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.
This is quite reasonable, but his take on the baby boom generation is not that there was not a high demand among young people but rather that the distance from the end of WWII meant that this audience was not the group of people that are often credited with generating it.
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