There has been much debate over the last few decades on both the quality of contemporary pop music, as well as the role of the mass media in producing, packaging and distributing pop music to the public. Middleton and Manuel’s article “Popular music, §II: World Popular Music” focuses on several issues affecting the growth and quality of World Music – as well as a comparison on why World Music may be considered to be of a better quality than contemporary pop.
The evolution of Pop Music, they argue, has been closely associated with broader social developments such as urbanization and the advent of mass media. (Manuel and Middleton, 2008). The modernisation of music and how it is produced, in particular the ability to edit music before it is finalised in the final product, is directly related to the broader processes of social, economic and technological modernisation. In many of the developing world countries, however, “music genres, social practises and technological infrastructures remain essentially pre-modern” (Middleton and Manuel 2008). Middleton and Manuel express concerns that the effect of mass media production on contemporary music has been “varied and profound”.
The negative impact of mass media is particular evident in such issues as: Performers becoming detached from their products and an emphasis on the solo “star”, music being produced as a recording only and not performed live or in any other context, music production becoming more commercial, mass-media produced music may be detached from ritual and life-cycle performance and music production being subjected to the same processes of “commodification” as all other consumerables. As a direct result of urbanisation, contemporary popular music has, in essence, become a disposable commodity.
This phenomenon, however, has not occurred in many developing countries where music production has not been subjected to the process of commodification but, has, instead, flourished alongside other broader social developments. In some countries, such as Kenya and South Africa, argue Middle and Manuel, local music industries have completely failed to develop, meaning the market is dominated by foreign musics (typically Western) (M&M, 2008). In other countries, such as Ghana and Nigeria, however, local producers have emerged who resist “Western” popular music and focus on recording a wide variety of local music. (Middleton and Manuel, 2008). The following is a recording of a local Ghana music style. With the advantages of modern recordings (thanks to technological developments), this video was easy accessible on You Tube. The quality of the recording may be questionable, but the quality of the music remains at a high standard as it has not been edited, “touched up”, nor has it gone through the processes described by Middleton and Manuel in order to class it as “Western contemporary pop music”.
An ideal situation would include a balance of both local “pure” music, as well as popular “edited” music.
References:
and . “Popular music-World Popular Music” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 2008 www.oxfordmusiconline.com.library.newcastle.edu.au:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/43179pg2>
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