Sunday, June 4, 2023

Adorno on Popular Music - Summary

In his writing on Popular Music, Theodor Adorno critically analyses the culture industry and highlights the differences between ‘popular music’ and ‘serious music’. Adorno argues how popular music has become ‘standardised’ due to the rise in consumerism e.g., successful hits are imitated and reproduced so companies continue to make a profit. As listeners, he believed we are unaware of this process of standardisation and have a false sense of ‘free choice’, which is known as ‘pseudo individualism’. Throughout this critical review, we will delve deep into these concepts to gain a true understanding of his argument. Additionally, we will assess the strengths and weaknesses to his argument, its disciplinary impact, contemporary relevance, as well as linking to contextual factors and key sociologists to support these claims.

Adorno believed that popular music was a product of the capitalist culture industry and was designed to manipulate and control the masses. In this article, we will explore Adorno's view on popular music and culture.


Music and The Culture Industry

According to Adorno, the culture industry is a system that produces cultural products for mass consumption. This includes popular music, films, television shows, and other forms of entertainment. Adorno believed that the culture industry was controlled by a small group of elites who manipulated the masses through their cultural products.


Standardization of Popular Music

One of Adorno's main criticisms of popular music was its standardization. He believed that popular music was designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, with catchy melodies and simple lyrics. This standardization allowed the culture industry to produce music on a mass scale and to manipulate the masses through their cultural products.


False Consciousness and Popular Taste

Adorno also believed that popular music created a false consciousness among the masses. He argued that the lyrics and melodies of popular music were designed to distract people from the real issues in society and to prevent them from questioning the status quo. In this way, popular music was used as a tool of social control. Pop music, in other words, is there to distract you from what's really going on, while real music is there to get you to open your eyes.


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