Week 8 - Music Consumption.
As time passes things become more valuable whether it be a car, expensive jewellery or a vinyl. In our case not all artists 'make it' after 5 years some of them are long and forgotten but other's live on for a lifetime. Sometimes they live on because of the quality of the music, others because of celebrity deaths such as David Bowie, since his death in early 2016 according to Fortune.com David Bowie's net worth "$230 million" at the time of his death. The reason as to why these artists live on according to Hayes is because the youth's "regard music from past eras as offering more sincere, authentic observations" compared to the processed garbage that is produced in today's day and age. As well as this, it can be done in a way of rebellion to the mainstream, popular culture being forced down our throats whilst also making them different to other youths in today's society creating fandoms of their own. All sorts of people consume and have a passion for music for numerous reasons but the consumption of old music and material isn't promoted as according to Hayes it challenges the "music industry’s attempts to define and regulate behaviour" (pp 53) and when people are buying second hand vinyls etc. then no profit is being made by current producers and industries. This is when music is consumed actively, as it isn't being purchased by everyone the music still has it's 'aura' according to Walter Benjamin (1968).As Taylor says in the second text, the reason as to why vinyls and cassettes are so popular is because they are a physical thing rather than just a digital download. The "increasing digitalisation of culture in general has led to a re-approaching of physical things." The digitalisation of products makes it feel like we don't actually own them as they aren't physically there for us to have and hold. The digitalisation of music has taken away ability to add a personal touch to the music we love. This argument is reinforced by Pratt and Jeffcut who state that "the digitalisation of music has caused major problems" (pp 57) and I believe that the actual connection between the artist and the fan is lost through music digitalisation. Vinyls, cassettes and CD's will live on for those who want to enjoy music for both the music itself and the personal touches that you can apply such as Chang's 'We Want White Albums".
I would use quantitate research to see how many people my age buy cassettes or vinyls whilst also comparing this to people of the older generation and see whether they still buy vinyls or if they have became more digital. I'd also like to find out if opposition to the norm is common amongst all ages or just the younger generations and why. http://fortune.com/2016/01/11/david-bowie-career-sales/
Hayes, D. (2006) “Take Those Old Records off the Shelf”: Youth and Music Consumption in the Postmodern Age. Popular Music and Society, 29:1, pp 51-68
Hesmondhalgh, D. (Pratt, A & Jeffcutt, P.) (2009) "Creativity, Innovation and the Cultural Economy" Chapter 3 - The Digitalisation of Music, Routledge, London pp 57-59.
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