- Music History
Music History
INTRODUCTION
Music is sound that is arranged in interesting patterns. The
concept of Popular Music started in the 1940s when music broke
loose from the clutches of the so called "authentic" music such as
pure classical music (although over a period of time there used to
several examples of classical forms in popular music). It is
considered to be the soundtrack of the general common public and
hence considered more accessible. It belongs to the ordinary people
and is expressive of their needs and concerns.
Music seems to create another world which makes us belong. This
is not just in terms of reference to music but also a part of our
everyday life. It is alllows us or motivates us to break free from
the generally prejudicial society and its shallow expectations.
This transcendence in popular music is as an alternative experience
of social forces. According to the aesthetics of popular music, it
becomes special because it defines a space without boundaries. It
breaks all barriers of classes, nations and races. Most of us find
ourselves in definite places such as concert halls, clubs, pubs,
listening to radio or on headphones. We are where the music takes
us. (Frith, 1996)
Punk had a really charged up idealism that was more realistic
and focussed. Punk was really for the people and there were no
distinctions between an artist and its audience or even between the
sexes. It also had a Do-it-yourself ethic and shunned any following
that was centered around mass marketing and music for commercial
purposes. It was an attack on the establishment and this included
the sentiments of women in music long left unaddressed by the
recording industry. Punk gave female artists an exposure and showed
the world the true potential they possessed unlike anything before
it.
Even to this day the impact of punk is felt in some ways.
Notably, for instance, as far as internet related to music is
concerned, it is an extension of the punk revolution. Punk gave
even a musically inclined common man who can just barely play an
instrument or sing, the opportunity to approach a recording company
which was considered next to impossible at one point of time. The
internet has made it even more easier for anyone to send their
songs to a record label via electronic mail (e-mail), upload their
songs on their own web site, convey the information to literally
anyone in the world, including recording companies, both major and
independent record labels. Its effectiveness is understood to such
an extent that we now even have online record labels such as Caff
Corporation in England and C-Sharp Productions in America.The music
world has become more colourful due to the punk revolution.
