The Impact of Race on Music Production in America - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since the beginning of the last century, the American music industry has promoted their music/production using specific musical styles. The different forms of production used when creating music are mostly associated with particular racial groups (Maultsby, 2000). Production of music, which suits specific racial demographics, has profoundly affected how popular music sounds. Today just by listening to the beats of music, one can tell which race the music addresses. Therefore, this essay attempts to explore how race has operated in popular music.

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Historical Perspective of How Race Operated in Poplar Music

American history is marked with massive discrimination and segregation of people with color. For many years, African Americans have been segregated and looked down upon; their voices were never heard nor were there opinions deemed necessary (Maultsby, 2000). African Americans were poor and worked as laborers to survive. In an attempt to express their feelings and make known their thoughts, most musicians opted to use music to convey their message; black Americans also used music as a hobby so as not to get involved in gang and drug dealings, which was the norm in most of their streets.

In 1926, one of the self-made musician by the name Big Bill Broonzy left Mississippi for Chicago in an attempt to escape the deplorable state of life of the African Americans living in the North during the great migration triggered by the pervasive racism in the North (Maultsby, 2000). The musician recorded his first track in Chicago, and his music was among the early race music in America. Bills tracks were viewed as music for and by the black audience. In most of Bills recordings, he expressed the hunger and desire of the black people to be heard; he championed the need to stop discriminating the blacks and the value of the black Americans (Desler, 2013). However, the whites never listened to his tracks nor did he gain any recognition or award from his work. Bronzy was among the pioneers of race music from 1920 to 1940, they introduced race into the American music industry and brought men of color who were considered fewer humans into the surface. Bronzy and another artist who b5rought race into the music industry pioneered new sounds and style of production, which revolutionized the American music industry and can be felt to date.

Although there was massive talent among the blacks, they did not earn much from their recordings. However, most black people supported their own and bought tracks made by blacks. Introduction of radio stations also played a crucial role in promoting and establishing black music, which was heard by millions of black people all around America (Desler, 2013). Mamie Smith did the first blues record, many white-owned productions rejected Smith, but due to her persistence, he convinced Okeh records which were mostly recording foreign tracks to allow him to record one track. The release of her two songs hit the market with a storm. She sold 70,000 records despite the high cost at the time. She also sold 100,000 records of her crazy blues, the increase in demand for African American music in the market resulted in an embrace and acceptance of race music in the American music industry (Maultsby, 2000). Many record labels at the time sought for, recorded and promoted music of the black Americans. By 1950, every record wanted to produce music made by black Americans.

In 1961 a concert organization that brought the white and black artists together; this occurred at a time when social movements and civil rights campaigns against discrimination were ta the peak. As a result, African Americans and white communities come together to make music. The communion between these antagonistic groups challenged the dominance of racism which influenced every the American social life (Maultsby, 2000). The objective of introducing race into the American music industry by allowing the white and the blacks to perform on a single platform and record joint music was aimed at bridging the gap that was created between the whites and the blacks. In one of the concerts, the producers combined black music, which was mainly spiritual at the time, and white inspired music also known as swing (Desler, 2013). The combination of these two genres brought about a sense of recognition for the black talent and appreciation of white music by the black people. The music brought a sense of freedom among the blacks while on the other hand; it changed the perceptions of the whites towards the blacks.

At the tail end of the 20th century, American producers embraced different races; the American people also appreciated and listened to music made by the African Americans (Prior, 2013). The acceptance of different races and their style of music revolutionized the American music industry and saw African Americans being awarded during festivals and music shows, which previously recognized the white artist.

Current Perspective of How Race Operates in Poplar Music

In today's music industry, racism has been propagated through pictures and songs aimed at demeaning certain groups of people (Prior, 2013). Music such as rap, rock, and the crank has been used to abuse and demean individual races. For example in Katy Perry's unconditionally song, she uses videos of gay men in a manner that portrays their world in a negative sense. Her critiques say that her video is championing against gay marriages, which is discriminatory.

During her prismatic tour, she presented the song I kissed a girl using mummies from with big burst and open breast that signals Africans sex workers, the presentation was seen as demeaning to the Africans as it portrayed them as illiterate as sex dolls with no moral standing (Prior, 2013). Katy parry has also been criticized for demeaning Muslims and being insensitive to other race's cultural beliefs. Racism still exists in modern music; however, it is not as open as it were7 decades ago. Today racism is being propagated through music videos and subtle rhythms that are aimed at demeaning individual races. In as much as there is acceptance of music from different industries, there exist production companies, which will only record music from specific races and not the other. Most celebrities of color have come up with production companies to help produce and promote a specific style of music which are mostly associated with certain race (Von Appen & Doehring, 2006).

Conclusion

In conclusion, since the beginning of the 20th century, the race has always determined the style and type of music produced. Different genres were consistently associated with certain race and most production companies produced and promoted music based on specific race and the market they offer. Although the music industry of the 19th century was discriminatory and most music productions were owned and marketed by a particular race, today's music is not far from that. Today race is being propagated through videos and audios aimed at promoting certain race at the expense of another

References

Desler, A. (2013). History without royalty Queen and strata of the popular music canon. Popular Music, 32(3), 385-405.

Maultsby, P. K. (2000). Africanisms in African American Music. A turbulent voyage: Readings in African American studies, 156-176.

Prior, N. (2013). Bourdieu and sociology of music consumption: A critical assessment of recent developments. Sociology Compass, 7(3), 181-193

Von Appen, R., & Doehring, A. (2006). Nevermind the Beatles, here's Exile 61 and Nico:'The top 100 records of all time'-a canon of pop and rock albums from sociological and an aesthetic perspective. Popular Music, 25(1), 21-39.