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In Caught Between Jazz and Pop, I challenge the prevalent marginalization and malignment of smooth jazz in the standard jazz narrative. Furthermore, I question the assumption that smooth jazz is an unfortunate and unwelcomed evolutionary outcome of the jazz-fusion era. Instead, I argue that smooth jazz is a long-lived musical style that merits multi-disciplinary analyses of its origins, critical dialogues, performance practice, and reception. Chapter 1 begins with an examination of current misconceptions about the origins of smooth jazz. In many jazz histories, the origins of smooth jazz are defined as a product of the jazz-fusion era. I suggest that smooth jazz is a distinct jazz style that is not a direct outgrowth of any mainstream jazz style, but a hybrid of various popular and jazz styles. Chapters 2 through 4 contain eight case studies examining the performers of crossover jazz and smooth jazz. These performers have conceived and maintained distinct communicative connections between themselves and their audiences. In the following chapter, the unfair treatment of popular jazz styles is examined. Many early and influential jazz critics sought to elevate jazz to the status of art music by discrediting popular jazz styles. These critics used specific criteria and emphasized notions of anti-commerciality to support their theoretical positions. In Chapter 6, the studio recordings and live performances of smooth jazz are discussed. Critics frequently complain that most smooth jazz recordings feature glossy packaging and pristine studio editing, resulting in a too-perfect product. Although this aesthetic is the result of a unique series of interactions, recordings do not represent the complete musical nature of smooth jazz. Live performances contain important, but typically neglected aspects of smooth jazz. Live performances enable performers to extend solos, interact, and communicate directly to the audience. While recordings are a useful source for musical analysis, smooth jazz, like other styles of jazz, is an improvisatory music that utilizes multiple sites of production and cannot be accurately judged on recordings alone.

Music radio is the most listened to form of radio, and one of the least researched by academic ethnographers. This research project addresses industry structure and agency in an investigation into the relationship between music radio and the record industry in the UK, how that relationship works to produce music radio and to shape the production of popular music. The underlying context for this research is Peterson's production of culture perspective. The research is in three parts: a model of music radio production and consumption, an ethnographic investigation focusing on music radio programmers and record industry pluggers, and an ethnographic investigation into the use of specialist music radio programming by alternative pop and rock artists in Glasgow, Scotland. The research has four main conclusions: music radio continues to be central to the record industry's promotional strategy for new commercial recordings; music radio is increasing able to mediate the production practices of the popular music industry; that mediation is focused through the social relationship between music radio programmers and record industry pluggers; cultural practices of musicians are developed and mediated by consumption of specialist music radio, as they become part of specialist music radio.

In 1930s and 1940s Shanghai, musicians and artists from different cultures and varied backgrounds joined and made the golden age of Shanghai popular song which suggests the beginnings of Chinese popular music in modern times. However, Shanghai popular song has long been neglected in most works about the modern history of Chinese music and remains an unexplored area in Shanghai studies. This study aims to reconstruct a historical view of the Shanghai popular music industry and make a stylistic analysis of its musical products. The research is undertaken at two levels: first, understanding the operating mechanism of the ‘platform’ and second, investigating the components of the ‘products’. By contrasting the hypothetical flowchart of the Shanghai popular music industry, details of the producing, selling and consuming processes are retrieved from various historical sources to reconstruct the industry platform. Through the first level of research, it is found that the rising new media and the flourishing entertainment industry profoundly influenced the development of Shanghai popular song. In addition, social and political changes and changes in business practices and the organisational structure of foreign record companies also contributed to the vast production, popularity and commercial success of Shanghai popular song. From the composition-performance view of song creation, the second level of research reveals that Chinese and Western musical elements both existed in the musical products. The Chinese vocal technique, Western bel canto and instruments from both musical traditions were all found in historical recordings. When ignoring the distinctive nature of pentatonicism but treating Chinese melodies as those on Western scales, Chinese-style tunes could be easily accompanied by chordal harmony. However, the Chinese heterophonic feature was lost in the Western accompaniment texture. Moreover, it is also found that the traditional rules governing the relationship between words and the melody was dismissed in Shanghai popular songwriting. The findings of this study fill in the neglected part in modern history of Chinese music and add to the literature on the under-explored musical area in Shanghai studies. Moreover, this study also demonstrates that against a map illustrating how musical products moved from record companies to consumers along with all other involved participants, the history of popular music can be rediscovered systematically by using songs as evidence, treating media material carefully and tracking down archives and surviving participants.

The purpose of this study was to develop a guide to help teach commercial music style imitation, Styles selected were ragtime, dixieland, Whiteman, Goodman, Miller, bop, Berry, Presley, Motown, hard rock, horn band, soft rock, straight ahead big band, Ellington, Basie, country rock, bluegrass, Country-Western, Mantovani, Boston Pops, and Love Unlimited Orchestra. Melody, harmony, rhythm, voicing, instrumentation, form, special effects, performance techniques, electronic alteration, and articulation were discussed for each style. A table summarizing each discussion, and an arrangement and recording of the same melody in each style were included, The guide appears successful, judging from commercial writers' estimations, The work will probably aid writers, performers, researchers, and publishers. Similar works could be done on other commercial and ethnic styles.

Este trabalho analisa a inserção de um grupo de músicos e compositores que surge no final da década de 2000 em São Paulo, denominado Nova MPB, num arranjo de forças que constitui o campo da música popular brasileira. Trata-se de caracterizar a estrutura de sentimento, definindo princípios implícitos e explícitos que permeiam a formação da Nova MPB, cristalizada na sua produção musical. Partindo do pressuposto de que a produção musical é uma produção social, o enredamento que sofrem esses artistas, tanto ao se inserirem num arranjo de forças em curso, quanto nas relações que mantém internas ao grupo, tem efeitos nos seus posicionamentos e composições. O objetivo deste trabalho é problematizar os processos sociais que envolvem a produção musical deste grupo enfocado. Dadas as novas formas de produção, distribuição e divulgação arranjadas pelos artistas, valendo-se de avanços tecnológicos, a Nova MPB colocase como protagonista de uma nova produção musical independente, de maneira autônoma e empreendedora. Os artistas formam uma rede colaborativa abrindo caminhos alternativos aos instituídos pela indústria fonográfica. Ademais, o pertencimento à fração artística da classe média intelectualizada e a proximidade da sonoridade de suas composições, ainda que com algumas exceções, reforçam os valores e princípios que conformam o grupo. Os artistas da Nova MPB se relacionam com a tradição da música brasileira de forma peculiar, se aproximando de figuras consagradas e enaltecendo nomes e momentos da história da música popular brasileira que foram obscurecidos pela atuação da indústria fonográfica. Os novos artistas intentam reescrever a história da música brasileira à sua maneira, incorporando gêneros e nomes antes desconsiderados. Por meio de homenagens, parcerias e releituras, eles se aproximam de figuras icônicas, consagradas ou em vias de consagração. A exaltação de momentos do passado dessa história pode ser interpretada como um dos princípios implícitos que compõe a estrutura de sentimento da Nova MPB. / This study aims at analyzing the insertion of a group of Brazilian musicians and composers, collectively known as Nova MPB, in the popular music field, understood here as a power structure. Our purpose is to understand the processes of collective construction of the symbolic positions within this field. The structure of feeling of the Nova MPB group is characterized by both the explicitly and the implicitly principles that guide its formation, which is crystalized in the musical production. Taking for granted that any musical production is a social production, we consider the artists suffer an entanglement as they are inserted in an undergoing power arrangement and as they build relations inside of the group. This entanglement affects their positioning and their compositions. The purpose of this study is to problematize the social processes involved in the musical production of the Nova MPB. Given the new forms of production, distribution, and diffusion proposed by the artists with the help of the new technologies, the Nova MPB, in an autonomous and entrepreneurial way, places itself as the protagonist of a new and independent musical production. A collaborative web is formed as the artists try to find alternatives to the imperatives of the phonographic industry. Although there are a few exceptions, the fact that the artists in general come from an intellectualized middle class and have a similar music style helps the creation of this notion of group. The Nova MPB artists have a peculiar relationship with the Brazilian music: they approach famous and recognized artists, as well as they praise obscure artists and musical movements that the phonographic industry has despised. The new artists intend to rewrite their history by means of the incorporation of long forgotten genres and artists. They approach the already renowned artists and the ascending ones as they organize tributes, produce new versions of their songs, and propose partnerships. The celebration of past moments of the Brazilian popular music history can be interpreted as an implicit principle that compose the structure of feeling of the Nova MPB.

The popular culture of the past three decades owes a great deal to the creativity and musical impact of the artists featured in Retro-Respect. The project's objective was to carefully select ten of this generation's most influential recording artists and, as a musical tribute, produce and record unique arrangements of songs by each of them for an audio CD. Each featured artist has at least a 30 year history of influence and recognition as being among the industry's best, and all remain musically active today. Included are Aerosmith, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Bonnie Raitt, Sting, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Elton John and David Bowie. Retro-Respect was produced and arranged by Kam Falk. Each of the eight vocal and two instrumental songs features a different ensemble with Falk performing on six-string bass, fretless four-string bass, keyboards, vocals and drum/ percussion programming. / by Kam Allen Falk. / Vita. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

A presente dissertação tem como objetivo estudar o conjunto brasileiro Banda Mantiqueira, sua trajetória histórica e musical, sua produção artística e a elaboração de seu discurso musical, abrangendo o período que se estende do início dos anos 1990 até a atualidade. O primeiro capítulo volta-se para os precursores históricos da Mantiqueira. No capítulo 2, são apresentadas informações memoriais e historiográficas sobre a biografia de alguns de seus integrantes, bem como o surgimento, amadurecimento e consolidação do grupo. O terceiro capítulo propõe um mergulho no material musical produzido pela banda buscando, além da análise individual das performances de seus arranjos, um diálogo com as versões originais e/ou anteriores do repertório selecionado para estudo. Ao longo da última seção, são discutidas questões referentes às opções estéticas e poéticas assumidas pela Banda Mantiqueira. / The goal of this current dissertation is to study the Brazilian Group Banda Mantiqueira, its musical and historical path, its artistic production and the development of its musical discourse from the beginnings of 1990 until nowadays. The first chapter is dedicated to the historical forerunners of Mantiqueira. The second chapter displays historical and mnemonical data about some of its members as well as its appearance, maturation and consolidation. The third chapter proposes a diving into the works produced by the band including, besides the analysis of its individual performances, a dialogue between them and the older versions of the repertoire chosen for this study. Throughout the last section it will be discussed the aesthetical and poetical options taken by the Banda Mantiqueira.

by Wong Siu Ling, Gabriella. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69). / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- THE RECORD INDUSTRY --- p.6 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.15 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES --- p.23 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- METHODOLOGY --- p.37 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- FINDINGS --- p.44 / Chapter CHAPTER SEVEN --- DISCUSSION --- p.52 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.64 / Chapter APPENDIX 1 --- List of Big Corporations and Independents --- p.70 / Chapter APPENDIX 2 --- Production cost of a Standard L.P. record --- p.74 / Chapter APPENDIX 3 --- Categories of song types --- p.75 / Chapter APPENDIX 4 --- Comparison of songs from Big Corporations and the Indies by year --- p.78 / Chapter APPENDIX 5 --- Comparison of songs from Big Corporations and the Indies from 1980- 1985 (51) 1986 -1991 (52) --- p.91

Tang, Cheuk Pan. / "December 2010." / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-101). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; some appendixes includes Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese Translation) --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Contents --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1 --- Background and Issues --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Karaoke-A Big Business / Chapter 1.2 --- Karaoke's Significance within the Community / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Medium of Karaoke / Chapter 2.1.1 --- MV / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Karaoke / Chapter 2.2 --- "Identities, Mass Society Theory and Mass Culture Theory" / Chapter 3 --- Methodology and Approach --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Questions and Analytical Framework / Chapter 3.2 --- Data Collection / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Participation Observation / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Individual Interviews and Group Discussion / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Other Findings - Questionnaires / Chapter 3.3 --- Limitations / Chapter 3.4 --- Translations / Chapter Chapter Two --- Cantopop and Karaoke Boxes in Hong Kong --- p.26 / Chapter 1 --- An overview of Cantopop in Hong Kong before Karaoke --- p.27 / Chapter 1.1 --- Change of Population of Hong Kong 1940s to 1970s / Chapter 1.2 --- Music of Hong Kong before 1970s / Chapter 1.3 --- Germination of Cantopop - 1970s / Chapter 1.4 --- Cantopop and Hong Kong 1980s / Chapter 1.5 --- "Cantopop and Hong Kong 1990s - 2000s, a Different Music Scene" / Chapter 2 --- A Historical Review of Karaoke Boxes Businesses in Hong Kong of the 1990s - 2000s --- p.38 / Chapter 2.1 --- Karaoke Boxes' Heyday and Exclusive Right Tryout / Chapter 2.2 --- Karaoke Boxes of the Big Two / Chapter 2.3 --- "Neway, California Red and K-net" / Chapter 3 --- Implication of the Development of Cantopop and Karaoke Box Businesses --- p.45 / Chapter 4 --- Karaoke Boxes - A Reflection of Consumption Culture of Hong Kong --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1 --- Indoor Consumption Culture / Chapter 4.2 --- Standardization and Personalization / Chapter 4.3 --- Fast Food Culture / Chapter 4.4 --- From Businessmen to Consumer / Chapter Chapter Three --- Overwhelming of the Karaoke Boxes Chains in Hong Kong --- p.51 / Chapter 1 --- A common Term: K-Song --- p.54 / Chapter 2 --- Interviews and Discussions of K-Song --- p.58 / Chapter 2.1 --- Individuals / Chapter 2.2 --- Group Discussions / Chapter 3 --- The implication of the Term K-Song --- p.61 / Chapter 3.1 --- """I am not one of them"" - As a Tool for Construction of Identity" / Chapter Chapter Four --- The Karaoke's Goers in Hong Kong --- p.66 / Chapter 1 --- Emotional Satisfaction of a Performer in a Karaoke Room --- p.66 / Chapter 1.1 --- Lyrics and Role Play / Chapter 1.2 --- Desire to Perform / Chapter 2 --- Audience in Karaoke --- p.73 / Chapter 2.1 --- A Desirable Place for Social Gathering / Chapter 2.2 --- Certainties in Karaoke Boxes as a Social Activity / Chapter 2.3 --- Bonding between Participants in the Karaoke Room / Chapter 3 --- Why Karaoke? Intention and Behavior in Karaoke Room --- p.77 / Chapter 3.1 --- Results from Interviews and Questionnaires / Chapter 3.2 --- Interpretation of Results from Participant Observation: Affect and Cognition of Customers towards Karaoke Boxes 4 The Goer's Goal --- p.80 / Chapter Chapter Five --- Conclusion --- p.84 / Chapter Appendix I --- Questions Used in Interviews and Discussions --- p.88 / Chapter Appendix II --- Questionnaires Used --- p.89 / Chapter Appendix III --- Summary of Questionnaire Results --- p.91 / Chapter Appendix IV --- Phonetic Transcriptions & English Translations of Chinese Terms --- p.93 / Bibliography --- p.95