This research aims to investigate three issues :(1) how the consumer needs of pop music and the product attributes of records affect consumer satisfaction, (2) this research also focuses on how the match between the consumer needs of pop music and the product attributes of records affect consumer satisfaction, and (3) how the consumer satisfaction contributes to the repurchase intention is also discussed. Our study shows that listening to music, acquiring the information about music and adoring idols are main consumer needs. When the CD products satisfy these consumer needs, the consumer satisfaction will be high. In addition, consumers identify three major product attributes: function, idolatry and fashion. The interaction between listening to music, acquiring music information and functional attributes will affect consumer satisfaction positively. Similarly, the interaction between the idolatry and symbol of idol will affect consumer satisfaction positively. Consumer satisfaction has also been found to affect the repurchase intention. Compare to consumer needs, the perceived value of CDs has a stronger effect on consumer satisfaction. Therefore, if business models may need to be developed to reform the compact discs industry.

Through an examination of 402 songs that charted in the top 20 of the Billboard year-end charts between the years 1990 and 2009, this dissertation builds upon previous research in form of popular song by addressing the following questions: 1) How might formal sections be identified through melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and text? 2) How do these sections function and relate to one another and to the song as a whole? 3) How do these sections, and the resulting formal structures, relate to what has been described by previous theorists as normative? 4) What new norms and trends can be observed in popular song forms since 1990? Although many popular songs since 1990 do follow well-established forms, some songwriters and producers change and vary these forms. AAA strophic form, AABA form, Verse-Chorus form, Verse-Chorus with Prechorus and/or Postchorus sections, Verse-Chorus-Bridge form, “Other, with a Chorus” and “Other, without a Chorus” forms are addressed. An increasing number of the songs in each of the above listed forms are based on a repeating harmonic progression or no harmonic progression at all. In such songs, the traditional method of identifying sections and section-functions through harmonic analysis is less useful as an analytical tool, and other musical elements (melody, rhythm, instrumentation, and text) are as important, if not even more so, in determining the form of songs in the sample.

Notre thèse analyse la production artistique de Michael Jackson, en termes commerciaux, stylistiques, visuels, en ciblant les dynamiques et tensions raciales qui innervent ses strates narratives. La première partie porte sur les classements coloristes et la posture ubiquitaire des opus jacksoniens, recontextualisés au sein de la société américaine et de l’industrie du disque racialisée. La deuxième partie analyse les composantes éclectiques et stylistiques de la pop jacksonienne et la manière dont les conventions employées se situent et opèrent face aux constructions catégoristes existantes. Enfin, la troisième partie traite des dynamiques et tensions raciales portées par les productions visuelles (vidéos, image artistique) et les textes, comme autant de fondements identitaires de son potentiel crossover et fédérateur auprès d’un public international et transracial. / Our thesis analyses Michael Jackson’s artistic production, through marketing, stylistic and visual aspects, targeting racial dynamics and tensions which invigorate its narrative layers. The first part is about the colorist charts and the ubiquitous posture of jacksonian opuses, recontextualized against american society and racialized record industry. The second part analyzes the stylistic eclectism of Jackson’s pop music and the way he uses the conventions from the musical and racial categorization. Finally, the third part is about racial dynamics and tensions carried by visual productions (video clip, artistic image) and lyrics, as elements of identity fundations of Jackson’s crossover and his federative appeal to an international and transracial audience.

How did music play a consistent role through various memories? In this memoir, I look at the sweet, the traumatic and troubling. I use specific songs as connections to lost loved ones. I pin the power of music to the loss of three important people in my life: my sister, father, and mother. Who were their musical touchstones? Did I share them? Did music run through them as it has always run through me? The memoir is sandwiched by a brief extended metaphor that props up the conceit that we are entering a live concert performance. It is billed as a "letter to a lost loved one" because it is indeed meant to address that lost one, my sister, my guide. In the opening section I've lost my voice. I eventually reclaim it and vow that I will perhaps meet my sister at some point in the future.

Esta investigação tem como objetivo central discutir aspectos da historiografia da música popular brasileira na segunda metade do século XX, por meio da trajetória de instituições públicas e privadas voltadas à preservação da memória e ao estímulo e defesa da música popular. O engajamento na luta contra sua descaracterização ganhou força à medida que crescia a penetração da cultura estrangeira através dos meios de comunicação. O processo de institucionalização da história da música teve início com a fundação do Museu da Imagem e do Som do Rio de Janeiro (MIS-RJ), em 1965, a partir da aquisição de um vasto arquivo organizado pelo radialista Almirante nas décadas anteriores. A partir do MIS-RJ, um grupo de especialistas no tema passou a se reunir sob a guarda de um órgão público para propor medidas de proteção e zelo com relação a memória musical. Em 1975, a Fundação Nacional de Artes (Funarte) iniciou seus trabalhos com objetivo de preservar e estimular o elemento nacional na cultura brasileira. Em seus quadros, foi criada a Divisão de Música Popular, responsável pela execução de programas de estímulo à memória da música, como o Projeto Pixinguinha e o Projeto Lúcio Rangel de Monografias. A Funarte também apoiou a criação da Associação dos Pesquisadores da MPB (APMPB), que teve papel relevante, durante a década de 70, ao reunir diversos estudiosos da música popular para refletir seus problemas e enviar proposições ao governo federal. Essa ampliação também foi realizada pela coleção História da Música Popular Brasileira, da Editora Abril, que se tornou importante referência no processo de consolidação da memória da música popular. Ao lançar fascículos que acompanhavam discos, críticas e biografias de nomes da música brasileira, a coletânea não só estimulou a música, mas também alimentou as bases de acervos dedicados ao tema. Ao refletir sobre a trajetória destas instituições, essa investigação busca compreender em sua dimensão histórica a construção de uma narrativa historiográfica que, alicerçada em instituições do Estado ou privadas, passou a ser lida como a história oficial da música popular brasileira. / The main objective of this research is the discussion of the historiography issues of Brazilia n popular music in the late 20th century, by means of the trajectory of public and private institutions focused on the memory preservation and on the stimulus and defense of popular music. The engagement in the struggle against its decharacterization gained strength as the foreign culture penetration grew through the media. The music history institutionalizing process began with the creation of the Museum of Image and Sound of Rio de Janeiro (MIS-RJ) in 1965, by the acquisition of a vast organized archive by the broadcaster Almirante in the previous decades. Since MIS-RJ, a group of experts in the theme started to meet under the protection of a public department which proposed protection actions and zeal in relation to the musica l memory. In 1975, the National Foundation of Arts (Funarte) began its works aiming to preserve and to stimulate the national element in the Brazilian culture. The Popular Music Division was created in the Funarte structure, responsible for the execution of music memory stimula t ion programs, as the Projeto Pixinguinha and the Projeto Lúcio Rangel de Monografias. Funarte also supported the creation of the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) Researchers Association which had an important role at the 1970s, gathering several popular music experts to reflect their own problems and send proposals to the federal government. This expansion was also made by the collection História da Música Popular Brasileira, edited by Abril, which became reference in the popular music memory consolidation. Launching issues including discs, criticisms and biography of Brazilian music musicians, the collection not only stimulated the music, but also fed the basis of collections dedicated to the theme. Reflecting over this trajectory, this investigation aims to understand the construction of an historiographic narrative concerning its historical dimension that based in the private or state institutions started to be read as the official history of Brazilian popular music.

Esta investigação tem como objetivo central discutir aspectos da historiografia da música popular brasileira na segunda metade do século XX, por meio da trajetória de instituições públicas e privadas voltadas à preservação da memória e ao estímulo e defesa da música popular. O engajamento na luta contra sua descaracterização ganhou força à medida que crescia a penetração da cultura estrangeira através dos meios de comunicação. O processo de institucionalização da história da música teve início com a fundação do Museu da Imagem e do Som do Rio de Janeiro (MIS-RJ), em 1965, a partir da aquisição de um vasto arquivo organizado pelo radialista Almirante nas décadas anteriores. A partir do MIS-RJ, um grupo de especialistas no tema passou a se reunir sob a guarda de um órgão público para propor medidas de proteção e zelo com relação a memória musical. Em 1975, a Fundação Nacional de Artes (Funarte) iniciou seus trabalhos com objetivo de preservar e estimular o elemento nacional na cultura brasileira. Em seus quadros, foi criada a Divisão de Música Popular, responsável pela execução de programas de estímulo à memória da música, como o Projeto Pixinguinha e o Projeto Lúcio Rangel de Monografias. A Funarte também apoiou a criação da Associação dos Pesquisadores da MPB (APMPB), que teve papel relevante, durante a década de 70, ao reunir diversos estudiosos da música popular para refletir seus problemas e enviar proposições ao governo federal. Essa ampliação também foi realizada pela coleção História da Música Popular Brasileira, da Editora Abril, que se tornou importante referência no processo de consolidação da memória da música popular. Ao lançar fascículos que acompanhavam discos, críticas e biografias de nomes da música brasileira, a coletânea não só estimulou a música, mas também alimentou as bases de acervos dedicados ao tema. Ao refletir sobre a trajetória destas instituições, essa investigação busca compreender em sua dimensão histórica a construção de uma narrativa historiográfica que, alicerçada em instituições do Estado ou privadas, passou a ser lida como a história oficial da música popular brasileira. / The main objective of this research is the discussion of the historiography issues of Brazilia n popular music in the late 20th century, by means of the trajectory of public and private institutions focused on the memory preservation and on the stimulus and defense of popular music. The engagement in the struggle against its decharacterization gained strength as the foreign culture penetration grew through the media. The music history institutionalizing process began with the creation of the Museum of Image and Sound of Rio de Janeiro (MIS-RJ) in 1965, by the acquisition of a vast organized archive by the broadcaster Almirante in the previous decades. Since MIS-RJ, a group of experts in the theme started to meet under the protection of a public department which proposed protection actions and zeal in relation to the musica l memory. In 1975, the National Foundation of Arts (Funarte) began its works aiming to preserve and to stimulate the national element in the Brazilian culture. The Popular Music Division was created in the Funarte structure, responsible for the execution of music memory stimula t ion programs, as the Projeto Pixinguinha and the Projeto Lúcio Rangel de Monografias. Funarte also supported the creation of the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) Researchers Association which had an important role at the 1970s, gathering several popular music experts to reflect their own problems and send proposals to the federal government. This expansion was also made by the collection História da Música Popular Brasileira, edited by Abril, which became reference in the popular music memory consolidation. Launching issues including discs, criticisms and biography of Brazilian music musicians, the collection not only stimulated the music, but also fed the basis of collections dedicated to the theme. Reflecting over this trajectory, this investigation aims to understand the construction of an historiographic narrative concerning its historical dimension that based in the private or state institutions started to be read as the official history of Brazilian popular music.

This dissertation traces the tensions surrounding indie music production in Santiago, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil. I conducted several years of ethnographic research on locally situated, yet transnationally interpolated, musical production, circulation and listening practices in Santiago and Sao Paulo. I open by detailing the expansion of the indie touring market from the global north into both cities, theorizing the enlistment of affect as a neoliberal technique for producing monetary value. The next chapter considers spaces for musical association as forms of infrastructure that both emerge from and themselves help constitute musical-social networks in Santiago. I follow by showing how the history of Brazilian individuals' engagement with particular sets of indie sounds from the global north bear upon the contemporary formation of infrastructures of social relations, musical aesthetics, and places for musical and social association. Finally, I detail how the tensions between the construction of audience, value, aesthetics and circulation arising from new production structures manifest in the politics of a new type of Brazilian institution called Fora do Eixo. Here, I inspect the logics of aesthetic valuation in building structures for music production within a complex state-private nexus of cultural funding in Brazil. As a whole, this dissertation explores the political struggles emerging as actors seek to establish new structures for participating in live shows and for playing music as both a creative practice and as an economic activity within emerging forms of communication and cultural circulation made possible by digital media. Each struggle is simultaneously interpolated by the messy articulation of transnationally-produced notions of aesthetics, authentic modes of engagement with music, and moral-ethical ways of organizing music production, circulation and remuneration as a social practice. The dissertation thus highlights the way new media and economic logics build upon and clash with historical practices of production, evaluation of aesthetics, and regimes for mediating the artistic, the economic, and the social.

Considerando todos os avanços tecnológicos pelos quais a fonografia passou desde sua invenção, em 1877, por que persistem registros sonoros de baixa definição? Para enfrentarmos essa questão, propomos encarar o lo-fi como um objeto comunicacional, de modo a compreender, a partir de sua linguagem, como ele modeliza a música pop. O lo-fi é reconhecido em senso comum pelo uso de equipamentos de áudio e instrumentos musicais deteriorados, obsoletos ou sucateados. Nesta tese, problematizamos essa noção. Logo de saída, desprendemos o lo-fi do determinismo tecnológico, passando ele a significar outras práticas, linguagens, políticas, estéticas e discursos. Para compreender esse panorama, evitamos uma construção linear ou mesmo histórica. Ao invés disso, mapeamos diversos agenciamentos de baixa definição simultâneos que se processam ao longo da história, circunscrevendo como objeto empírico canções registradas fonograficamente e que promovem algum tipo de desterritorialização do regime de signos institucionalizado pelo mainstream, o que nos leva ao seguinte objetivo geral: compreender o lo-fi como uma virtualidade que age na comunicação fonográfica, isto é, como uma máquina abstrata que não só se diferencia de si própria, mas também produz diferença na música pop. Para dar conta desse objetivo geral, desenvolvemos os seguintes objetivos específicos: (1) evidenciar a presença dos suportes fonográficos, instrumentos musicais e demais aparelhos tecnológicos na paisagem sonora das canções lo-fi; (2) mapear e sintetizar os diferentes sistemas culturais que, postos em relação, edificam a semiosfera de onde o lo-fi emerge como um novo sistema; (3) mapear os territórios de significação agenciados pelas imagens sonoras de baixa definição em canções lo-fi; (4) analisar a capacidade dessas imagens sonoras de promover agenciamentos de baixa definição na música pop; (5) descrever o diagrama da máquina abstrata lo-fi, seus modos de funcionamento e de modelização da música pop. Organizamos as análises em platôs, que percorrem diferentes linhas de variação contínua de significação efetuadas pelos agenciamentos de baixa definição. Ao final, descrevemos os modos de funcionamento da máquina abstrata lo-fi. Ao longo do estudo, também revisitamos e refletimos sobre teorias relacionadas ao assunto, como ecologia acústica, materialidades da comunicação, arqueologia da mídia, afecto, semiótica e a filosofia da diferença de Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari. Como resultado, esperamos contribuir para as teorias da comunicação com reflexões referentes às noções de fidelidade, resolução, ruído, percepção sonora e, em especial, para a constituição de um modelo comunicacional micropolítico, reconhecido nos processos de diferenciação de nosso objeto de estudo. A baixa definição, defendemos, manifesta-se entre estados regulares da música pop, desestabilizando seus ritmos regulares, forçando seu núcleo a modificar sua estratégia para lidar com a diferença. Imagens sonoras lo-fi são institucionalizadas pela música pop, mas isso acaba por gerar outras imagens sonoras potenciais. A baixa definição segue, assim, resistindo aos regimes de signos impostos pelos movimentos hegemônicos da música pop, sempre propondo arrebatamentos e estabelecendo modos de comunicar imprecisos, distorcidos, violentos. / Considering every technological advance phonographic recording has achieved since its invention in 1877, how come low definition sound recordings still exist (and persist)? To face such question, we treat lo-fi as a communicational object, in order to comprehend, from its language, how it models pop music. Lo-fi is recognized by common sense as the use of either scraped, obsolete, or spoiled audio and/or music equipments. In the present dissertation, we question and problematize such notion. From the start, lo-fi is set loose of its technological determinism, so it can be understood as different practices, languages, politics, aesthetics and discourses. To comprehend such a perspective, we avoid linear or historical approaches. Instead, several simultaneous low definition agencements processed throughout history are mapped, where we look for recorded songs that promote some kind of deterritorialization of the regime of signs institutionalized by the mainstream, which leads us to the following general objective: to comprehend lo-fi as a virtuality that acts on phonographic communication, that is, as an abstract machine that not only differs from itself, but also produces differentiation in pop music as well. To unravel this general objective, we established the following specific objectives: (1) to point out the presence of phonographic supports, musical instruments and other technological devices in the soundscape of lo-fi songs; (2) to map and to synthesize the different cultural systems that, when put in relation to each other, build a semiosphere from where lo-fi emerges as a new system of its own; (3) to map the territories of signification produced by agencements of low definition sound images; (4) to analyze the capacity of such sound images in promoting low definition agencements in pop music; (5) to describe the diagram of lo-fi’s abstract machine, its operating modes and pop music modelizations. The analyses are organized in plateaus that roam different lines of continuous meaning variations elicited by low definition agencements. At the end, we describe the modes of operation of the lo-fi abstract machine. Throughout the research, we also revisit and speculate about theories regarding the subject: acoustic ecology, materialities of communication, media archaeology, affect, semiotics and Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of difference. As a result, we expect to contribute to the theories of communication, specially concerning the notions of fidelity, resolution, noise, sound perception and, last but not least, to contribute to the construction of a micro-political communication model, recognized in the processes of differentiation of our object of research. As we advocate, low definition manifests itself between pop music’s regular states, destabilizing its regular rhythms, forcing its core to modify its strategy to deal with the difference. However, pop music institutionalizes lo-fi sound images, but that movement ends up generating other potential lo-fi sound images in the lo-fi system. Therefore, low definition follows, resisting to the regimes of signs imposed by pop music’s hegemonic movements, developing new ways of ravishments and establishing fuzzy, distorted, violent, inaccurate modes of communication.

High accessibility to internet technology and popularization of focus media has given rise to various emerging subcultures among the younger generation who constantly seek novelty and unique lifestyles. The Otaku subculture is one such adolescent subculture, a culture of avid ACG (animation, comic, games) collectors, while pop music fans belong to another youth subculture deeply involved in gathering and tracking the lives and performances of pop music stars. As the adolescent is becoming the most purchasing power consumer group of fashion product, this research aims at comparing the traits of the above two adolescent subcultures and their influences on buying behavior tendencies toward subculture-specific merchandises. This research is also attempting to develop an analytical model through comparison of two studies. The research framework is constructed based on the assumption that the traits of adolescent subcultures influence the subculture-specific consumptions and is examined on two studies of Otaku and pop music fans subcultures respectively. The same investigation methods are applied in two studies. First, the review of prior studies and findings of focus group interview with sample of five representative adolescents were integrated into a tentative model. Then, the questionnaire was developed based on the tentative model and the focus group interview findings, and sample of survey in two studies are 105 and 101 respectively. Survey data were examined by factor analysis and structural equation modeling for the verification of the tentative model, and finally a revised model is developed based on comparison of two studies results. Results show that the personality, values and lifestyle of subculture¡¦s main traits dimensions influence their buying behavior, although the Otaku and pop music fans take part in different activities and embrace different personality traits and values. The results also verify a feasible generalized analytical model for measuring the influences of the traits of specific adolescent subcultures on their buying behavior. This research offers some implications for consumer behavior and marketing communication including (1) comprehensive customer investigation is needed to understand what adolescents think and want; (2) providing attractive content and (3) adopting modern media to attract and access adolescent subculture group; (4) marketing communication appeals should match adolescents self-images to get their identification; and (5) providing total subculture solution in integrated marketing programs.

I’m not a girl, not yet a woman, but I do have popular sensibilities. Pop music plucks ideas and symbols from where ever it pleases to create a new narrative. So do I. Reflecting on how I see women and how the gaze of others affects this. By mapping my magpie like collection of images, songs, paintings and films I tell the story of my girl gang. My ceramic sculptures are a physical manifestation of my research into different ways of looking at girls.