & Mass Production
    • 3. Rock's Implicit Politics >
      • The Answer?
      • Rock n Roll's Death
    • 4. 1960s - Cold War - Hot Rock >
      • Era of Rock Politics
    • 5. Rock Revolution - Woodstock to Watergate >
      • The Counterculture
      • 1968 - What A Year
    • 6. 1970s - Glam to Punk: The West Falters
    • 7. 1980s Onwards -The West Triumphs - But Rock Dies
    • ROCKING THE WORLD - POLITICAL THEMES IN POPULAR MUSIC >
      • 1. Music & War & Peace
      • 2. Music & The Environment
      • 3. Music & Human Rights
      • 4. Music - Empowering Class
      • 5. Music & Drugs
      • 6. Music & Sex
    • ROCKING THE REGIME >
      • Rocking Australia
      • Rocking China
      • Rocking Cuba
      • Rocking Ireland
      • Rocking Japan
      • Rocking Germany
      • Rocking Russia
  • RM VILLAGE
    • RM VILLAGE
    • Dead End Street >
      • Leadbelly Blues Bar
      • Chelsea Hotel 45th Street
      • Heartbreak Hotel RM Village
      • Between Rock and a Hard Place
      • Hard and Heavy Rock- The Troubadore Club
      • Rockers, Bikers and Broads (Harleys, Triumphs and Hooters)
    • Peace Train >
      • Buddha's Guitar Rescue Shop
      • Greenwich Village
      • House of Big Pink
      • Environmental Earth Music
    • Times Square >
      • Tin Pan Alley
      • Brill Building
      • Pistols Punk Den
      • Vaudeville Theatre
    • Road Down-Under >
      • Slim Dusty Way >
        • Bushwhackers Pub And Shearing Shed
        • Australia - Down-Under Inn
      • Countdown the Village
      • Surf Down-Under Shop
    • Hank Williams Drive >
      • The Wild Horse Saloon
      • The Ryman Auditorium
      • Sun Records
    • Route 66 >
      • Route 66 - Kansas
      • Route 66 - Oklahoma
      • Route 66 - Texas
      • Route 66 - New Mexico
      • Route 66 - Arizona
      • Route 66 - California
    • Woody Guthrie Way >
      • Alice's Restaurant
      • The Gospel Church
    • The Dock Of The Bay >
      • Yellow Submarine
      • The Edmund Fitzgerald
      • Reavell's Jetty >
        • River Boat Queen
        • The Black Swan - Buccaneer, Colonial Settler & Slave Ship
    • Long And Winding Road >
      • Fidel and Che's Place - Music of the Revolution
    • Abbey Road >
      • Over There Club - Crooners and Big Bands
      • The Cavern Club - Mathew Street >
        • Experience The Cavern Club
        • The Cavern - Backstages >
          • Early Beatles
          • The Complete Beatles
          • The Yardbirds
          • The Kinks
          • The Who
          • The Rolling Stones
          • The Animals
          • The Moody Blues
          • The Hollies
          • Gerry & The Pacemakers
          • Cilla Black
      • The King's Head Tavern
      • The Marquee Club
      • Carnaby Street >
        • Models, Fashions and Styles of the 60s
        • Apple Studios
        • Mods, Rockers and Skinheads
      • Abbey Road Studios
      • Haight Ashbury >
        • Experience Simply Love >
          • I Love My Animal
          • I Love My Motor
          • Loving The Environment
          • Loving My Home/Country
          • Simply Sex
      • RM Surf Shop >
        • Experience Endless Summer >
          • Surfing History
          • Surf Boards
          • Surf Big
          • Surfin Horrors
          • Surf Music
          • Surf Babes
          • Surf The Pacific
          • Surf Down Under >
            • Surf Down Under - Part Two
            • Surf Down Under - Part Three
            • Surf Down Under - Part Four
      • Beat Boulevarde
    • RM THEATRE >
      • RM THEATRE
      • Arena One - Concerts & Films
      • Arena Two - New Acts
      • Arena 3 - Listen to RM Core Albums Page 1 - 50's & 60's >
        • Page 2 - 1970's
        • Page 3 - 1970's
        • Page 4 - 1970's
        • Page 5 -1980's
        • Page 6 - 1990's
        • Page 7 - 2000's
        • The Beatles Core Album's
        • Rolling Stones Core Album's
  • EXPERIENCE RM
    • EXPERIENCE RM
    • Experience The Cave of Fame
    • Experience The Wild One >
      • Walk On The Wild Side
      • Bad Boys, Bad Girls
    • Experience The Rock Hotels Journey >
      • Hotel Saigon
      • The Chelsea Hotel >
        • Leonard Cohen
        • Janis Joplin
      • Hotel California
      • Heartbreak Hotel
    • 2021 - A Space Rock Odyssey
    • Experience Women >
      • Women With Attitude >
        • Respect
        • With Ambition
        • With A Message
        • At Work
        • At Play/Teasing
        • Traditional
        • In Lust
        • In Love
        • In Pain
        • With Regrets
        • Pissed Off
        • Behaving Badly
        • Askew
        • Moving On
        • Empowering Themselves
        • And Men Coming Together
    • Experience Warsongs >
      • First World War
      • Second World War >
        • NAZI War Songs
  • BANDS & ARTISTS
    • BANDS & ARTISTS
    • Rocking The USA & Canada >
      • Andrew Sisters
      • Artie Shaw
      • Benny Goodman
      • Billie Holiday
      • Jo Stafford
      • Louis Armstrong
      • Bing Crosby
      • Ella Fitzgerald
      • Glenn Miller Orchestra
      • Hank Williams
      • The Platters
      • Bill Haley & The Comets
      • Little Richard
      • Chuck Berry
      • Dean Martin
      • Buddy Holly & The Crickets
      • Frank Sinatra
      • Miles Davis
      • Patsy Cline
      • Elvis Presley
      • Sam Cooke
      • Ricky Nelson
      • Paul Anka
      • Johnny Cash
      • Doris Day
      • Connie Francis
      • Everly Brothers
      • Bobby Vee
      • Roy Orbison
      • Del Shannon
      • Dion & The Belmonts
      • James Brown
      • Ray Charles
      • The Byrds
      • The Lovin Spoonful
      • The Young Rascals
      • Turtles
      • Beach Boys
      • Gene Pitney
      • Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
      • The Righteous Brothers
      • Neil Sedaka
      • Joan Baez
      • Bob Dylan
      • Simon & Garfunkel
      • The Doors
      • Jimi Hendrix
      • Janis Joplin
      • Jefferson Airplane
      • The Velvet Underground
      • Todd Rundgren
      • Mama's & The Papa's
      • Peter, Paul & Mary
      • Supremes
      • Dionne Warwick
      • Barbra Streisand
      • Buffalo Springfield
      • Frank Zappa
      • JJ Cale
      • Rodriguez
      • Creedence Clearwater Revival
      • Jackson 5
      • The Monkees
      • Al Green
      • Eric Carmen & The Raspberries
      • The Band
      • America
      • Chicago
      • The Eagles
      • Canned Heat
      • Carole King
      • Joni Mitchell
      • Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
      • Joe Walsh & The James Gang
      • Earth, Wind & Fire
      • Blood, Sweat & Tears
      • Jimmy Buffett
      • Don McLean
      • Seals and Crofts
      • Neil Diamond
      • John Denver
      • Bread
      • Kenny Rogers
      • Emmylou Harris
      • Dolly Parton
      • Jim Croce
      • Linda Ronstadt
      • Gordon Lightfoot
      • Steely Dan
      • Ry Cooder
      • Doobie Brothers
      • England Dan & John Ford Coley
      • Steve Miller Band
      • Carly Simon
      • James Taylor
      • Alice Cooper
      • Aerosmith
      • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
      • Bachman-Turner Overdrive
      • Boston
      • Patti Smith Group
      • The Ramones
      • Kiss
      • Joan Jett
      • Lou Reed
      • Blondie
      • Billy Joel
      • Styx
      • Boz Scaggs
      • Bette Midler
      • Lionel Richie
      • Devo
      • Dire Straits
      • Rickie Lee Jones
      • Judds
      • Randy Travis
      • Joan Armatrading
      • B-52's
      • Prince
      • Bon Jovi
      • Cher
      • R.E.M
      • Travelling Wilburys
      • K.D. Lang
      • Run-D.M.C
      • Strokes
    • The British Rock Invasion
    • Rocking The United Kingdom >
      • Honeycombs
      • Freddy & The Dreamers
      • Searchers
      • Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas
      • Graham Bond Organisation
      • The Troggs
      • Zombies
      • Small Faces
      • Eric Burdon
      • Dusty Springfield
      • Marianne Faithfull
      • Herman's Hermits
      • Peter & Gordon
      • Dave Clark Five
      • Spencer Davis Group
      • Manfred Mann
      • Donovan
      • Engelbert Humperdinck
      • Arthur Brown
      • Petula Clark
      • Procol Harum
      • Blind Faith
      • Derek & The Dominos
      • Gary Glitter
      • Marc Bolan/T Rex
      • Badfinger
      • Black Sabbath
      • Deep Purple
      • Slade
      • David Bowie
      • Elton John
      • Pink Floyd
      • Mike Oldfield
      • Led Zeppelin
      • Average White Band
      • Bad Company
      • Buzzcocks
      • Sex Pistols
      • Gerry Rafferty & Stealers Wheel
      • Fleetwood Mac
      • Electric Light Orchestra
      • Peter Frampton
      • Queen
      • Adam & The Ants
      • Joe Cocker
      • Rod Stewart
      • Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music
      • Bay City Rollers
      • Elvis Costello
      • Genesis
      • Big Country
      • Damned
      • Iron Maiden
      • George Harrison
      • Boy George & Culture Club
      • The Cure
      • Ian Dury & The Blockheads
      • Slits
      • Police
      • Dire Straits
      • Eric Clapton
      • Simple Minds
      • Phil Collins
      • Big Audio Dynamite
      • Duran Duran
      • Pretenders
      • Fine Young Cannibals
      • Billy Bragg
      • Pet Shop Boys
      • Depeche Mode
      • Stone Roses
      • Bush
      • Oasis
      • Blur
      • Amy Winehouse
      • Arctic Monkeys
    • The Supergroups
    • Rocking Down Under - Australia & New Zealand >
      • Aussie Music TV >
        • Bandstand Music TV
        • Six O'Clock Rock Music TV
        • Uptight Music TV
        • GTK Music TV
        • Hit Scene Music TV
        • Happening 70,71,72 Music TV
        • Countdown Music TV
        • Rock Arena Music TV
        • Recovery Music TV
        • Rage Music TV
        • Wrok Down Music TV
      • Australian & NZ Major Bands & Artists >
        • Johnny O'Keefe
        • Frank Ifield
        • Ray Brown & The Whispers
        • Bees Gees
        • Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
        • Easybeats
        • Twilights
        • Loved Ones
        • Normie Rowe
        • Ronnie Burns
        • Seekers
        • Strangers
        • Bobby and Laurie
        • Johnny Chester & Jigsaw
        • John Farnham
        • Zoot
        • Masters Apprentices
        • La De Da's
        • Brian Cadd-The Groop & Axiom
        • Mixtures
        • Doug Parkinson
        • Russell Morris
        • Spectrum
        • Captain Matchbox
        • Ted Mulry Gang
        • Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock & Ross Wilson
        • Max Merritt & the Meteors
        • Sherbet
        • Jon English
        • Helen Reddy
        • Skyhooks
        • ACDC
        • Split Enz
        • Little River Band
        • Dragon
        • Angels
        • Sunnyboys
        • Radiators
        • Rose Tattoo
        • Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons-Black Sorrows-Jo Camilleri
        • Icehouse & The Flowers
        • Sports
        • MI-Sex
        • Divinyls
        • Richard Clapton
        • Cold Chisel
        • Men at Work
        • INXS
        • Midnight Oil
        • Goanna
        • Mental As Anything
        • Australian Crawl
        • Hunters and Collectors
        • Hoodoo Gurus
        • Crowded House
        • Paul Kelly
        • Yothu Yindi
        • Screaming jets
        • Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
        • Kylie Minogue
        • Tina Arena
        • Whitlams
        • Silverchair
        • Living End
        • Grinspoon
        • Powderfinger
        • Cat Empire
        • Sleepy Jackson
        • The Cure
        • John Butler Trio
        • Jet
        • Bob Evans & Jebediah
        • Eskimo Joe
        • Pete Murray
        • Lior
        • Josh Pyke
        • Angus & Julia stone
      • Mixed-Pg 1 Aussie & NZ Bands/Artists
      • Mixed-Pg 2 Aussie & NZ Bands & Artists
      • Mixed-Pg 3 Aussie & NZ Bands and Artists
      • Mixed-Pg 4 Aussie & NZ Bands and Artists
      • Mixed-Pg 5 Aussie & NZ Bands & Artists
      • Docs of Aussie Music
    • Rocking Latin America & The Caribbean >
      • Bob Marley & The Wailers
      • Jose Feliciano
      • Los Lobos
      • Peter Tosh
      • Ricky Martin
      • Ritchie Valens
      • Santana
      • Shakira
    • Rocking Europe & Beyond >
      • ABBA
      • A-ha
      • Boney-M
      • Demis Roussos
      • Julio Iglesias
      • Kraftwerk
      • Tee-Set
      • Focus
      • Golden Earring
      • Nana Mouskouri
      • Pussycat
      • The George Baker Selection
      • Vangelis
      • Nena
      • Shocking Blue
      • Europe
      • Scorpions
      • Falco
      • Roxette
      • Enigma
      • Bjork
    • Rocking Ireland >
      • Boomtown Rats
      • Chieftains
      • Clannad
      • Cranberries
      • Corrs
      • Dubliners
      • Enya
      • Fureys
      • Gilbert O'Sullivan
      • Hothouse Flowers
      • Luka Bloom
      • Nolans
      • Pogues
      • Ronan Keating
      • Sinead O'Connor
      • Thin Lizzy
      • U2
    • Rocking Africa
  • MEMBERS
    • Members List
    • Blog
Listen to Pink Floyd
Picture
 


Pop Music - 

The Politics of its 


Evolution and Mass 



Production


RM Radio Coming Soon
Picture
Part A


Western Popular Music has proven a powerful force spreading Western values or 

'Western Cultural Imperialism' globally. It has been a powerful political tool socialising

political cultures - both intentionally and unintentionally. The most powerful Popular

Music since the 1950s, arguably, has been Rock `n’ Roll and its variants and it is this 

dominant form of pop we concentrate on. 


In this segment we investigate the evolution and inherently political nature of Popular 

Music in terms of its mass manufacture (also known as commodification), and 

emergence as both an implicit and explicit political force and tool of mass change in

our world.  


We now overview the commodification and political processes inherent in the evolution

of Popular Music up until the 1950s, when Pop Music - let's call it Modern Pop Music 

in the form of Rock n Roll, emerged and where the artists themselves acquired more 

power over what they could sing and present to the world.


Pop's Commodification Reflects Western Political Culture
Picture
Through its mass manufacture and transmission 

(commodification) by the West, Popular Music by its very 

existence reflects Western political culture and cultural power 

(sometimes called cultural imperialism). And it has acted 

therefore as a tool for 'Westernisation' or 'Globalisation' of the 

world. In other words it 'sells' the West to the rest of the 

world and is thus implicitly political. But 'Pop' can also take 

the form of an explicit political action when various artists  
have attempted or do attempt to pursue their own political agendas through their music 

to try and influence change, and have often succeeded.  In both these versions

(explicitly or implictly) it is possible to identify various political themes which we will 

identify and overview through the rest of these pages. 


In our modern Western World with all our

technological forms of communication, ie. 

the video, etc, music has become a 

commodity rather than a form of 

communication. If you have ever doubted 

that, just look at today’s Rock video, where
 
many lyrics mean absolutely  nothing and 

the music is sold on the visual image of the 

Rock video. Nevertheless, the message is 

still transmitted through the accompanying 

visual image - so in this sense music as a 
Cyndi Lauper - She Bop
form of delivery is changing. In one sense it is being weakened. In the other it is being

strengthened. But the mechanism remains the same! Music still transmits messages

and still affects emotions and still wields power, and still therefore is a tool of 

politics. It can subtly politicise, or it can do it more directly. A good example is the

national anthem as a tool of nationalism. Ever hear Hendrix do the Star Spangled

Banner?

The Origins of Pop's Commodification

Picture
To appreciate the nature of Western Popular Music, we must 

of course first understand its origins and its commodification. 

To quote Adorno: `The role of music in the social process is 

exclusively that of a commodity; its value is that determined 

by the market. Music no longer serves direct needs nor 

benefits from direct application, but rather adjusts to the 

pressure of exchange of abstract units’.

  

What Do We Mean By Commodification?

First, what do we mean by commodification of music? Simply this - the packaging

and mass production of forms of music for the market place - or if you like, the 

conversion and production, of certain forms of music, identified as having market 

appeal, or transformed to have market appeal, by the capitalist production process, 

for mass consumption and profit.


In other words, with the industrial revolution in Western Capitalist society, music, 

just like the manufacture of cars and washing machines, became commodified and 

mass produced in `factories’ for the market, such factories being music publishers

(Tin Pan Alley) and then the record industry itself.


The Commodification Of US Pop

Picture

Now, lets look at the commodification of Western Popular 

Music as it occurred mainly in  the USA. We make no 

apologies for this as the USA was and still is the main 

source for the generation of Western Popular Music, as we 

know it. We apologize to the 'Brits', but we can look at the 

UK some other time.

The Early 1900s

Picture
With the development of the phonograph and technologies for 

the mass production of, and indeed for listening to, music in 

the early years of this century, in the United States a small 

number of recording companies emerged, including Victor and 

Columbia records. These soon became dominant in the music 

market and helped shape the way music was commodified. 

Originally they recorded operatic music and instrumentals,  

but then dance music was soon introduced, and popular songs 

were recorded.  For example, Irving Berlin’s songs were 

popular (Alexander’s Ragtime Band),  and Jazz was also soon

recorded. 


Between 1918 and 1922, the recording industry flourished -and Jazz, as the latest

craze in the West was commercialised. This was an important event because for the 

first time the sale of records outpaced sheet music, and in this respect weakened the

power of Tin Pan Alley. However, this success was short lived for the record 

business as it was soon severely curtailed by the popularization of radio.

Impact of Radio

Picture
By 1922, the radio had stolen much from the phonograph, 

it was free and programs could be constantly varied. Radio 

as such, soon became a giant industry- dwarfing and then 

absorbing the record business. Although the business of 

phonograph records greatly shrank during the 1920s, audio 

recording technology moved forward during that period 

with microphones and amplifiers applied to top recordings. 

There were also other developments and new developments 

in recording and disc manufacturing also soon enhanced the dynamic range of 

records.


Radio Dominating


Also significant was the expansion of recorded repertoire during the 1920s. The first 

`race’ records, mainly Blues intended to be bought by the black population, began to 

appear.  But radio, nevertheless, continued to dominate home entertainment during 

the Depression, and the big networks considered their record labels as something of 

a sideline. But then DECCA came along, slashed prices, and forced the other labels

to follow suit making records again affordable to the public.


What About The Music At This Time? 

Many of the top recording artists of the 1930s were also the radio stars of their day. 

Their repertoire came primarily from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway.  While a few 

songs of the period were influenced by the Depression ie. 'Buddy Can You Spare A

Dime?’, the majority of Popular Music proved more optimistic, or at least 

sentimental. By the mid 1930s, the first albums of 78 rpm discs appeared.

The Jukebox

Picture
From the mid-1930s until after World War Two in America, a 

recovery in the Popular Music record business took place, aided by 

two outside forces: juke box and radio. Many restaurants and

public recreational places had jukeboxes. This was important, as

not only did juke box operators purchase large numbers of records,

but jukebox exposure seems to have stimulated consumer sales of 

records as well. But radio also helped to sell records by giving 

exposure to popular artists and new songs.

Big Bands and Wartime Trends

Although popular vocalists dominated 

the major record labels during the 1930s,

public taste in America began to change 

drastically during the Depression, and

the time was ripe for a rebirth of 

enthusiasm for instrumental music. 

Imitating black Jazz bands, white 

regional bands began to appear around 

the beginning of the decade. This trend 

grew rapidly, and by 1935  the ten year 
Glen Miller - In The Mood
`big-band era ‘ had dawned. ie. artists such as Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman

not only affected what was recorded but influenced the pattern of the music business

behind the scenes as well.

Tin Pan Alley

Picture
Now at this time, as in the 1920s and 1930s, most of the 

power of the industry came from something called 'Tin Pan
 
Alley' in that most of the repertoire of songs sung by Pop
 
artists came from one or another of the large New York
 
music publishers known collectively by this quaint term. 

  
Originating as far back as the 1890s, these publishers and 

the composers they represented were the most powerful 

single influence on popular style and therefore popular 

taste. The lyrics of Tin Pan Alley songs followed a 

philosophy of escapism rather than realism, and the music 

used the forms, harmonic patterns, and melodic styles

inherited from the lighter European traditions, such as operetta - ie.Tea for Two, 

Blue Moon, etc. 


A Tin Pan Alley publisher’s traditional means of promoting the sales of a printed 

song was to persuade one or more record companies to record it. However, after the

advent of sound films (The Jazz Singer, 1927) the screen furnished a new alternative

for introducing and promoting songs. Probably the movie song most successful on

records was `White Christmas’ by Irving Berlin and sung by Bing Crosby in the film 

Holiday Inn (1942). Its sentimentality was quite typical of the Tin Pan Alley songs of 

the day.

  
Tin Pan Alley music publishers were accustomed to wielding a great deal of power

in the matter of recorded repertoire. Within the existing system it was they who 

found new songs for the big label’s major artists to record. Thus the publishers had

held the initiative. However, most of the new ‘Swing’ style tunes and arrangements 

played by Big Bands did not come from publishers but rather from the leaders and 

members of the bands themselves. 


The Big Bands were the first complete entertainment ‘packages’ (forerunners to the 

later self-contained Rock bands) and they had little need for Tin Pan Alley. Prime 

examples of swing tunes and their popularisers include “In the Mood” (Glen Miller) 

etc.


The Big Bands held sway from the late 1930s until after the US entry into World 

War Two. However, they soon lost out due to record companies countering their 

independence and industrial action, by promoting featured singers. In the end - they 

were left with little promotion and a dwindling audience.

Emergence of Country and Rhythm & Blues as Pop

Picture
The World War Two military bases and defense plants 

caused much of the American work force to relocate in 

various parts of the country. These people carried with 

them their own regional tastes in music. As a result, during 

the war years two styles outside of mainstream ‘Popular 

Music' gained more prominence: Hillbilly (Country and 

Western) and Race (Rhythm and Blues). At first the major 

labels began making records for these growing markets, but wartime shortages of 

record materials made them cut back to mainstream Pop releases only. After the war

the newer styles flourished more fully, but the major labels were successful only with

the Country style. The relatively small Rhythm & Blues market was left to 

independent record companies.


Major Technological Developments At This Stage

The post war years also saw major technological advances which revolutionised the 

recording industry; the use of magnetic tape for recording and the invention of the

Long Playing Record - LP. RCA at first declined to adopt the LP format and instead 

introduced 45 rpm records in 1949 - then followed a war of the speeds which the 45 

won.



There was also the Introduction and Impact of Television
Picture
With the establishment of network TV in the late 

1940s there soon came the variety show. The most 

famous and longest running of these was the ‘Ed 

Sullivan Show’ - 1948-1951. Numerous top stars made 

their TV debutes on that show, and it also introduced a 

huge amount of new musical talent to the US public.

TV’s massive growth in popularity profoundly effected 

the other entertainment industries. The onslaught of 
TV also affected record sales, but its effect was counterbalanced by 2 developments. 

One was the improvement in the quality of the sound of records and increased 

playing time. The other was the changes that radio underwent - due to high costs 

radio ceased transmitting live music, it also lost much live acts to television - so the 

format soon ended up news and music, featuring phonograph records. 

  
As a consequence, by the mid - 1950s numerous stations had adopted the very

successful `Top 40’ format. Frequency of airplay became one of the intrinsic 

measures of a new record’s success. Radio, which in the early 1920s had nearly 

destroyed the record business, now owed its own recovery to its new role as

something of a promotional tool for the recording industry.


The Onset of Rock n Roll
Picture

Now we come to the onset of Rock n Roll. Besides the 

industry-wide revolution incited by TV, the 1950s 

experienced a revolution in Popular Music style that 

reshaped several aspects of the record business and gave it 

new life: Rock n Roll was born.  (The term Rock and 

Roll was taken from Rhythm and Blues lyrics and 

popularised by disc jockey Alan Freed in 1952). 
Black Rhythm and Blues - R & B, had become a distinct and powerful force in 

records after 1950 and grew to have a white, teenage market around 1952. From 

R&B evolved early Rock n Roll, and for a time there was only a thin line between

them. Each had a crossover black and white audience, and each eventually

incorporated both black and white musicians.

The greatest mass popularisers of Rock

and Roll, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and 

Elvis Presley emerged around 1955 - and

the emergence of Rock n Roll we 

cover more properly in Segment Three. 

Their backgrounds  varied from R&B to 

Country Blues. Chuck Berry, though 

black, rose to popularity through his

great sensitivity to the tastes of white

youth, reflected in such hits as 

`Mabellene’ and `Sweet Little Sixteen’.
Chuck Berry - Sweet Little Sixteen
Bill Haley’s classic was `Rock around the Clock’, which featured in the 1955 movie 

The Blackboard Jungle. The worldwide popularity of that movie and of  its sequel, 

Rock Around The Clock, succeeded in making  Rock n Roll a sudden international 

sensation.


Major Labels vs Independents: The Shifting Markets - and the Power

of Rock 


To quote one expert: `The industry establishment’s `reaction to Elvis was typical. 

Until RCA was bold enough to sign Presley, the major Pop labels of the time 

(Columbia, RCA, Decca, Capitol, Mercury, and MGM) would not even consider 

contracting with Rock n Roll artists. Although the companies were turning their backs

on an obvious jackpot, there were reasons for ignoring the new phenomenon.' 



The Majors


Picture
DECCA
Picture
COLUMBIA
Picture
MGM
Picture
RCA
Picture
CAPITOL
Picture
MERCURY


One reason was that the major labels all had `stables’ of established popular middle 

of the road artists in whom the companies had made sizable investments. Another 

reason was the record industry’s connection with the Tin Pan Alley establishment, 

which traditionally supplied the songs on which these artists built their styles. RnR 

songs, heavily controlled by the singers, were anything but Tin Pan Alley in style. 

The record industry’s aversion to RnR was reinforced by objections in the part of 

adult consumers  (many of them parents). Record executives were fearful of losing

their goodwill at a time when the future of the industry appeared uncertain.


Although large dollar volumes were being projected for LP records, the major labels

failed to realize that in spite of the LP, there was still a huge market for single 

records. In fact the biggest market transformation in the history of the industry was 

about to take place, and it would be focused on single records. Teenagers and college

students now had money and were creating the record market if the future: the youth

market.

   
This unprecedented state of affairs left the door open for entrepreneurs to create 

new labels built on newer styles.Among the most successful independent labels of 

this period were Atlantic, Chess and Dot. 

The Independents
Picture
ATLANTIC
Picture
CHESS
Picture
DOT


The situation also nurtured a new breed of industry personality: the independent

record producer. Two prominent early single record producers were Sam Phillips and

Phil Spector. The independents felt freer to pioneer novelties in sound.

 
Ultimately, the major labels had to give in. Elvis Presley was with RCA, Decca

signed Bill Hayley and Buddy Holly, and in the mid-1950s the other major labels also
 
began to attract and promote their own RnR stars. The decision to serve the youth

market, rather than resist it, completed a revolution in the record business and 

charted the path of its future history.

   
Rock bands were also self contained packages which shattered the power of Tin Pan

Alley once and for all.


The Implicit Politics of Commodification 

 
In the commodification process of Popular Music there was political action - hence

commodification saw the political shaping of popular music.


Now as we have seen, the emergence of Popular Music up until the 1950s, and

indeed right up until now in reality reflects the capitalist system. And inherent or 

implicit in the way Popular Music was/is produced are political values, a system and

indeed an ideology. Popular Music as a capitalist commodity in the West reflects the

capitalist commodification of music and in turn reflects the Western Capitalist system 

with its emphasis on libertarian values and the profit motive.


As Adorno noted: All  pop music is produced within a social context.' As such, people

like Adorno argue that a mass listening consciousness is shaped by this process, ie. 

“The commodity  form of music and the consciousness of the listener are, in 

Adorno’s design, both tailored from the same cloth. Across the moment of exchange 

he draws a tight correspondence between economic forces and musical practices,

any  vestiges of use value being forever expelled.’ 

   
Music is thus censored and politicised by a number of processes which renders it

ultimately - political music reflecting the system.

The Forces Shaping The Nature of the Music

Picture

Through its commodification Popular Music by its very existence
 
reflects Western political culture and as such has a cultural power
 
(cultural imperialism) and as such it has acted as a tool for

Westernisation/Globalisation ie. it has acted to 'sell' the West to the
 
rest of the world. This action has in part been sculptured by the

industry itself.

 
Within the industry there are/have been many inputs/forces shaping the nature

(through censorship, etc) of music: for example the action of Tin Pan Alley (music

publishers) , as already noted, record companies and producers, managers,

producers, radio DJs etc, the so-called gatekeepers who have shaped and moulded

the form and indeed message of Popular Music. They have shaped it to give it what 

they believe is maximum market appeal.


In this sense, Capitalist commodification of music into Popular Music means it has

become more political (a 2nd dimension of its political power) because it reflects the

capitalist system itself.

         

This Process Saw A Mass Sanitising of Music, a Rendering to

'Sameness' - Because Making 'Predictable Music' Provided No Profit 


Risk!


The industry at the same time had a `sanitising’ effect on the nature and message of 

Popular Music - a distinct production of sameness to ensure profit making. But it was
 
this sameness that early Rock n roll in the 1950s challenged!

 
The industry has always tended to produce what is known as `predictable music’. In 

the US, after World War 2 in particular, the big record companies saw a profitable 

future with adaptations of music that was already popular. They tended to sign huge 

contracts with proven performers like Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Cloony. The 

companies were so confident in themselves that they gave performers little room for
 
originality, ie: the company would select the songs and tell the artists like Peggy Lee 

to come and record them, and then they would do anything they wanted with them. 

The artist had little or no say. This was a time when the artist was supposed to show 

up and put up with anything the almighty recording company wanted. 'And what the 

company wanted was predictable music, because it involved far less financial risk.'



Picture
Picture
Picture


BUT ROCK N ROLL CHALLENGED ALL THIS!!


Let's Go See How In Part B Of This Segment - Click Below
PART B
Part B - The Politics Of Its Evolution And Mass Production




Return To 

Rocking The World
Picture
Rocking The World
Return To 

RM Home
Picture
RM Home


Picture
Copyright © Politics International Pty Limited 2012. Contact Rock Mountain via email: secretary@rock-mountain.org