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.
There are some decent points here but I would be careful not to get carried away with the 'inferiority' of cover versions as there are countless examples of great as well as poor ones. I certainly wouldn't use Elvis as an example of a less talented artist.
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