Week 8 - Are subcultures a sign of revolt or an expression of style?

A subculture can be defined as a group of people with a culture which distinguishes them from the larger culture in which they belong. They can be identified by there dress, taste in music, mannerisms and use of slang. An examle of a subculture is the punk movement, which reached it's height of popularity in the 70's and 80's. Hebdige with his theory of Polysemy, believed that signs could have multiple meanings. An example of this was the wearing of the Nazi swastika by punks to shock, rather than because they supported the Nazis. Hebdige found a link between style and the socio-economic situation.
Sub Cultures can sometimes be seen as a sign of revolt as some people within the sub cultures eg anarachists/chavs/ravers rebel against the laws and rules of society. However not all of the sub-cultures members act in this way. Instead subcultures are simply used as an expression of style eg goths, to stand out from the crowd. However often their style eg clothes and music are adopted into the mainstream, so they are constantly changing in order to be different, with some going so far at to adopt their own ideologies.

Week 7 - Can Popular Music be a genuine force for political change?

There have been many times when Pop stars and Celebrities have tried to use Popular music as a force for political change. Examples of this include live aid, which raise over £40m for famine relief in Africa. Followed by live 8 in 2005, which aimed to raise awareness amongst the G8 countries and put pressure on political leaders to tackle world poverty. It raised over 400 times more than live aid, due to the debt deal which was agreed by the leaders at the G8 summit. I think this proves that popular music can be a force for political change. However it is only one of a number of factors which combine to produce genuine change. At the end of the day it is the politicians who have the power and as Daltrey said about Live Earth, a concert to raise environmental awareness, “ The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert, the questions and the answers are so huge I don’t know what a rock concert’s ever going to do to help.” Bob Geldof, the organiser of live aid/8, also stated that he would only have organized a concert like live earth if he could “go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, congress, or major corporations."

Week 6 - Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

Digital Rights Management or DRM is a general term that is used to refer to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit the use of digital media or devices.
There are arguments on both sides as to whether DRM is the best way to save the music industry. The arguments for includes the example of Apple I tunes, which has proven to be both very successful and legal, as their customers have to pay to download tracks. I tunes also allows customers to hear a 30 second sample to ensure they get the right song, and provides high quality tracks, unlike some free but illegal providers whose songs may be of poor quality.
Arguments against DRM include that it is pointless as people can crack DRM, and remove it from songs. They can also unlock itunes by downloading them, burning them onto CDs and then uploading them onto free download sites. There are also new bands which don’t copyright their music, and also sites such as myspace which offer free, legal downloads.