Task 2 - Popular Music


Adorno has quite a strong opinion on popular music, claiming: "the whole structure of popular music is standardised" he believes that all popular music is the same and is not serious, for the 'lower class' people to listen to. The uneducated docile bodies of those who want to listen to 'pre-digested' music; conform to this style of music as of being working class people, going out and earning a living, they want to come home, relax listen to pre-digested popular music as it does not take the sufficient concentration and intelligence to listen to as 'serious' music does; or so Adorno believes. 


Adorno goes deeper into looking and comparing both popular music and serious music and claims that through the popular music becoming standardised and pre digested, the listeners already know what they expect from the music; "Best known is the rule that the chorus consists of thirty two bars and that the range is limited to one octave and one note". To re-inforce his statement  he talks about how the certain genres of popular music have been digested and have created their own personal characters such as "mother songs, home songs" which are then even simpler for the 'uneducated' to listen to. Pseudo individualisation is used to hide the fact that all the popular music is mass produced, and infact, the comsumer is not really listening to anything new but something that has already been 'listened to for them". Whereas serious music on the other hand he suggests every section and every piece has been carefully thought about and is not influenced by a scheme or boundaries: "Every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece which, in turn, consists of the life relationship of the details and never of a mere enforcement of a musical scheme"


I have chosen this song by Katy Perry as in my opinion she fits into the persona exactly of what Adorno is trying to express, as many of her songs sound similar yet she is popular due to her reliable and standard personality within her music.