Chapter 12 the Internet Era: 2000–
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Chapter 12 The Internet Era: 2000– 1. Music and the Internet a. Internet catalyzed the most profound transformation in the dissemination and consumption of popular music b. MPEG (digitally compressed file) allows wide and rapid dissemination of sound recordings over the Internet c. MPEG lead to the development of the MP3 encoding format 2. Napster a. Developed in 1999 by Shawn Fanning b. Allowed users to share and swap music files c. Sued by RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) d. Shut down by a federal court in 2001 e. Supreme Court ruling in 2005 said online firms violated copyright law; firms were shut down 3. Personal listening devices a. Apple ipod (introduced in 2001) stored up to one thousand CD-quality tracks b. ipod is the most popular individual listening device in history c. iTunes launched in 2003 making 200,000 tracks available for $.99 each d. iTunes is the top music retailer in the United States e. Led to renewed interest in individual songs (as opposed to albums) 4. YouTube a. Launched in 2005 b. In 2006 Warner Music made its entire video catalog available c. Google bought YouTube for $1.69 billion in stock d. Presents an astounding amount of material form 1920s films to contemporary alternative artists and slick professional productions 5. Pro Tools a. Recording software designed to run on home computers b. Allowed musicians to set up a home studio on a small budget c. Gave users a great deal of control over every parameter of musical sound d. Visual interface led to new way of thinking about music e. Songs could be assembled by cutting and pasting rather than performing 6. Music industry focused on Baby Boomers a. Renewed focus on baby boom generation as a source of revenue b. Compilations by established artists from the ’60s and ’70s offered little risk c. High-end rock offerings (like boxed sets) appealed to Boomers with significant discretionary income d. Boomers were perceived as unwilling (or unable) to illegally download music e. Establishment of rock culture of the ’60s and ’70s seen as definitive f. Top-selling and touring rock groups from 2000 to 2010 included the Beatles, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones 7. Search for income streams other than selling records a. Placing songs in movies, television, commercials, and cell phone ringtones b. Increased emphasis on “360-degree deal” handling every aspect of an artists career c. Record industry is adjusting to an era in which music is no longer disseminated as a physical object d. Touring is an increasingly important component of profits e. Big-box retailers sell more recorded music than specialty outlets 8. Nickelback a. Continued traditional approach to music and business of rock b. Formed in 1995 in Vancouver, Canada c. In 2000 came to prominence in the United States with the post- grunge, country-influenced album The State d. Accomplished extraordinary record sales in an era of Internet downloading 9. Linkin Park a. Worked within the framework that is fundamentally rock-based b. Integrates other influences like hip-hop c. Their success reflects the diminishing relevance of genre boundaries d. Features two Asian American members, a reflections of rock’s changing demography 10. Creed a. Known for music directed at followers of American evangelical Protestantism b. Promoted themselves as a band that dealt with Christian themes rather than a “Christian rock” band c. Achieved success in 1999 with the album Human Clay and the hit single “Higher” 11. Radiohead a. Took an experimental approach to the sound and economics of rock b. Came to prominence in the United States with the album OK Computer c. Increasingly integrated sampling and other electronic music influences d. Allowed fans to set their own price for In Rainbows in 2007 12. Radiohead’s “Bodysnatchers” a. Eclecticism of Radiohead’s business strategy is reflected in their music b. Draws on nihilistic sensibility of hardcore punk and guitar-dominated textures of arena rock and heavy metal c. Lyrics describe an alienated person incarcerated in his own body d. Connects the sensation of helplessness with the constant demand that musicians harness creativity for generating profit 13. Arcade Fire a. Montreal-based band winning the 2011 Grammy for best album of the year i. First alternative rock band to achieve that recognition b. Centered on married duo of Win Butler (Texas-raised guitarist/singer) and Régine Chassagne (vocalist/keyboardist of Haitian descent) c. All seven members play multiple instruments d. Influenced by arena rock, punk, synth-pop, Brazilian bossa nova, French Cajun music, French chanson, and classically tinged pop e. The Suburbs (2011) evokes recession-impoverished suburban sprawl 14. Early international manifestations of rock ’n’ roll a. Johnny Hallyday, the “French Elvis,” was a huge star in France and its former colonies but never made a serious dent in the American market b. Some Mexicans protested Elvis’s films, while the Mexican music industry quickly recorded Spanish-language versions of rock ’n’ roll hits marketed as rocanrol c. Young people around the world made sense of rock ’n’ roll in their own culturally specific terms 15. Rock around the world a. Significance of national boundaries is diminishing b. Rise of the Internet allows music to travel around the world instantaneously c. Transnational companies buy and consolidate record companies d. Governments are motivated to be consistent with copyright laws e. In Japan a stark ideological and stylistic distinction is drawn between slick, commercial J-Pop and alternative rock groups like Guitar Wolf exemplifying punk attitude 16. Panda (a.k.a. PXNDX) a. Mexican alternative band b. Accused of plagiarizing North American bands like Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins c. Former fans jeer the band and created an “Anti-Panda” movement 17. BLKJKS (Black Jacks) a. South African band b. Incorporates the influence of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Jamacian Dub, and local urban genres like mbaqanga and maskanda c. Signed with an American indie label in 2007 d. African Roots reached #4 on Billboard’s Top World Albums chart 18. Yothu Yindi a. Among the first indigenous Australian groups to play and record rock music b. Combines traditional songs and instruments with rock instrumentation and harmonies c. Some songs are about traditional concerns including music about spirit figures inhabiting Dreamtime d. Some songs deal with contemporary concerns like racism, alcoholism, crime, and the politics of land ownership 19. Yothu Yindi’s “Treaty” from Tribal Voices (1992) a. Combines traditional songs/texts with the style and sensibility of rock b. Composed in collaboration with white Australian band Midnight Oil c. Protests government’s failure to honor promises to indigenous Australians d. Incorporates the distinctive timbre of the dijeridu, a wooden trumpet and symbol of aboriginal identity e. Became an anthem for indigenous land rights activists and their allies 20. Rock and international politics a. Relationship between rock and politics emerging the United States during the 1960s is manifest in many international contexts b. “Mexican Woodstock” held in Avándaro (1971) included young people exploring themes of personal freedom c. Led authorities to ban some musicians’ music from the Mexican airways for the next fifteen years d. In East Germany rock bands articulated popular opposition to the communist regime before the Berlin Wall fell e. Rockers played important roles in countries from Poland to Brazil f. Rock music plays an important role in the experience of immigrants balancing new circumstances and maintaining a connection with deep cultural roots 21. Rock in Indonesia a. Pioneering Indonesian rock band Koes Plus was jailed by then- President Sukarno for playing American-style music b. Indonesian General Suharto (Sukarno’s successor) initially allowed rock scene to flourish in an effort to improve relations with the United States c. Suharto regime’s attitude toward rock later soured d. 1993 riot over ticket prices at a Metallica concert in Jakarta represented a broader set of political issues under Suharto’s “New Order” government 22. Gogol Bordello a. Self-styled “transcultural rock band” based in New York City b. Led by Eugene Hütz, a Ukrainian-born musician who lived in many places in Europe before moving to the United States in 1993 c. Hütz’s experience as an “outsider” shaped the hybrid sound of Gogol Bordello’s music d. Fuses aspects of punk rock, reggae, Slavic folk music, music of the nomadic Rom people, Arabic rai music, and Spanish flamenco guitar music e. Perform music performed on rock instruments and eastern European wedding band instruments f. Trans-Continental Hustle (2010) was produced by hip-hop pioneer Rick Rubin and driven by politically charged, high-energy tracks like “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)” 23. Gogol Bordello’s “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)” a. Video begins with a quote from President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants” b. Video shot in lower East Side of Manhattan and east Los Angeles c. Includes images of immigrants, past and present, from various demographics d. Music includes diverse influences, including pogo, reggae, surf-rock, and eastern European music e. Expresses visceral frustrations and dreams of immigrants f. Connects cultural roots to transnational route 24. Hip-hop in the twenty-first century a. As rock declined, hip-hop claimed much of its previous audience b. Embraced the rock star paradigm, in which economic success is a key to freedom c. Some ignored the boundary between hip-hop, rock, and pop as the economic and marketing pressures maintaining those boundaries breaks down i. Examples include Outkast d. Some emphasized the character of the “hustler” i. Worked hard to be successful in the underground economy ii.