What is world music and why do we have such a genre?

World music involves the combining of the ‘local’ and the ‘global’. To define these terms; ‘local’ could be defined as music relevant to you (e.g. Pub bands). ‘Global’ is music that is known worldwide, although it is hard to draw a solid line between the two as advances in technology, like youtube/myspace etc allow these ‘local’ artists to become ‘global’ artists. The genre ‘world music’ is extremely ambiguous and could be seen as the genre that contains music that ‘doesn’t fit anywhere else’, there is no real definition to what is or what is not ‘world’ music and most obviously - surely all music is ‘world’ music? 

One of the most essential things to note between ‘World music’ and all other genres, is that they all adhere to a certain global criteria that ‘world music’ does not, that makes them saleable - they are sung in english.

‘World Music’ could mean they are songs created within cultures or it could mean adapted or ‘imported’ music, that is created in mainly North America and Britain, which supports Hesmondhlagh’s theory of the star system. 

Is the pop music industry a mass produced commodity or a genuine art form?

Marxist theorist Theodore Adorno (1931), states that the pop music industry is an ‘all consuming production line that churns out mass produced inferior commodities. To some degree I agree with this statement. With shows like the X factor we are seeing a rise in mass produced artists covering songs written by rather more ‘genuine’ artists. There are hundreds of examples. but to use a recent one the X factor 2010 winner Matt Cardle sang a cover of ‘Many of Horror’ - originally sung by Biffy Clyro it was released in January 2010 but it only ever reached number 8 in the charts after Matt Cardle’s version, which made it to christmas number 1. There are more examples that go way back which are often songs originally sung/written by black artists and re released by white artists (eg. Elvis). Mass produced artists are taking over the industry. 

Having said all this though, there are still a number of genuine talented artists who use the industry to express themselves artistically so I can’t yet judge whether or not the pop music industry is a wholly mass produced commodity or a genuine art form.

How useful is a production of culture perspective in understanding the birth of Rock and Roll?

There are two main myths surrounding the emergence of rock n roll in 1955. The ‘supply’ myth, which claimed that a rise in the number of talented ‘rock’ artists (like Elvis Presley) was what made rock n roll and also the ‘demand’ myth that claims there was a high demand for this certain type of music among young people. Evidence however proves both of these myths incorrect and Richard A Peterson uses a production of culture perspective to discuss what he think caused the emergence of rock n roll. Peterson’s perspective looks at 6 of the main factors that allowed for the emergence of rock n roll in 1955. These 6 factors look at the distribution of music although they give no explanation for the production of music or in fact the music itself. It also doesn’t give any explanation as to why this particular genre of music emerged in 1955. This makes Peterson’s perspective useful as a framework that could be applied to any genre but not as useful in specifying why it was rock n roll that emerged in 1955. 

Is it reasonable to consider that rock music is gendered male?

Think of your favourite rock band…. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Guns ‘n’ Roses, AC/DC, KISS, Aerosmith? Now think how many of those bands include female artists. None. Why? Because rock music is most definitely gendered male.
Mavis Bayton notes that women performers are more prominent within commercial pop and folk music – but even then their place has been predominantly that of vocalists, rather than instrumentalists. This is definitely the case within rock music, as it can be argued the electric guitar is a masculine instrument and is one of the main reasons why it is seen as ‘unsexy’ for a woman to play. In order to be successful, women in the music industry must have sex appeal; the electric guitar favours this factor to men only as rock guitarists typically hold their instruments low down in front of their genitals for no practical reason other than to give off a phallocentic message.
So remember, next time you listen to your favourite rock band – its men only.