Theodor Adorno

Today i learned about Theodor Adorno.

One of the first people to write theoretically about popular music - in the 1930s - was a man called Theodor Adorno. He claimed that popular music produced industrially could never effectively challenge dominant meanings and values. He never lived to to watch Pop Stars or Fame Academy. He hated the 'standardisation' of popular music which went 'through the mill' of an industry production process. Fifty years after Adorno first wrote about popular music, four workings-class boys from Blackwood, Wales, were growing up against a backdrop of political unease during the early 1980s- The Manic Street Preachers.

Research: Visiting the British music experience

On the 20th of june, i travelled to the 02 in london to take part in the British music experience.

As a group, we spent several hours exploring how music has changed throughout the ages. The exhibition focuses on music from the 1940s to the 21st century grunge genre. It showed how music evolved through time, how trends have changed and how particular events have influenced the role of music in society. An example of this would be the loss of jobs in the 80s when artists such as The Clash released their single, 'London calling' to emphasises the gloomy atmosphere on the streets.

One aspect i found particularly interesting was the idea of British music being greatly influenced by the Americans in the 50s. However, we realised that our music was not that popularised in the states and so the nation responded. Throughout the 90s, there was a rise in British artists where the majority of the music listened by the public were not American. Artists not only became famous but developed through the decades where rock and was transformed into punk rock in the 70s. British artists influenced society while events in society influenced the works of artists.

Spending several hours there, I was able to use a new type of technology which allows me to save data from various checkpoints (recorded by a scanner near various parts of the experience, such as the dance booth) onto a smartcard which has the shape and design of a modern hotel room key.



 I also attended a workshop summarising the look and feel of music in each decade from the 1940s all the way to 2011.