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PART 2
Sounds and Images
The dominant media of the twentieth century were all about sounds and images: music, radio, television,
and film. Each of these media industries was built around a handful of powerful groups—record labels,
radio networks, television networks, and film studios—that set the terms for creating and distributing
popular media content. Each of these media industries adapted to changing technologies and converging
media as well as shifts in audience consumption of their media content.
Chapter 4
Sound Recording and Popular Music
In this chapter, we will place the impact of popular music in context and:
• Investigate the origins of recording’s technological “hardware,” from Thomas Edison’s early
phonograph to Emile Berliner’s invention of the flat disk record and the development of audiotape,
compact discs, and MP3s
• Study radio’s early threat to sound recording and the subsequent alliance between the two media when
television arrived in the 1950s
• Explore the impact of the Internet on music, including the effects of online piracy and how the industry
is adapting to the new era of convergence with new models for distributing and promoting music, from
downloads to streaming
• Examine the content and culture of the music industry, focusing on the predominant role of rock music
and its extraordinary impact on mass media forms and a diverse array of cultures, both American and
international
• Explore the economic and democratic issues facing the recording industry
Preview Story: The rise of independent labels is one of the most significant developments in the music
industry in the past two decades. The old route to success for musical artists was highly dependent on
signing with a major label, which handled all of the promotion to sell records. Now, with so many
distribution forms for music—traditional CDs and vinyl; digital downloads and streaming; social media;
music licensed for use in advertising, television and film; and (lest we forget) real, in-person concerts—
there are multiple paths for talented artists to find an audience with an independent label or on their own.
Adele and Taylor Swift are among the top recording stars of their generation, and they helped reshape the
industry by signing early in their careers with independent music labels. Whereas stars of an earlier
generation might have signed big contracts with one of the major music corporations as soon as they had
their first hit, Adele and Taylor Swift stayed with their independent labels and demonstrated that artists
can create successful careers without the help of a major corporation.
I. The Development of Sound Recording
A. From Cylinders to Disks: Sound Recording Becomes a Mass Medium.
B. From Phonographs to CDs: Analog Goes Digital.
C. Convergence: Sound Recording in the Internet Age.
1. MP3s and File-Sharing.
2. The Next Big Thing: Streaming Music.
D. The Rocky Relationship between Records and Radio.
II. U.S. Popular Music and the Formation of Rock
A. The Rise of Pop Music.
B. Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay.
C. Rock Muddies the Waters.
1. High and Low Culture.
2. Masculinity and Femininity.
3. The Country and the City.
4. The North and the South.
5. The Sacred and the Secular.
D. Battles in Rock and Roll.
1. White Cover Music Undermines Black Artists.
2. Payola Scandals Tarnish Rock and Roll.
3. Fears of Corruption Lead to Censorship.
III. A Changing Industry: Reformations in Popular Music
A. The British Are Coming!
B. Motor City Music: Detroit Gives America Soul.
C. Folk and Psychedelic Music Reflect the Times.
1. Folk Inspires Protest.
2. Rock Turns Psychedelic.
D. Punk, Grunge, and Indie Respond to Mainstream Rock.
1. Punk Revives Rock’s Rebelliousness.
2. Grunge and Indie Reinterpret Rock.
E. Hip-Hop Redraws Musical Lines.
F. The Reemergence of Pop.
IV. The Business of Sound Recording
A. Music Labels Influence the Industry.
1. Fewer Major Labels and Falling Market Share.
2. The Indies Grow with Digital Music.
B. Making, Selling, and Profiting from Music.
1. Making the Music.
2. Selling the Music.
3. Dividing the Profits.
C. Alternative Voices.
V. Sound Recording, Free Expression, and Democracy
Media Literacy and the Critical Process: Music Preferences across Generations
Global Village: Blank Space: What Kind of Genius is Max Martin?
Case Study: Psy and the Meaning of “Gangnam Style”
Digital Job Outlook: Media Professionals Speak about Jobs in the Music Industry
LECTURE IDEAS
I. The Development of Sound Recording
• Discuss the novelty, entrepreneurial, and mass medium phases of sound recording. It helps to bring in
examples of old records (78s, 33s, and 45s) to pass around. See http://www.recording-history.org for
Web sites that show good illustrations of early sound-recording equipment and formats. You may
want to demonstrate stereo separation by playing a Beatles record.
• The invention of the CD was both a blessing and a curse for the music industry. At first, fans flocked
to the music stores to replace their records with CDs, and by the early 1990s, hit albums on CD were
selling in greater numbers than were hit albums on vinyl. CDs also turned out to be a brilliant way of
repackaging a label’s “catalogue”—that is, all the recordings no longer in production on vinyl. CDs
spawned record executives whose skill was in putting together compilations of existing music rather
than in discovering new artists. CDs also made it a lot easier to copy music and gave rise to a
flourishing piracy industry. (Adapted from John Seabrook, “The Money Note: Can the Record
Business Survive?” New Yorker, July 7, 2003, p. 42.)
• Discuss the potential of streaming music as the future of music distribution. Take a poll in class to
find out how your students access music. Do they download songs or albums, or do they stream
music? What service do they use to stream music? Discuss the pros and cons of downloading versus
streaming music.
• Compare and contrast the recording industry’s reactions to the coming of radio with the threats it is
facing in the Internet age (e.g., album leaks and online piracy). Explain the defensive strategy of the
industry. Look at the possible consequences of alienating consumers (e.g., by suing them).
• Radio stations currently enjoy a federal exemption from paying royalties to artists. (Radio stations do,
however, pay small royalty sums to composers and publishers.) Repealing the exemption could
generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually in new royalties for songwriters, but it would
deliver a severe blow to the radio industry. Debates also continue about whether web-based offshoots
of traditional radio stations should pay royalties. Streaming services are making deals to pay reduced
royalties for streaming music. The music industry is having numerous debates about royalties and fair
compensation for artists as streaming becomes more and more popular.
II. U.S. Popular Music and the Formation of Rock
• Explore the “muddied” history of rock and roll by sampling early rock songs in class. Playing original
hits by black artists and then their white cover versions is particularly illuminating. For example, Fats
Domino, a black artist, was tremendously successful on the R&B charts and even crossed over to the
pop charts. A white musician’s cover of one of his songs hit No. 1, but Domino never had a No. 1
single himself. His biggest hit was “Blueberry Hill,” which reached No. 2 in 1956.
• Elvis Presley entered the rock-and-roll scene at a time when the median marriage age was 20.5 years
for women and 22.5 years for men; it was the youngest median age of marriage for Americans in the
twentieth century. Once young women, many of them teenagers, married, they were expected to start
a family, fulfill the domestic role of homemaker, and take their place in society as the chief household
III. A Changing Industry: Reformations in Popular Music
• Draw parallels between early punk and post-punk by playing samples of the Sex Pistols or Patti
Smith from the 1970s and then Green Day, Nirvana, the Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, or Hole
from the 1990s. Draw similar parallels between early rappers like the Sugarhill Gang, Grand
Master Flash and the Furious Five, or Kurtis Blow, and more recent hip-hop acts like Lil Wayne,
Kanye West, Rihanna, Eminem, and Drake. In both cases, define how the lyrics and styles are
socially resistant to status quo values, but also discuss how these lyrics and styles have changed.
For this lecture, tap into your students’ expertise: have them suggest their favorite recordings.
• The Sex Pistols made their impact with an act that expressed anger, energy, humor, nihilism, and
rhythm, and even though it shook up the social order in Britain, it energized a whole new trend in
music. The Sex Pistols were actually very much a manufactured band in the same way the Monkees
were created to capitalize on the success of male rock groups in the 1960s. British entrepreneur
Malcolm McLaren almost single-handedly masterminded the punk-rock music genre, rightly thinking
The movie Sid and Nancy (1986), directed by Alex Cox and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb,
reconstructs the love story of Sid Vicious and American Sex Pistol groupie Nancy Spungen. (Look
for 1990s rock star Courtney Love making her first acting appearance in a small part as Nancy’s
friend.)
IV. The Business of Sound Recording
• Music formats have been in a state of flux. Record labels were slow to produce their own legal
digital downloads but saw a boom in that business via iTunes. Many music listeners now turn to
streaming, which doesn’t involve owning individual albums or songs but rather access to a large
collection of music. If streaming replaces digital downloading and physical ownership of music, the
music industry and listeners will have to decide whether they are willing to shift to an indirect
payment model (with “free” music streaming supported by advertising) or pay directly for premium
streaming services.
Despite the digital turn in the recording industry, some listeners continue to buy physical vinyl
records. Even in 2016, “sales of vinyl LPs have come to represent an increasingly important chunk”
of the incomes of artists who time digital releases to coincide with special offers accompanying the
purchase of vinyl copies of their music. (Sisario, Ben. “With Vinyl, Creating a Physical Presence.”
New York Times 3 October 2016. B2.)
• Discuss the implications of music sold as singles rather than as albums (see the Common Threads
• Prince constantly defied the typical way music labels and artists promote and sell their music. In
1996, he broke with Warner Brothers Records, his label of twenty years. The fallout was highly
publicized: Prince appeared with the word Slave painted on his face and made it clear that his label
was limiting his creativity. He became a successful self-promoter. He was an early adopter of the
Internet, believing that music should be free to be heard, and found ways to upload his music and
distribute his albums digitally. He also kept up a vigorous touring schedule and performed to a
variety of crowds at a range of venues, from the mass audience of the Super Bowl to elite audiences
at a famous Hollywood hotel and even at Macy’s in Minneapolis. Prince also worked with the
British newspaper the Daily Mail to include CDs of his 2007 release, Planet Earth, in its Sunday
edition (the newspaper paid him the equivalent of what he would have earned had he sold
individual copies). As Jon Pareles summed it up in the New York Times, “With a sponsorship deal
here and an exclusive show there, worldwide television appearances and music given away, Prince
has remade himself as a twenty-first-century pop star” (“The Once and Future Prince,” New York
Times, July 22, 2007).
• Paul McCartney released his album Memory Almost Full in June 2007. Abandoning his longtime
record label EMI, McCartney decided on a new arrangement with Starbucks. Starbucks distributed
and sold Memory Almost Full in regular music-retail shops but also acted much like a radio station,
playing the album repeatedly in thousands of its coffee shops in more than two dozen countries on
the day of its release. McCartney also premiered the first music video from the album on YouTube.
McCartney, in announcing his deal with Starbucks, described his rationale simply: “It’s a new
world.”
beginning of 2016.
• The healthiest sector of the music business at the moment is music publishing, in which a company
represents a number of songwriters (who may or may not also be performers) who earn money
when their songs are used in TV commercials, video games, or other media. The publishing arm
collects royalties when a track by one of the firm’s artists is played live, on the radio, or via any
other medium, offering private equity a reliable stream of revenue. In 2014, income for the music
copyright industry (publishing, songwriting, and recorded music income) reached $25 billion
worldwide. Of this total, more than $11 billion was for publishing/songwriting. Source:
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/25-billion-the-best-number-to-happen-to-the-music-
business.
• There are two great pop-music dreams, according to New York Times music writer Neil Strauss. The
first one is to start a band in a garage, write songs, perform in local clubs, and get discovered by a
major label that provides limo rides, arena shows, parties, and a big house. The second dream is
that status quo.
MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES
HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MUSIC?
Conduct an anonymous survey of the class to discover how many students purchase music (and in
what form?), stream music (and from what platform/service?), and/or illegally download copyrighted
digital audio files from the Internet (and from what sites?). When and where do they access music?
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of ownership vs. streaming music?
2. Even though the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted music is inherently unethical, why are
many people doing it? How much does illegal downloading harm artists?
3. What role/function does music play in students' lives? Do they believe the role/function of music in our
culture has changed? Remained the same? How? and Why?
4. Have students speculate about the future of music (artists, recording, ownership, listening, etc.).
THE PERVASIVENESS OF ROCK MUSIC
This Critical Process exercise explores the role of rock and roll in American society.
Pre-Exercise Questions: What are some of the images that come to mind when you think of rock and
roll? What might the American society (e.g., media institutions) and American culture (e.g., values) be
like without rock and roll?
1. Description. List five to ten ways in which rock and roll has had a positive impact on American
society since the 1950s. In a second column, list five to ten ways in which rock and roll has had a
negative impact on American society.
2. Analysis. What sorts of patterns emerge from these lists? Are some of the positives and negatives
related to the same themes or issues?
3. Interpretation. Can negative influences be reinterpreted as positive, or vice versa, depending on
one’s cultural or political perspective? How would another generation interpret these influences?
4. Eva luation. Do you think rock has been more of a negative or a positive force in American culture?
If you reconsider both lists, are there some significant elements of rock and roll that you might
have overlooked? How do you think people will interpret rock in another twenty years?
5. Engagement. Have students bring samples of music they think are socially positive or negative, and
play the music for the class. Enjoy and discuss.
SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE ASSIGNMENT
Choose five—and only five—single songs to include on the “Soundtrack of Your Life.” They may be
from any genre of music and may be chosen for any reason (meaningful lyrics, memories associated with
the song, favorite artist, etc.). Write a one-page essay listing the songs and describing why you picked
them.
—Developed by James Douglas, Valparaiso University
INVESTIGATING THE INDIES
This Critical Process exercise takes a deeper look at indie labels.
In small groups, investigate a small, independent recording company (of which there are tens of
thousands throughout the United States and the world). Visit its Web site, and e-mail or telephone the
company. In your investigation, try to proceed through the five steps of the critical process:
1. Description. What kind of music does this label specialize in? Is the label limited to only one
genre? What are some of the groups the label produces? Where and how does the label identify its
musical artists? How does the label describe itself? How does the label distribute its recordings to
consumers?
2. Analysis. Look at the variety of groups the label produces. What kind of fan is the label trying to
target? How does this label promote its artists and get a recording to the consumer? What obstacles
does the label face in popularizing its artists? Is the label fiercely independent, or is its goal to sell
to a major label? Is the label struggling, or is it financially viable?
3. Interpretation. From what you’ve gathered so far from your research, what major problems do
assignment can be adapted to other media industries covered in the text.)
TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SOUND RECORDING INDUSTRY: A
SEMESTER-LONG CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER
In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become familiar
with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which correspond with the steps in
the Critical Process.
1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the sound
recording industry. Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional societies.
(Links to Web sites of some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom Media Sources below.)
Take notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the current year. What issues or
developments in the industry have received a lot of recent attention, discussion, or commentary in
industry sources? (Only focus on information from the current year—and only from trade sources.)
Write a one-page synopsis of the information you found about current topics in the industry. Cite your
sources properly.
2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade sites
and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one or two pages
with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track news about your
topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.
3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How? What
does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our culture or our
society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our lives? Write up your
CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE: http://www.macmillanhighered.com/mediaculture11e
Alternative Strategies for Music Marketing (2009, 3:42 minutes). This video explores how music
marketing is evolving and the strategies independent artists and marketers now employ to reach
audiences, including the Internet and video games. Featuring Richard Campbell, Scott Dugdale,
David Gale, Gina Mendello, and Mike Molenda.
Recording Music Today (2009, 2:32 minutes). Composer Scott Dugdale discusses how technological
innovations have changed modern music recording.
VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS
Almost Famous (2000, 122 minutes). Cameron Crowe’s fictionalized story of his own work as a teenage
correspondent for Rolling Stone.
First Sounds: Humanity’s First Recordings of Its Own Voice (2009, 55:21). Recordings and commentary
on the history of sound recording; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75UrxueiP-4
A Hard Day’s Night (1964, 90 minutes). The first film starring the Beatles, this pseudodocumentary
follows the Fab Four during an average “day in the life.”
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (2006, 61 minutes). This documentary, produced by Byron Hurt,
examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music.
The History of Audio Recordings (1997, 30 minutes). A history of the sound-recording industry and a
look at the connections among technology, business, artistry, and social dynamics when producing an
audio recording. Distributed by RMI Media, 847-297-8680; http://www.rmimedia.com.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984, 87 minutes). A hilarious “fake” documentary about a British rock group on tour
in the United States.
WEB SITES
The All-Music Database: http://www.allmusic.com
Billboard Magazine: http://www.billboard.com
The History of Sound Recording: http://www.recording-history.org
Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml
Music Business Journal: http://www.thembj.org/
The Music Trades: http://www.musictrades.com
Music Week: http://www.musicweek.com/
Pitchfork: http://www.pitchfork.com
The Recording Industry Association of America: http://www.riaa.com
Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music
Spin: http://www.spin.com/
FURTHER READING
Coleman, Mark. Playback: From the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money.
Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2003.
Gerard, Charley. Jazz in Black and White: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Jazz Community. Westport,
CT: Praeger, 1998.
Hirshey, Gerri. Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Martin, Christopher R. “The Naturalized Gender Order of Rock and Roll.” Journal of Communication
Inquiry 19, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 53–74.
McLeod, Kembrew. Freedom of Expression (R): Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of
Creativity. New York: Doubleday, 2005.
Morton, David. Off the Record: The Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America. Piscataway,
NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000.
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Middletown, CT:
Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
Seabrook, John. “The Money Note: Can the Record Business Survive?” New Yorker, July 7, 2003, 42.
Sterne, Jonathan. The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 2003.
Taylor, Timothy D. Strange Sounds: Music, Technology, and Culture. London: Routledge, 2002.
Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker. Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll.
New York: Rolling Stone, 1986.
