Relevant Historical Forces - Musical and Extra-Musical

Question 1

Explain, in General the Centres and Peripheries Model

Answer 1

The centre is continually drawing resources from the periphery.

> The sources of popular music are the peripheries:

1. Euro-American music, (Classical, Sacred/Secular Hymn and Ballads.
2. African American music, and to some extent, (Sacred and Secular, Spirituals/Blues)
3. Latin American music. (Clave, Mambo, Bolero

> Musical practices and styles are combined and filtered through the machine of the music business. This produces mainstream popular music at the centre (ex. New York, LA, Nashville, Chicago

Question 2

Within the Centre Periphery model: How are Geography, Race and Class, Economics, and consumption and distribution relevant?

Answer 2

Geography: the centre can be urban and peripheries rural.

Race and class: As our textbook notes, the centre (mainstream) music is for mass popular tastes of the white, middle-class (historically speaking).

Economics: The centre has more money, and would represent the few large corporations that produce music with independent record labels at the periphery.

Consumption and distribution: the centre (mainstream) is distributed and consumed on a much larger scale than periphery music.

Question 3

Contrast the extent of standardization within the centre periphery model.

Answer 3

Centre: usually standardized. Pieces are typically 3-4 minutes long, they have a steady beat with 3/4 or 4/4 metre (most music today is in 4/4), and has one of the three standardized forms

Periphery: doesn’t always have these features. Traditional music (like lullabies) or old dance tunes can be much longer, can have different meters, or change tempo. Even today, experimental musicians (on the periphery) are always finding ways of creating new music that doesn’t fit the standard mold of pop music

Question 4

Who has the power in the centre periphery model?

Answer 4

The centre has the power. Major corporations have the finances and resources to exert control in the music industry. This means that major record companies can exert power over minor record labels. At the same time, more record companies need minor record labels to find new bands and test new genres.

Question 5

What was invented in 1453? Why is this relevant?

Answer 5

Invention of the printing press.

This invention, called the Gutenberg press, was used to reproduce the Christian bible called the Gutenberg bible. It allowed for growth in literacy, books, newspapers, and media for the public.

Question 6

What began in 1556 in Britain? Why is this relevant?

Answer 6

Copyright begins in Britain

Queen Mary I recently took the crown. She was not popular with the public. Critics, and the general public, preferred her sister Anne. Written media began to circulate that criticized Queen Mary. In response, she gave power to the Stationers Company to review and censor any negative press about her. The Stationer’s Company regulated all publishing houses. In exchange, publishers were provided with a new concept—copyright—which gave them the authority to collect royalties (a small sum of money) for every copy of print (books/media) that was sold.

Question 7

What first occurred in 1790 in the US? Why is this relevant?

Answer 7

First copyright act in the United States: establishes protection of intellectual property (written text but not music).

This is a similar version of copyright processes in Britain with royalties given to publishers became law for any published text, but not published music.

Question 8

What copyright development occurred in 1831 in the US? Why is this relevant?

Answer 8

Amendments to the USA copyright act to include printed music.

people made money selling sheet music to play on the piano at home. Royalties were paid to publishers. Some publishers would share copyright with composers, but not all. Copyright could be applied to lyrics and melody only. Copyright would work for both: one could copyright them separately.

This (in essence) is the basis of copyright today. Someone can copyright melody and lyrics, but very little else in a musical composition or recording.

Question 9

What copyright development occurred in 1909 in the US? Why is this relevant?

Answer 9

In 1909, the copyright act was expanded to include royalties of 2 cents paid to the publisher of any piano roll or record sold.

This was a response of the industry to with technological changes in the late 1800s. Player pianos (1890s) and Phonograph records (1877: Thomas Edison’s first recording device.)

Question 10

What music industry society was formed 1914? Why is this relevant?

Answer 10

Formation of ASCAP: American Society of Composers and Publishers.

Victor Herbert. In 1914, he started ASCAP: American Society for Composers and Publishers. Not that this is for publishers, not producers. Publishers and composers united to share copyright and start charging performance fees: royalties paid to composers and publishers when a person or a band would play one of their pieces.

Question 11

How did the music industry make money before the technological developments of the late 19th century? What were these early developments?

Answer 11

The industry was for sheet music. Songs were sold as sheet music. That was how people made money.

Player pianos (1890s) (a mechanical piano) had “piano rolls”—spools of music placed inside the piano to play a piece without a performer (more about that later). 
Phonograph records (early versions of LP records you see today) were also available. (1877: Thomas Edison’s first recording device.)

Question 12

What is a blanket licence?

Answer 12

Radio stations pay a flat-rate fee to ASCAP to play any music from their registry. ASCAP then determines what songs are played, how frequently the songs are played, and distributes royalties to the composers and publishers accordingly.

Question 13

Who did the ASCAP initially represent?

Answer 13

The American Society for Composers and Publishers initially represented Tin Pan Alley music from New York

> The composers and publishers were urban, white, middle- and upper-class people. ASCAP did not accept rural composers, or African American (or Latin American) composers.

> Regulation of the music industry was controlled by white, urban, rich Americans. This didn’t change until the late 1940s, which we will return to later.

Question 14

What did the growth of Tin Pan Alley signify?

Answer 14

> a drastic shift to the power of urban centres. Larger dense populations demanded entertainment (vaudeville) and new pop hits to play on the piano at home (just like parlour music).
The industry fed the desire for new dance and performance tunes by supplying more music for a cheap cost. Songwriters and publishers made the equivalent of millions with this growing industry.
The centralized economic power made New York the centre of the music industry

Question 15

How did the player piano work?

Answer 15

invented in the 1870s and had taken production around 1900.

The player piano is a piano with a mechanical spool inside. That “spool” has 88 little “fingers,” and when one of the fingers is pressed, it plays a note on the piano.

The spool needs something to play it: a piano roll. This is a roll of paper that attaches to the spool, and is fed through the spool at a constant speed. This results in a playback of the notes.

Question 16

When was the phonograph invented? what are some important facts about it?

Answer 16

> Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

> It was originally a spool

> Major record companies—Columbia and Victor—were responsible for brining the flat disc to market in 1904.

> In the first decade of the 20th century about 5% (1 in every 22) American homes had a phonograph player; the industry was strongly competing with sheet music.

> by the 1920s, it is estimated that 13% of homes in rural Alabama (many African American homes) had a phonograph player.

Question 17

What was significant about recordings before 1925?

Answer 17

Recordings before 1925 were acoustic recordings, where musicians would play into a horn and a mechanical device would create an imprint on the phonograph record.
> Musicians had to be seated in the studio according to their volume and intensity
> Some instruments like the drums were not recorded because they were too “boomy,” and would make the needle jump off the recording equipment and destroy the record.
> Some instruments like the guitar weren’t heard well on record, so musicians usually substituted the banjo instead.

Question 18

What was invented in 1925? Why was this important?

Answer 18

the invention of the microphone. This started electric recording. More instruments could be recorded, and it didn’t matter as much where the musicians were seated in the studio.

it started a new genre of music called crooning.

Question 19

What year did nationwide radio broadcasts begin? Who were the major broadcasters?

Answer 19

NBC, CBS, and ABC—began nationwide broadcasts in 1926.

Though small regional networks emerged first in 1920

Question 20

How did radio technology and licensing lend itself to perpetuate the centre-periphery model?

Answer 20

the technology of radio was in favour of national networks: the music they played reached more people.

> Radio stations transmit their designated frequency, and at a given amount of power. That power is in Watts.
Radio stations need to apply for a licence to transmit a certain amount of power.
Regional radio station licences were (and are) easy to get: they could transmit somewhere between 20 and 50 W (W for Watts), perhaps 100, reaching about a 100km distance.
Major radio networks, or national radio networks, were provided licences to broadcast at 50,000 W. The signal would cover about 30 of the 50 states in the USA.

Question 21

How did money flow through through the music industry circa 1914? what element changed with the advent of radio?

Answer 21

1. Composers would write music and lyrics for:
2. The publisher who would make print, recordings, film and video
3. The published material would be promoted through song plugging and performance (this changed with radio
4. Money is charged by performance: royalties go back to the publisher.
5. Published material would also go to retail. the sales royalties would go back to the publisher
6. the publisher could then give some money back to the composer depending on the agreement(if any) in place.

Question 22

Why did New York play such an important role in the development of the music industry?

Answer 22

> New York was the main point of entry for European (and Russian) immigrants: they didn’t need to travel far to be part of the music business.
What would have happened if Tin Pan Alley were in Los Angeles, on the West coast? Would we see as many Jewish songwriters? Nashville was also growing as a major centre for musical activity, and we don’t see that same concentration of immigrant songwriters there.

Question 23

Who was Theodor Adorno?

Answer 23

Theodor Adorno was a philosopher of the Frankfurt School and mainly active from the 1930s to the 1960s. His philosophies were based on how music served as a powerful force in culture, whether it served political purposes, aesthetic purposes for the preservation or evolution of “art,” or had strong economic implications to produce a culture of mass control

Question 24

What did Adorno believe?

Answer 24

He liked classical music (which he calls “serious” music) and disliked popular music. He believed that the simplicity of popular music was “dumbing down” our ears, leading to a culture that could not hear (and thus appreciate) “serious music.” He pointed the finger at the industry that created popular music for profit (not for art), and that industry was able to create a demand for new pop music, leading to economic control of youth culture.

Question 25

What term did Adorno coin?

Answer 25

Adorno coined the term “the culture industry.” It is important because it makes us reflect on culture and how it is shaped by an industry of music and media. It is the culture industry that manipulates our listening tastes, our listening habits, how we identify with certain types of music, how we behave (e.g., dancing), and what music we purchase.

Question 26

From where does Adorno draw his evidence?

Answer 26

> First, standardization is a force that, for Adorno, leads to stagnation in music. Everything else (like new melodies or riffs) are just surface details that conform to unchanging standardized structures (e.g., phrases, chord changes, form, conventions of lyrics) . The constant replay of those standardized musical features leads to conformity
The second piece of evidence Adorno includes, and tries to make sense of, is the cultural practices of conformity. They are expressed in speech, dancing, and other modes of social behaviour such as idolizing a pop star.

Question 27

Transculturation:

Answer 27

acculturation, except that the minority group keeps it previous cultural underpinnings (e.g., rhythm, singing, dance) yet expressed in a new, independent style.

1) musical elements from a minority culture are lost or deformed;
2) this is an exchange of significant musical practices (ways of thinking);
3) it takes generations to create a new unity between the two cultures;
4) the new unity is a new musical identity different than the original—i.e., African American music is a new style, independent of African music (yet contains “survivals”), and that style (say, from the 1600s), undergoes new processes (1-4 above) over and over again

Question 28

Assimilation:

Answer 28

an extreme version of acculturation where a minority culture attempts to, or is forced to adopt cultural practices held by a dominant culture. In other words, replacing a minority cultural custom with a dominant one.

Question 29

Acculturation:

Answer 29

adoption of cultural customs to dominant social surroundings. Or in other words, cultural practices held by a dominant culture that are absorbed and practiced by a minority culture.

Question 30

How did economics play a role in the blues craze?

Answer 30

Record companies by the 1920s thought recordings would be sold to either black or white Americans. The designation of hillbilly records (later Country) and race records (later R&B) came from Ralph Peer at Okeh records as a branding technique to sell black music to African-Americans, and hillbilly music to white Americans.

On the other side is Alan Lomax (from our video this week). In the 1940s, Lomax was hired by the Library of Congress to record American folk music—as a state-sponsored endeavor, profit did not interfere with his work. It is why we have recordings of spirituals, work songs, and a lot of rural blues that was not recorded by the industry. (Lomax also “discovered” blues musician Muddy Waters in the 1940s). In short: Peer = industry profits and genre labels, Lomax = musicologist for preserving folk traditions.

Question 31

How did the great depression effect African Americans in the music industry?

Answer 31

With the economic growth of the “booming 20s,” black composers, musicians, publishers, and record executives were not a threat to major record companies. What we later see is that none of the black-owned companies survived the 1920s and African-Americans were no longer part of the industry due to industry changes during the depression. Black-owned-and-operated record companies did not exist again until the 1960s.

Question 32

What was the council of Trent? What was it addressing regarding music?

Answer 32

> The Council of Trent from 1545 to 1563 held sessions to determine the future of the church, which included what compositions could be used in church, and what composers were supposed to do moving forward.

In the 1300s and 1400s, composers were writing experimental polyphonic music (many voices with soloists and choirs). As such, the voices would create interesting music, but it was difficult to hear the words (sometimes, different lines of text would be sung at the same time). This went against the ideals of the church, where singing was supposed to be a clear and direct praise of God. If the congregation couldn’t understand the words, it was “impure” to the church.

Question 33

What was the result of the council of trent on the Euro-american stream?

Answer 33

If the congregation couldn’t understand the words, it was “impure” to the church. These impurities were purged by the Council of Trent and replaced by a new method of polyphonic composition that promoted clear diction: words that could be clearly audible and understood.

Question 34

How did the printing press impact north american music?

Answer 34

> The printing press in Europe was invented in the 1430s (the Chinese had a similar press as early as the 1200s). In Europe, it was called the Gutenberg press because it was invented to replicate the Gutenberg bible.

> The first printing press brought from the UK to the USA was in the 1640s, and the first published book in the USA was also a religious text: the Book of Bay Psalms. This book was a translation of psalms into English poetry and was intended as a music book (i.e., words to be sung, but not any written melodies—those were still memorized in an oral tradition).

Question 35

What was the Book of Bay Psalms?

Answer 35

the Book of Bay Psalms. This book was a translation of psalms into English poetry and was intended as a music book (i.e., words to be sung, but not any written melodies—those were still memorized in an oral tradition).

The book is unique to American protestant religion, but includes writing with importance in clarity (for clear singing). At the same time, this book represents importance in education: the church was highly invested in education because literacy (and singing) were ways to understand God, and live a devoted life. Books like the Book of Bay Psalms were as much an educational tool as they were songbooks.

Question 36

What was the great awakening? How was it relevant to all north american music?

Answer 36

> The Great Awakening was a religious movement that spread across the USA (in both white and black cultures).
From 1740 to 1800, it was a revival of Evangelical Baptist Christianity. It aimed at converting people to religion (including slaves) and quickly implemented a church system across the nation.
Religion and education went hand-in-hand, starting the growth of the education system in the USA as well. Music was central to both. It brought people together, helped increase literacy, and promoted positive morals

Question 37

How should ideas of “white music” be questioned?

Answer 37

Something to keep in mind is how we can question ideas of “white music” by the late 1920s. Although the styles we will study are based on the sacred and secular traditions covered last week, there is also a continual exchange of black and white music, and white music with popular music (also containing “black” features from jazz, parts of the blues, and Tin Pan Alley that was absorbing musical features from many different genres).

Question 38

What were territory bands?

Answer 38

The number of regional radio stations grew exponentially in the 1930s (all having a small regional coverage of about 250 Watts). The new hillbilly music demanded new recordings, live performance for radio programs, and live performance for dancing. This was the beginning of territory bands. The geographic area a territory band covered was due to two factors:

1) radio broadcasting distance, and
2) driving distance.

You can imagine with all the cities in the USA during the 1930s, there were hundreds of territory bands covering different regions. By the mid-1930s, some of these bands became very popular and were able to draw large crowds to major dancehalls in large urban centres, and extend their regions by touring (but usually in somewhat limited “territories” covering about 2-3 states).

Question 39

How did Radio broadcasting and driving distance affect local music influences?

Answer 39

1) Radio Broadcasting: radio programs frequently had live bands in the 1930s. A radio station would have a few different bands that would perform frequently through the week. The bands would advertise different products (and sometimes be named after a product). They would also advertise themselves as a band to play at dances on the weekend. Their advertising would only go as far as the radio broadcast range. Most radio stations were independent, regional stations with a 250 Watt broadcast power, and the advertising for those bands would only reach about 100km. So, when those bands were being hired for dances, they were limited to an audience (and booking agents) they could reach by radio.
2) Driving distance: these bands depended on stable work with radio. That means that they couldn’t travel too far for dances on the weekend: they would only drive about an hour or two away to make sure they could return back to their home radio station to play the next day (or week). In general, that distance was about 100km. So, these territory bands stayed quite regional and didn’t take long tours.

Question 40

When was the electric guitar invented?

Answer 40

The electric guitar was invented in the late 1920s, but its first commercial production was in 1931. They had aluminum bodies, with a pickup (an electric coil serving as a microphone). The inventor was Adolph Rickenbacker (with the Rickenbacker pickup that has been changed, but still used in some guitars today). These guitars were called “lap-steel guitars” because they had an aluminum body, and they were played on the performer’s lap.

In the 1950s, the electric guitar became central to many musical styles. In country, it took a lead role, affirming its precedence over the fiddle.

Question 41

What was the baby boom? How did it impact the music industry?

Answer 41

The post-World War II economic boom was characterized by a significant growth in the middle class family income to about $5000–6000 per year. This allowed for a growth of disposable income and leisure time.

The baby boomer generation is babies born from 1943 to 1960.

By the end of the 1950s, this gave rise to a large demographic of teens (13–18 years old). With the growth of family economics, these teens were receiving an allowance (money from their parents), and had disposable income—to spend on goods from popular culture. Different than previous generations, these teens formed an identity that was profoundly shaped by popular culture. From that, there was a new identity of dress, language and behaviour.

Whit desegregated high schools, Baby boomers—white and black—were attending the same classes, playing sports together, playing music together, and attending the same dances. Listening tastes for music became more culturally fluid, and we have more white teens listening to R&B.

Question 42

What major demographic changes impacts occurred in the 40’s and 50’s?

Answer 42

Major demographic changes like the northern African American migration (see previous units for specifics) changed, and continued to change the landscape of Northern cities. In the late 1940s and 1950s we have a growth of suburbs. White Americans developed residential areas outside the city, taking their economic strength with them. As the money moved out of the city, we see a collapse of inner-city economics and the start of African American ghettos.

Question 43

What effect did transistors have on music?

Answer 43

One change was transistor technology starting in 1947. Transistors are electronic components that allow for small, compact radio technology. Before, radios relied on tubes for amplification, and would be large pieces of furniture for the living room. Transistor radios entered commercial production in 1954, and were implemented in cars by 1955. They were also affordable for the middle class. This means that teens could listen to music without their parents around. If a father or mother would disapprove (which many times they did), teens had more freedom to listen to their own music away from parental earshot.

Question 44

What was the nature of shellac records?

Answer 44

Vinyl technology for records also developed in the late 1940s. Previously, records were made of shellac (you’ll remember from last week). Those were called 78s, referring to 78 revolutions per minute (the record spins 78 times in a minute). They had either a 10-inch diameter holding about 3.5 minutes per side, or a 12-inch diameter holding about 5 minutes per side. That is, everyone was listening to single tracks. And, any recording had to be less than 5 minutes long. Some symphony orchestras would record many 78s to hold a long piece of music. Popular music didn’t. All songs were usually about 3-minutes long. That is a standard that was implemented in early technology, and has remained ever since. Think: how long are songs on radio? Usually 2.5–4 minutes long.

Question 45

What were LP’s?

Answer 45

Columbia records, a major record label, came out with vinyl records in 1948. Vinyl is a type of light-weight plastic. Columbia released 33 and 1/3 rpm records that were 12-inches in diameter, called the LP for “Long Play” records. The technology also included a microgroove format, meaning that the grooves in the record were smaller and allowed for more music to fit onto the record. They started as 22.5 minutes per side, and by the 1950s increased to about 26 minutes per side.

Question 46

Who used early LP’s?

Answer 46

The LP was a major advancement that was taken up by orchestral music (for symphonies and operas) and jazz where musicians could record extended solos. For popular music, however, the LP wasn’t used as a primary format until the 1960s. Musically, that is because folk music of the 1960s had longer tunes and the musicians were looking for a longer playlist to sell. In the 1940s and 1950s, the pop format of the 3-minute record was very, very strong. A reason why the 3-minute pop song remained was the new vinyl technology of the “single.”

Question 47

What was the “single” ?

Answer 47

RCA—a major record label—responded to Columbia in 1949 with the 7-inch, 45 rpm “single” record. It had the same durability and fidelity (sound quality) of the LP. It was a replacement of the 78, with one song per side, holding about 3.5 minutes of music. It was intended for Top 40 radio, where singles could be sold (or given) to radio DJs rather than a full album. It was cheaper, making it a preference among teens to buy 45s, and increased the culture of purchasing music. The 45 was also preferred by small record labels. It was cheaper, but also lighter and smaller which was good for sending records by mail. So, although the LP was really “better” for music, these industry factors kept the “single” as the main way for producing and consuming music. The image above is of a 45, which is recognizable from its larger hole in the middle. You can see on the right side that the play time is 3:21—just the size of a 45 single.

Question 48

What was magnetic tape?

Answer 48

Magnetic tape was developed in Germany by Dr. Fritz Pfeumer in 1928. It was a military secret. In 1932, BASF began the production of the tapes, and Telefunken looked after the radio equipment used for radio broadcasts. Magnetic tape had its first public demonstration in 1935 and was used by the Nazi party throughout the 1930s.

The USA found the tape technology in 1945 during the Allied Occupation of Germany and used it at Radio Hamburg for military purposes. The technology was sent to the USA, with the first commercial production of tape by Ampex in 1946. It was extremely expensive with machines costing $5,000 to $10,000.

Question 49

How was Bing Crosby involved with the advent of magnetic tape?

Answer 49

Enter Bing Crosby. What – Bing Crosby?!! Yes. Crosby was performing with Paul Whitman since the 1920s. Whiteman had a successful radio show on NBC, which Crosby took over in 1936. Crosby was interested in tape because it allowed him to pre-record his radio shows (to fix mistakes and give him some nights off when he wanted). Crosby’s first tape-recorded broadcast was in 1947. He invested a lot of money in Ampex and helped drive the price of reel-to-reel players down, allowing for it to continue in radio (and eventually be minimized into the compact tape).

Question 50

What effect did the major networks shifting ad money from radio to tv have?

Answer 50

In 1951, there were 16 million TVs in the USA, and the major networks concentrated more on TV for advertising.

With the major networks investing in TV rather than radio, the economic market had a gap that was filled by independent radio. A growth in independent radio left stations operating at regional coverage for specific audiences. Independent radio DJs became important marketing tools, and they experimented with new recordings. Record companies—especially small minor record labels—targeted DJs to promote new singles. This partnership between independent radio and independent (minor) record labels led to a growth of R&B for white audiences. So why is WDIA so important? It was one of the first to keep R&B on the radio for young teens all day. A major implication here is that radio was no longer dependent on records licensed by ASCAP. Independent radio, more minor record labels, and BMI all emerged to work together, providing support for R&B: legal representation (BMI), production (recording), distribution (recording and radio), and marketing (radio).

Question 51

What does the selling of Elvis’s contract to RCA tell us?

Answer 51

Sam Phillips selling Elvis’ contract to RCA in 1955 (for $35,000) tells us a few things about the record industry and how it worked. Major record labels weren’t eager to sign new Rock and Roll talent, but were able to see who became successful and purchase their contracts. This is one example of a major record label exerting its power to take major artists (and typically white ones like Elvis). Sun Records was having financial difficulties, and the $35,000 helped keep it in business

There were other successful artists helping define the rockabilly sound at Sun as well: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. The inner-workings of the music industry helped Sun more than the $35,000 contract purchase. Carl Perkins was the songwriter for “Blue Suede Shoes” in 1955, and the cover version by Elvis at RCA Victor in 1956 meant that royalties were paid back to Sun.