TAKEN TO THE EXTREME: HEAVY METAL COVER SONGS – THE IMPACT OF GENRE Ike Brunner A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August, 2006 Committee: Melissa M. Spirek, Ph.D., Advisor Jeremy Wallach, Ph.D., Graduate Faculty Representative Laura Lengel, Ph.D. John Warren, Ph.D. © 2006 Enter your First and Last Name All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Melissa Spirek, Ph.D., Advisor Investigations of popular music forms that have been negatively portrayed in popular media, such as heavy metal and rap, have been largely limited to analyses of lyrics (e.g., Hansen & Hansen, 1991; St. Lawrence & Joyner, 1991; Ballard & Coates, 1995; Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003), even though evidence of the sound being more important than the words was demonstrated as far back as 1969 (Robinson & Hirsch). The present investigation was conducted in response to this void in the literature. To test the music, a two-part multimethodological study was employed, consisting of an experiment and surveys, to analyze how music genres are cognitively processed by listeners. The first study tested differences in people’s perceptions of different music genre labels and their impact on song lyrics. The second study tested differences in musical genres using pop original and heavy metal cover songs as stimuli. Data collection was gathered via questionnaires consisting of both open- and closed-ended items. When rigorously assessing people’s behaviors, perceptions, and self-reports identifying media consumption preferences, the investigation’s findings refute a direct effects approach to music listening and underscore the complexity of individual difference factors. Most notably, a distinction between the concepts of music and lyric was found, providing evidence that previous research in this area has not accounted for the complex nature of music consumption. Detailed results of hypotheses testing are provided and discussed in relation to previous research. Additionally, arguments are advanced for using more complex theoretical perspectives and data collection methods. Finally, the results of both studies provide directions for future research to explore. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the funding provided by the project advisor, Dr. Melissa Spirek. My sincere appreciation to her for financial, scholarly and emotional support throughout the project, from initial development through final manuscript revisions. This investigation benefited immensely from her expertise in design and analysis. I would like to also express my gratitude to the other committee members – Drs. Wallach, Warren and Lengel – for their time, guidance and support throughout the process. Thanks to Dr. Gajjala for serving on the committee while in Bowling Green and providing comments and recommendations on drafts. Thanks to all for the hours you spent discussing this project with me and helping to formulate different strategies for thinking about the topic. Thanks to Rich Rowlands for discussing means of conducting the study and for support throughout my tenure as graduate student/assistant in the Office of Research Compliance. Thanks to Dr. Victoria Smith-Ekstrand and Michael Meredith for allowing me to recruit participants from their classes and adjusting their schedules to accommodate my study. Thanks to all who have spent countless hours discussing music, particularly heavy metal, in an effort to feed my curiosity and knowledge as to others’ perceptions of the culture: Michael McGill, Jason Schmitt, Nick Zoffel, Dr. Spirek, Dr. Wallach, Dr. Lengel, and Dr. Warren. My appreciation to the School of Communication Studies for providing the resources for conducting the study and additional assistance in that regard. Finally, thanks to my parents for the emotional and financial support during my time at BGSU, especially for seeing me through to the end of the dissertation process. Also, thanks to other family and close friends for reminding me how long the process was taking and urging me to finish. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................9 Popular Press and Legal Cases ............................................................................................9 Theoretical Framework......................................................................................................16 Culture-Based Heavy Metal Research...............................................................................27 Experiment-Based Heavy Metal Research ........................................................................34 Cover Songs.......................................................................................................................42 Current Investigation .........................................................................................................44 CHAPTER II: METHOD ..............................................................................................................47 Study 1 ...............................................................................................................................47 Participants.............................................................................................................48 Demographics ................................................................................................48 Music Consumption.......................................................................................49 Materials ................................................................................................................51 Procedure ...............................................................................................................52 Study 2 ...............................................................................................................................52 Participants.............................................................................................................53 Demographics ................................................................................................53 Music Consumption.......................................................................................54 Materials ................................................................................................................55 Procedure ...............................................................................................................57 CHAPTER III: RESULTS.............................................................................................................59 vi Study 1 ...............................................................................................................................59 Study 2 ...............................................................................................................................87 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................102 Findings............................................................................................................................104 Investigation’s Contributions and Strengths....................................................................111 Investigation’s Challenges and Limitations.....................................................................114 Future Research Implications ..........................................................................................122 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................125 APPENDIX A..............................................................................................................................139 APPENDIX B ..............................................................................................................................145 APPENDIX C ..............................................................................................................................149 APPENDIX D..............................................................................................................................158 APPENDIX E ..............................................................................................................................172 APPENDIX F...............................................................................................................................176 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Survey Participants’ CD Ownership.......................................................................................50 2 Experiment Participants’ CD Ownership................................................................................56 3 Stimuli Effects for Hypothesis 1.............................................................................................66 4 Adolescent Listening for Hypothesis 1...................................................................................70 5 Listener Responses for Hypothesis 1......................................................................................71 6 Stimuli Effects for Hypothesis 2.............................................................................................77 7 Adolescent Listening