VYTAUTO DIDŢIOJO UNIVERSITETAS Edvinas Visockis
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VYTAUTO DIDŢIOJO UNIVERSITETAS POLITIKOS MOKSLŲ IR DIPLOMATIJOS FAKULTETAS SOCIALINĖS IR POLITINĖS TEORIJOS KATEDRA Edvinas Visockis THE REGRESSIVE DIALECTICS OF MUSICAL CONSUMPTION: A CRITIQUE OF MAINSTREAM MUSIC AND THE CULTURE INDUSTRY Magistro darbas Vadovas doc. dr. Jay Daniel Mininger Kaunas 2015 SUMMARY Edvinas Visockis. The Regressive Dialectics of Musical Consumption: A Critique of Mainstream Music and the Culture Industry. Master thesis of Social and Political Critique program / Advisor doc. Dr. Jay Daniel Mininger; Vytautas Magnus University, Department of Social and Political Theory.- Kaunas, 2015. 60p Master thesis employs and updates T. W. Adorno‘s theory of regression of listening in order to analyze culture industry and its effects on music and listening habits. The ideas of music as background, commodity, reproduction, imitation and territorialization are explored. The conclusion that the variety of genres does not introduce any significant differences between them, as they are essentially interchangeable between one another is reached. Thesis proposes that this is a regressive dialectic—a dialectic that does not obtain progress but regresses backwardly as differences exist only between the forms and not the content of the art. The possibility of music that wields social control and influence as well as provides the hope and possibility of emancipation from social and cultural hegemony is explored. The final chapter shows how the theory of regression of listening can be used in praxis by analyzing a selected band ―Alexisonfire‖ and their works. Key words: Adorno; regressive dialectics; music; aesthetics; culture industry 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4 1. THEORIES OF TASTE AND BEAUTY .............................................................................. 7 2. CULTURE INDUSTRY AND THE REGRESSION OF LISTENING .............................. 12 2.1 Music as background and inability to listen .................................................................. 12 2.2 Commodification and marketability of music ............................................................... 15 2.3 Music as communication and identity ........................................................................... 18 2.4 Reproduction and imitation of music ............................................................................. 22 2.5 Territorialization and music ........................................................................................... 27 2.6 The regressive dialectics of musical consumption......................................................... 33 3. SUBMISSION AND EMANCIPATION THROUGH MUSIC .......................................... 37 3.1 Controlled deviation and excorporation of the culture industry .................................... 37 3.2 Critique, protest and noise ............................................................................................. 41 3.3 Music and manipulation ................................................................................................. 44 3.4 The limits of culture industry ......................................................................................... 47 4. THEORY IN PRAXIS: THE EXAMPLE OF ―ALEXISONFIRE‖ .................................... 49 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 55 SANTRAUKA ......................................................................................................................... 57 LITERATURE ......................................................................................................................... 58 3 INTRODUCTION Music is and can be a lot of things. First and foremost it is art, which often has meaning for its listeners, and which participates in discourses of ―truth‖, perhaps even, according to some, revealing truth. It can speak about various problems and let them be heard. Or it may serve as a relaxing or stimulating background that helps one think. It can be a social event, like a concert that is enjoyed by many at the same time, emanating its aura to everyone participating in such event. On the other hand music can be a commodity that is used to gain symbolic, social capital—for example, when one may be seen in at a classical music concert and be attributed the qualities necessary for someone belonging to high society. In other cases, music can help one construct identity, through what kind of music is preferred and that music is experienced. Some people enjoy rebellious music and see themselves as punks (or members of any other subculture that sees itself as a counter to the mainstream culture). In this sense, music is something that provides options to construct and showcase identity by buying records and attending concerts in festivals and venues. Music not only helps one relax or construct/represent identity, it may also serve as a commercial piece that assures that everything is and will be okay. In this sense it is just a background sound that is rarely heard, and when heard it is supposed to reassure one that the consumption feast in the shopping mall can continue, as it is what spins the world around, allows you to express yourself and get anything that may be needed for everyday living. Besides such background sound, music has another purpose, which can clearly be seen in movies and television. On the one hand it may force one to associate the catchy melody with a product of some sort, while on the other hand it may intensify the emotions that are felt during a scene of a dramatic movie, or an action sequence. In order to explore music‘s significance for those who consume it, it is important to answer questions about whether music is consumed actively or not — do people notice what is being played, or does it serve other purposes? Following claims made by Theodor W. Adorno, do we, in fact, live in an age of the regression of listening? The initial object of the thesis is the consumption of music—specifically, the practices of consumption of mainstream music that have gained widespread recognition and are commercially successful. Mainstream music is defined in this study as including such genres as pop, post- 4 hardcore, metalcore, etc. Mainstream music is related to the parallel object of this thesis, the theory of the regression of listening. The goals of the thesis are to: 1. analyze the effects of regressed listening on cultures and practices of musical consumption 2. reveal the critical and discursive elements of music that, especially as manifest through practices of music consumption, wield social control and influence as well as provide the hope and possibility of emancipation from social and cultural hegemony. 3. examine the contemporary validity of Adorno's theory of the regression of listening and musical consumption 4. draw conclusions from the theoretical analysis via the example of a reading of music produced by the band "Alexisonfire." The significance of the topic ushers in part from the fact that Theodor Adorno‘s critical theory of regressed listening is over seventy years old. Considering the extraordinary transformations in popular music culture over the years, including especially matters of technology, the availability of music, and the shift in tastes and genres, it is necessary to update his theory accordingly. There are various studies and books of popular music culture and consumption that analyze certain aspects of music and music industry: S. Reynolds studies punk and post-punk music (2005) and rave culture and music (2015). M. Hall and N. Zukic (2013) discuss DJ and electronic dance music as a potential (de)territorializer, while M. Hall and J. Gunn (2008) analyze the psychodynamics of iPod enjoyment. Barthelmes (2002) examines the relationship between city and music. However, none of these studies exposes the dialectical pattern in popular music culture and consumption, which this thesis identifies in the argument that, for example, the greater the proliferation of identities, bands, styles, genres, and so forth, the more in fact these supposed differences become unified underneath. The variety of genres does not introduce any significant differences between them, as they are essentially interchangeable between one another. This thesis proposes that this is a regressive dialectic—a dialectic that does not obtain progress but regresses backwardly as differences exist only between the forms and not the content of the art. The methodologies used in the thesis all belong predominantly to modes of social and political critique. In particular, the thesis draws its general approach from T. W. 5 Adorno and his work on aesthetics, regression of listening, and the culture industry. Thus, the Frankfurt school of critical theory is the main methodological point of reference in the thesis. The methods and critical tools employed in the thesis, among the most notable ones, negative dialectics, the aesthetic theories of I. Kant and G. Hegel, G. Deleuze and F. Guattari‘s concept of territorialization, A. Giddens‘ theory of identity construction, J. Fiske‘s theory of popular culture and incorporation, and J. Attali‘s concept of noise and music. 6 1. THEORIES OF TASTE AND BEAUTY For people art often is something that gives aesthetic pleasure, looks or sounds nice and therefore is consumed. What matters the most is whether it is beautiful and pleasing