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1 – 10 of over 2000It's been three years since my previous survey in RSR. Superb reference books in pop music have been appearing so frequently that I've been having trouble keeping up. Let's hope…
Abstract
It's been three years since my previous survey in RSR. Superb reference books in pop music have been appearing so frequently that I've been having trouble keeping up. Let's hope “next year's” survey will only be 12 months in the making and not 36.
The purpose of this paper is to the investigate the rock music, and in particular the genre known as heavy metal, subculture in Iran and identify its relationship to social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to the investigate the rock music, and in particular the genre known as heavy metal, subculture in Iran and identify its relationship to social responsibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted qualitatively through in-depth interview with more than 100 rock music fans who identify themselves as belonging to the particular subculture under investigation. It also investigates the history of such music within the country to explain that it is marginalized and forbidden in a way which is not generally understood in Western countries.
Findings
The findings of the paper show that the fans of the music identify themselves as a particular subculture within the society and share not just an interest in the music but also in social concerns, politics and religion.
Social implications
This paper shows that subcultures are interrelated with social responsibility and that this is dependent upon the nature of the society in which the subculture resides. This is important in understanding the dynamics of change within a country.
Originality/value
This is one of the very few papers which looks at the link between subcultures and social responsibility and, therefore, is important in showing that social responsibility can develop independently of any organization while not being bounded by the nature of the society which spawns it.
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Isabella Oliveira Medeiros, Simone Evangelista and Simone Pereira de Sá
The paper aims to discuss the tensions between rock and pop genres at Rock in Rio, the most significant music festival in Brazil (which also has had international editions in…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to discuss the tensions between rock and pop genres at Rock in Rio, the most significant music festival in Brazil (which also has had international editions in Portugal, Spain and the USA), analyzing the construction and consolidation of Rock in Rio as a rock-related brand and mapping the disputes, negotiations and controversies between rock and pop music fans.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze those facts from a framework composed by discussions about musical genres (Frith, 1996; Blacking, 1995), social constructions about rock and pop, as well as debates about taste as performance (Hennion, 2007) on digital platforms. The corpus consists of 58 posts published between 2018 and 2019 in the period prior to Rock in Rio 2019, analyzed qualitatively.
Findings
By recalling the history of Rock in Rio, the authors demonstrate that the discourses and strategies involving the festival are contradictory, which reflects on disputes about the meanings of festivals on social media. A diverse set of controversy was found, such as discussions about the artists' authenticity as well as arguments that refer to the social constructions linked to certain musical genres.
Originality/value
The paper analyzes the Rock in Rio music festival from a perspective that is not observed very often, offering insights about the relevance of music genres as mediators of the perception of the festival as a brand and the controversies involving fans and anti-fans.
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The purpose of this article is to give an overview of scholarly monographs on rock music from 1980 to the present. It aims to provide an overview to the literature for practical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to give an overview of scholarly monographs on rock music from 1980 to the present. It aims to provide an overview to the literature for practical purposes of collection development as well as giving the reader insight into key issues and trends related to a interdisciplinary topic that attracts scholars from many disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
Design/methodology/approach
This bibliographic essay, focusing on works related to American culture and of a general nature, includes an overview and historical background; a discussion of how music and ethnomusiciological scholars approach the topic; geographic approaches; literature on four key icons (Elvis, Dylan, Springsteen, and Madonna); American studies; subcultures and genres; other methodologies; and concludes by discussing notable recent works.
Findings
The scholarly literature on rock incorporates a wide variety of approaches and methodologies. Many music‐related scholars appropriate methodology from other disciplines and some non‐music‐related scholars use the formalistic analysis of music scholars. Authenticity is a major theme in the literature on rock.
Originality/value
This essay covers the widest range of monographs on the topic, providing insight into not only the key scholars but also the diversity of approaches to the topic. The historical approach to the literature gives the reader a sense of how the academic discourse on rock has evolved. This essay is of interest to librarians, scholars of rock music, and others concerned with how American scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences has grown since the advent of cultural studies.
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Wicke and Shepherd (1993) stated that socialist rock (and, by extension, metal) is more authentic than its capitalist counterpart because authenticity is tied to commercialism…
Abstract
Wicke and Shepherd (1993) stated that socialist rock (and, by extension, metal) is more authentic than its capitalist counterpart because authenticity is tied to commercialism. This is, however, a very Western view of authenticity. Cushman's (1995) interviews suggest that rock musicians were themselves discussing authenticity in the late 1980s and with this comes notions of a socialist authenticity hitherto unexplored, related not to the official and unofficial cultures of Soviet Russia but rather to culture beyond that dichotomy. Other markers of authenticity also become more important: the Russian language is paramount here as the style of metal most prevalent at the time required clear lyrics, and so being able to be identified as a local, Russian, metal musician adds credence to one's status as an authentic, and particularly Russian, metal scene member. This chapter explores the precise circumstances in the early-mid-1980s which brought about metal music in Soviet Russia and how authenticity was determined among scene participants. It highlights the genesis of Russian metal in Russian rock and Western metal music. Then, a replacement is proposed for commercialism, the main marker of authenticity, in the Soviet Russian context, based on Yurchak's (2005) concept of vnye (meaning, approximately, to exist outside of or beyond Soviet society), as well as investigating other, less important markers of authenticity in their uniquely Russian context. One exemplar band, Aria, held both official and unofficial statuses, is used to illustrate the difficulty of making metal music in the Soviet period, as well as how certain aspects of authenticity could vary among rock and metal bands.
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E. Taçlı Yazıcıoğlu and A. Fuat Fırat
Rock festivals, as a part of global rock culture, disclose a domain of consumption that allows a multiplicity of activities and practices in Turkey, where modernity is entrenched…
Abstract
Rock festivals, as a part of global rock culture, disclose a domain of consumption that allows a multiplicity of activities and practices in Turkey, where modernity is entrenched, but not fully hegemonic. This provides the possibility of illuminating the conditions of being a contemporary consumer as well as the potentials for the future. This paper presents some preliminary findings from research at two major rock festivals in Turkey. Ideology emerges as an important factor in consumption of these festivals and illustrates possible grounds to interpret cultural production. These practices suggest aspirations for experiencing different modes of being in the world and provide signs of the future of culture(s).
Michael A. Katovich and Wesley Longhofer
This chapter compares and contrasts the British invasion and punk rock as mystified, post-performance products. Expanding on Goffman's notion of mystification to discuss texts…
Abstract
This chapter compares and contrasts the British invasion and punk rock as mystified, post-performance products. Expanding on Goffman's notion of mystification to discuss texts that emerged from performances and drawing on Mannheim's distinction between ideological and utopian perspectives, we discuss the British invasion as bound to elite interpretations of mystified products and punk rock as bound to more provincial and anti-elitist interpretations. We note that despite differences, both genres involve, to varying degrees, mystifying differences, mystifying legendary status, and mystifying popularity itself. The discussion of both musical genres compliments and affirms previous analyses, especially the analysis of punk rock as a dramaturgical and utopian version of play.
My focus in this paper is on the meaning that rock music has for fans of Lou Reed. I use the comments following his death as my primary data. These data were posted on the New…
Abstract
My focus in this paper is on the meaning that rock music has for fans of Lou Reed. I use the comments following his death as my primary data. These data were posted on the New York Times website in the comments section following the report “Outsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision Helped Shape Rock ‘n’ Roll.” From these data I develop what I call “the marginal self” in reference to how rock music helps self-identified marginalized persons to deal with their social exclusion and alienation. Drawing on Kotarba’s (2012) analytic categories of the self, I will show how these data give insight into a wide range of existential meanings related to the music of Lou Reed. For many who wrote these comments their reading of Lou Reed has been an essential transformative part of their life in similar ways to baby boomers as outlined in Kotarba’s (2012) Baby Boomers Rock ‘n’ Roll Fans: The Music Never Ends. I first show how Kotarba’s (2012) core concepts of the musical self provide insight into how fans of Lou Reed develop a sense of self through Reed’s music. I then turn to a discussion of the marginalized self as a development of Kotarba’s (2012) categories of “authenticity work” and “becoming of the self.” Suggestions for future research are noted.
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Brett A.S. Martin and Celeste A. McCracken
Attempts to investigate differences in marketing imagery that exist between New Zealand produced and foreign music videos. Explores marketing imagery and role‐model behaviour…
Abstract
Attempts to investigate differences in marketing imagery that exist between New Zealand produced and foreign music videos. Explores marketing imagery and role‐model behaviour differences by genre. Looks at culture by genre differences in consumption imagery. Indicates that New Zealand videos contained fewer depictions of alcohol, or weapons, drugs and tobacco or heavy rock and rap music than in foreign videos. Suggests that, by genre, rap has more sunglasses, earrings and jewellery than heavy rock or pop music. Provides directions for future research.
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