Post Modernism & Music

Research based task:

The focus of your task will be postmodernism in relation to music. You will need to have an understanding of music that includes the following:

The postmodern sensibility that anything can be considered cool in an ironic 'I know it's bad,but it's so bad it's good' way. For example, this could be someone's guilty pleasure. This isn't anything I would normally listen to, however I definitely find this to be one of my few guilty pleasures.

In terms of sampling there is many artists that use samples of music from not only similar genres, but also where for example a hip-hop artist will use samples from a song from the alternative genre. For example, Frank Ocean of OFWGKTA has released a solo mix tape which came under acclaim from Kanye West and this then lead to him getting the opportunity to work with Kanye & Jay-Z on their album ‘Watch The Throne’. Frank Ocean samples many songs throughout his mixtape, including Radiohead, Coldplay & MGMT.

Audiences that are both niche and mainstream. E.g.: Radio 1, 1xtra, BBC6, XFM

The best example for this would be Radio 1. Throughout the day time many people will have Radio 1 playing in the office, on the building site etc. However, come the later parts of the day the playlists change with more emphasis on more under the radar music being played with people like Zane Lowe having his ‘hottest record in the world right now’.

The ways in which people engage and listen to music e.g. iPod, DAB, mobile phones etc.  This is still very much the same for me. Everywhere I go I will have a 64GB iPhone with me, with every single track in my iTunes library & all my playlists along side me. For my car I have an 80GB iPod classic with everything on, so I never listen to the radio. 

The legal issues surrounding sampling. For example Syl Johnson filed a lawsuit on Kanye West & Jay-Z when they released their joint piece 'Watch The Throne' claiming they had used an uncleared sample on 'their' track 'They Joy'. Johnson says that West originally wanted to use the sample for his own solo album entitled "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," but that the defendant was unable to obtain permission at the time of release. After failure to clear a license for the sample on one album, West's use of the sample on another album without permission is said to be an example of knowing and 

willful misappropriation. 

The state of the music industry incorporating any recent developments that change how we access/interact with music e.g. Spotify, X factor, iTunes, illegal downloading free cds with newspapers etc.