Kerrang! Magazine Review.

Comprising of free posters, interviews, reviews, tour dates and feedback from gigs, Kerrang! Magazine is inevitably at the forefront of alternative music journalism, pulling threads from many genres such as Rock, Metal and Pop Punk. So who are the target audience? Well the answer is clearly reflective of its content with a mixture of rebellious dressing, face piercing, body tattooing, boys and girls in their mid teens. The magazine puts emphasis on large pictures, the writing is small but manages to include lots information in which the writing is casual and good for laugh. The magazine does attempt to report on underground bands however this seems rather hit and miss as the sections are small and are often followed with large 3 page articles on the popular ‘mainstream’ bands. Overall its large amount of advert pages, price at £2.20 each week and coverage on mainstream popular artists within the magazine suggest that it is rather marketing tool rather than a form of expression. Sadly the magazines is still the best out there, and if your interested in alternative music there is little viable alternative in a magazine. 

Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

The concepts of ‘black’ and ‘white’ music are crucial elements which are useful in understanding popular music. The changes which took place in popular music due to the birth of rock are often suggested as a ‘result of white fascination with black music’ (Shank). The 1950s saw a sudden interest in black music by white audiences which led to many white musicians such as Bill Haley and Elvis Presley to produce music which were largely influenced by black music. These artists often made their own cover versions of black music too resulting in major success an example is Bill Haley’s cover of Big Joe Turner’s ‘Shake Rattle & Roll’. The development of this type of music coined ‘race records’ promoted black music which was not well known in the music industry, this led to the birth of new music genres such as pop which were ‘ dependent on the interaction between white and black traditions’ (Hatch & Milward 1987). These new genres combine many races, blurring the lines of definition, proving hard to categorise simply as ‘black’ or ‘white’.  The concept of ‘black’ and ‘white’ music is therefore useful in understanding both the advance and the history of popular music. 

Does the emergence of the digital download signal the end for the music industry?

The ability to distribute digital audio over the Internet was limited till the creation of the mp3, which consequently led to file sharing or a 'culture of piracy'. It was thought that digital copying had the potential to 'completely undermine the business of selling packaged music' and so the RIAA began to issue lawsuits against consumers to show computer owners that file sharing is equivalent to shoplifting. Lessig suggested 4 types of file sharing; the only category which could have an effect on sales was A – ‘to replace purchasing’. However Oberlnolzrr and Strumpt (2004) found file sharing had an effect on sales which was 'indistinguishable from zero' and so cannot be blamed for the decline in sales.  Condry found that students used file sharing as a way of sampling music before they buy, I agree with this as I used this practise myself, so file sharing should be viewed as a means of promotion rather than  signalling the end for the music industry.  Perhaps the blame should then be pointed at the record labels themselves, if they presented their music as something other than a commodity maybe there wouldn’t be such a decline in sales and a ‘culture of piracy’. 

Can popular music achieve genuine political change?

It is often suggested that popular music has the ability to facilitate political change by delivering a message to its listeners in order to ‘shape and influence their thoughts and actions’ (Street). An example is Billie Holidays ‘Strange Fruit’ which originated as poem describing the revulsion of lynching. In 1939 Time Magazine criticised it as a ‘piece of musical propaganda’, 60 years later the same magazine rated it as ‘the song of the century’. In 1985 Red Wedge was formed, its aim was to promote the labour party agenda using popular music, they organised many tours with bands such as the smiths and madness. Although a good idea the project proved unsuccessful with the labour party not being voted into power. Bob Marley gives voice throughout his music to a counter capitalist movement selling millions of albums; this is accepted as profit that is generated feeds straight back into the capitalist system. Whilst it is clear that popular music is successful in raising political awareness I would suggest that political change happens as a result of a combination of many factors not just popular music alone.