SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 321-4

THE CULTURAL PRODUCTION OF POPULAR MUSIC

Prerequisite:

CMNS 221.

Overview:

How can we better understand popular music, a form of cultural expression that fills our daily lives? This course will consider popular music as a cultural industry. Thus we will consider both the material conditions and the symbolic dimension of its production and consumption. We will focus on music ranging from mainstream genres to drum and bass to post-rock to qawaali and beyond. We will attempt to construct a theoretical “toolkit”‚ to help us further understand popular music in its various forms. Some concepts that we will employ include: political economy, ideology, critical theory, and cultural historiography. Some of the key issues we will focus on include: concepts of culture and popular culture; political/ideological dimensions of popular music; technology and cultural production; the commodification of music and culture; ethnicities, cultural identities, and music; ritual, cultural practices and popular music; production, promotion, and the market; local cultures and popular music; history, memory and popular music; post-colonial theory and popular music; authenticity and popular culture.

Evaluation:

Mid-term examination 20%
Tutorial (participation and reports) 15%
Final take-home examination 25%
Major term paper 40%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty," and "Academic Discipline" (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).