This study examines a genre of Japanese popular music known as enka, and the manner in which devotees of the genre and other stakeholders approach and negotiate with it. Previous academic examinations of enka have tended to locate it as a static musical embodiment of nostalgic ‘Japaneseness’. Relying upon field observations and discussions with enka devotees carried out in Tokyo and Fukushima, I argue that enka are in fact intensely ambiguous, and that the genre ultimately serves as a shelter for historically-specific listeners, one that is deeply implicated in the production of subjectivity and the social. Depending upon the manner in which they intertwine with other ‘texts’ in the listener’s life, enka can act as a homogenizing agent, or as a conduit for heterogeneity and movement – or both. This research will contribute to the advancement of our understanding both contemporary Japanese society and the role of popular music within it. / Graduate

Popular music artists portray a variety of themes through the aesthetics of their music, lyrics, and music videos. One theme in particular that began with David Bowie’s glam period (1972-1974) and the creation of his Ziggy Stardust persona is the notion of the Outsider. Bowie not only portrayed an Outsider character, but also spoke to and for those who felt like Outsiders. Punk, goth, and emo bands that were influenced by Bowie took this social stance to speak to and for their own versions of the Outsider. Drawing from subcultural theory, music analysis, and music video analysis, and using Bowie as a benchmark and influence, I explore how several other bands portray the Outsider in their music, lyrics, and music videos.

PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / In the 1980s South Africa was subjected to cultural embargo. However, at the height of the embargo, Paul Simon went against the political climate of the day and mounted a cross-cultural, multinational music project called Graceland. Although South African popular music can facilitate the prosperity of musicians, only few musicians have succeeded in fostering this aspect. Using popular music and pop culture Afrocentrism as frameworks, this study analyses the Graceland project in the context of the South African popular music of the 1980s. The empirical research approach leaning towards the qualitative method was used. Interviews and literature review were the main modes of data gathering. Owing to the sensitivity of the subject, ethical considerations were adhered to. The cultural embargo, as well as other political interventions aiming at pressurising the South African government to abandon its apartheid policies, were well-meaning, but at the same time, the cultural embargo had a negative impact in that the popular culture of the country went unrecognised by global players. It was envisaged that this study would help in understanding the motivations and intentions of the planners of the Graceland project, and how these were to benefit the South African music sector. / NRF

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Music (Performance) in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1997. / The central aim of this study is to identify those features in the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens that derive from Indigenous African music and show how they have been transformed to become part of popular idioms. All black South African popular music idioms are heavily reliant upon indigenous sources, not only from the compositional, but from the performing and interactive community points of view. In the case of the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, the influence of Zulu culture is particularly strong, although features of others traditions represented in Black urban society are also perceptible. The reasons for the Zulu orientation of the groups lie in the predominantly Zulu make up, as well as the large number of Zulus that make up black South African urban population. Of course, such Indigenous features as can be observed in their music have not necessarily been transferred directly from their original sources: the process of acculturation of the dominant characteristics of tribal rural musical practices with appropriate Western popular idioms began early on in this century, resulting in such representative urban forms as Marabi, Khwela and Mbube. More sophisticated forms and modes of expression have incorporated, and been based on these early manifestations, resulting in hybridised musical genres that reflect the broad and diverse base of African popular music in South Africa today. Ladymith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens count among the pioneers of the Mbube, Mbaqanga and the urban popular styles. It is through the medium of Mbube and Mbaqanga that Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens have established their popular base initially in the townships, then through the record industry, and, latterly, in the spread of shebeen culture into affluent white- dominated venues such as the Get-Ahead shebeen in Rosebank. Johannesburg. Through the music of the group it is possible to examine the development of a particular style traditional/popular acculturation as well as the social and political themes that have found their way into the black popular music of the 1980s and 1990s. This research will thus serve as an analytical guide to the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotell Queens, particularly regarding the issue of acculturation, it will also serve as a case study in the composer-performer-listener chain which underpins any sociologically-orientated investigation into popular culture and it will be argued that the artefacts of popular culture can only be investigated in this way.

Music has tremendous cultural and commercial significance for people the world over. It is one of the oldest human inventions and is among the most popular consumption activities on the planet. The music industry is also of great economic importance with 19 billion dollars in revenue worldwide in 2019. Despite music’s importance and significance, little work has been devoted to understanding what makes some types of music more popular than others or on the implications of success on artists’ subsequent productivity. Earlier studies have investigated psychological and economic aspects of music, but marketing as a field has devoted little attention to understanding the drivers of musical success and the dynamics of the music industry. In this dissertation, I leverage modern Bayesian non-parametric approaches, machine learning, and novel data to study the dynamic drivers of musical success and the implications of that success. The dissertation is composed of two essays devoted to investigating these complementary questions. In the first essay, I examine the dynamics of success of albums over the last fifty years. I then leverage the results to construct well-balanced playlists that will appeal to different generations of music listeners. My empirical investigation is based on a novel dataset I collected from diverse online sources. The dataset is comprised of albums' movements up and down Billboard magazine’s annual Top 200 lists of albums, marketing and standard descriptors of the albums such as genre and artist popularity, acoustic descriptors of the albums' tracks such as the songs’ acoustic fingerprints, and user-generated tags describing the albums’ and songs’ consumption context and the experience perceived by listeners. I develop a novel Bayesian non-parametric model that fuses the diverse data modalities and predicts the dynamic patterns of musical success over the years. The model generates results regarding how musical acoustic qualities and genres have waxed and waned in popularity over time. It also uses tags listeners generate online to uncover themes that categorize albums in terms of sub-genres, consumption contexts, emotions, evocation of nostalgia, and other aspects of the musical experience. The model yields insightful results about the evolution of album success in the music industry. These insights are relevant to artists and music professionals who recommend albums, design new releases, and construct well-balanced playlists aimed at various generations of listeners. The second essay is devoted to quantifying the effects of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist on artists’ productivity and musical variety. The causal identification strategy is based on comparing subsequent outcomes in terms of both productivity and diversification of musical styles and elements winners of and contenders for the award. This strategy allows the model to control for ability bias and improves confidence in the estimated causal effects. The study is based on a dataset I collected from diverse online sources that spans the entire history of the Best New Artist award and contains integral album discographies of the nominees, most of their released songs, and their acoustic descriptors. I use a two-way fixed effects approach to measure the causal effect of the award and incorporate heterogeneity in the treatment effects. The results yield interesting insights into positive effects of the award on productivity. Interestingly, my investigation also reveals that the effects of winning the award are heterogeneous in terms of gender and that male solo singers benefit more than female solo singers and groups, male groups, and mixed-gender groups. In contrast, winning the award does not affect artistic variety on average, though winners tend to explore new artistic dimensions that are congruent with their musical specialties than contenders do.

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Seventy-five adolescent members of a local church youth organization completed Jourard's 40-item Self-Disclosure Questionnaire. The subjects were assigned to three groups, matched for degree of self-disclosure. A control group filled out Green's Sentence Completion Blank. A second group filled out the completion blank after listening to popular music while reading printed lyrics. The third group listened and also wrote a few sentences about the "meaning" of the music. Two judges scored the sentence completion blanks for self-disclosure. An analysis of variance of the sentence completion scores was significant at the .05 level. However, the Scheffe method revealed that only the latter two groups' means differed significantly, in that the second group increased in disclosure while the third group decreased in self-disclosure. Several factors are discussed which may account for the results.

This thesis examines the impact technology has on the music industry. Despite decrease in physical sales and piracy, statistics indicate that consumer requests for music content are strong. Although sales of physical product have decreased, the demand for digital music has dramatically increased. The current market players and technology innovations provide new opportunities to deliver music to the consumer. It is imperative to balance the divergent interests of consumers and artists, while ensuring profits for all parties involved. / by Jazmine A. Valencia. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.