Lecture 10: The 1980s: MTV; Pop Stars

Question 1

Controlled by record labels to bar and push forth different sounds (controlled the industry before the internet

Answer 1

Corporate Consolidation and Genre Proliferation

Question 2

Illusion of choice in genre gets larger as fewer and larger corporations take over more

Answer 2

Corporate Consolidation and Genre Proliferation

Question 3

Popularized music styles intentional, controlled from above

Answer 3

Corporate Consolidation and Genre Proliferation

Question 4

Corporate consolidation: fewer and fewer companies controlling more

Answer 4

Corporate Consolidation and Genre Proliferation

Question 5

Genre Proliferation: More differentiation and niches in genres

Answer 5

Corporate Consolidation and Genre Proliferation

Question 6

Deregulation of entertainment industry led to an explosion in the growth of cable television

Answer 6

MTV

Question 7

MTV “music television”: 1981

Answer 7

MTV

Question 8

Mostly like the radio with visuals, music related news

Answer 8

MTV

Question 9

Today mostly just programs

Answer 9

MTV

Question 10

Music video becomes #1 method of music promotion

Answer 10

MTV

Question 11

Music industry originally saw MTV as a threat to the industry, but it became the #1 way for young people to find their music in the 80s

Answer 11

MTV

Question 12

Internal focus on white rock artists seen as exclusionary: multi-platinum black artists are not getting airplay on MTV initially

Answer 12

Music Genre / Race Biases

Question 13

1982 Columbia forces MTV to air MJ’s Thriller vid or they wouldn’t let MTV play any of their other artists, forced inclusion from previous all white streak

Answer 13

Music Genre / Race Biases

Question 14

Promoted second “british invasion”: in July 1983, 18 of the Top 40 were british

Answer 14

Music Genre / Race Biases

Question 15

80s: country music becomes best selling genre in the United States with rock and pop influenced country superstars (Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire

Answer 15

Country and Rap

Question 16

Rap music becomes multi million dollar buisiness

Answer 16

Country and Rap

Question 17

MJ started with Jackson 5 in 1960s

Answer 17

MJ’s Thriller: 1982

Question 18

Consciously incorporating music for white (heavy metal and new wave) and black (funk and rap) fans in song writing and execution made thriller best selling.

Answer 18

MJ’s Thriller: 1982

Question 19

Also had featured guests like paul McCartney and Van Halen

Answer 19

MJ’s Thriller: 1982

Question 20

Up tempo- synth and bass driven

Answer 20

MJ’s Thriller: 1982

Question 21

Began recording in the early 70s

Answer 21

Born in the USA: Springsteen 1984

Question 22

Music characterized by strong roots rock sound, working class

Answer 22

Born in the USA: Springsteen 1984

Question 23

Song was originally critical of america but then became the anthem for america and used for political campaigns

Answer 23

Born in the USA: Springsteen 1984

Question 24

1910s-20s
Irene and Vernon Castle were biggest stars of that day
Promotion: did theatre tours, appeared in silent films, magazine stories and books about how to dance, no radio

Answer 24

Production of Celebrity

Question 25

1930s-40s: | Crooners like bing crosby and frank sinatra are on network radio and appear in films

Answer 25

Production of Celebrity

Question 26

50s-60s: | Elvis on TV is how he explodes, the beatles on TV on the Ed Sullivan show

Answer 26

Production of Celebrity

Question 27

80s: | MTV is biggest promotion

Answer 27

Production of Celebrity

Question 28

Coordinated multimedia promotion (transmedia/vertical Integration) for new albums included: Music vids, talk shows, movies, print media, radio

Answer 28

Production of Celebrity

Question 29

1987 rolling stone Mag voted her 2nd place in best female singer and 1st place for worst female singer

Answer 29

Madonna and Controversy

Question 30

Seen by the industry as mediocre talent but very hard working

Answer 30

Madonna and Controversy

Question 31

Pop Culture studies analyzing her significance abound: feminist, postmodent performance artist, politically savy cultural subversive, container for multiple images

Answer 31

Madonna and Controversy

Question 32

Like a Virgin (1984) Analysis: Strong image manipulation. Video shows her looking pure and impure to contrast looks.

Answer 32

Madonna and Controversy

Question 33

``` Grew up middle class in Minneapolis Controlled entire creative process in home studio: wrote, sang, played almost all instruments, produced ```

Answer 33

Prince

Question 34

Overtly sexual persona like madonna | Played with gender stereotypes

Answer 34

Prince

Question 35

1980 broke out with album Dirty Mind, second album in 1982 “1999” hit big

Answer 35

Prince

Question 36

Struggled with record company in 1990s, changed his name to a symbol so that he could put out music not under the Warner Bros while he was under contract with them

Answer 36

Prince

Question 37

Career rebirth in 2000s

Answer 37

Prince

Question 38

general recession competition with other entertainment (home video, cable TV, video games) increase in illegal copying

Answer 38

Early 80s Music Industry Recession: | Reasons

Question 39

``` cut expenses reduce staff sign fewer acts reliance on a small number of multiplatinum artists to create profits increase prices of cassettes and LPs ```

Answer 39

Early 80s Music Industry Recession: | Industry Response

Question 40

1960s cassette tapes introduced 1970s playback equipment improves 1984 prerecorded cassettes surpass vinyl discs in sales

Answer 40

Playback Technology

Question 41

1983 five-inch compact disc (CD) introduced increase profits: production costs the same, but sell for $13 compared to $8-9 for LPs •by 1988 CDs surpass vinyl discs in sale

Answer 41

Playback Technology

Question 42

digital technology = new and more affordable devices for producing and manipulating sound musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) specifications are developed

Answer 42

Production technology

Question 43

pre-1925 sound waves are physically imprinted on material for playback post-1925 electronic waveforms analogous to sound waves can reproduce the original sound

Answer 43

Analogue technology

Question 44

sound waves are sampled, converted to 1s and 0s, stored as data; data is read by playback machine many audiophiles complain that it lacks “warmth”; this is mainly due to low sampling rat

Answer 44

Digital Technology

Question 45

Digital Samples Digital sequences Drum machines

Answer 45

Digital instruments