I used to be disgusted, now I just try to be amused.

I can’t remember how far I got into this chapter before I flipped to the front of the book to see the publishing date. Yikes! 1996? Even if it was 2006, so much has transpired since then that the book would be obsolete, but taking us back that far? I felt as if I was examining original texts in a humanities class, only this was not like reading the original Federalist Papers.

Okay, now that I got that off my chest I can go on and discuss mediations. Simply put, I like the concept. In English Ed, we often talk about the different lenses we use to sift through information. We understand the need to become critical thinkers by setting aside those filters (and the biases they inevitably house), and evaluating a text for what is there, and not for how we might feel about the protagonist’s choices, The point is, it is the author making those choices, not an inanimate creation of that author.

With the mediation of music, much more of that is going on today at the front end than when this piece was written. The market researchers have tested and tweaked down to .001 of a percent, so the original inspiration and intent of an artist is often nowhere to be found in the work. This can be the result of the mediation of social relationships. I much appreciated where the author writes about how “no music will ever simply ‘reflect’ a society, but instead be caught within, arise out of and refer to a web of unequal social relationships and power struggles.”

Next year when I teach the unit on rap and hip-hoop, I think we will examine this closely. The power struggles and unequal relationships (and access) were originally a big part of the lyrical content of early rap, but now they have been replaced by songs about sexual dominance and posturing about the thug life. Often my students who are rap and hip-hop fans will say that these songs simply reflect reality. We usually get into a discussion about whose reality, and how are the viewers of the videos to discern what is real and what is put on?

In most cases, no one actually lives their daily lives the way the hip-hop stars show it in the videos. Instead, it is a teenage fantasy gone wild, with hot cars, hotter women, cold champagne and nothing but time to brag about the women you’ve had and the men you’ve defeated. This mediation has happened at several levels, starting with the A&R guys at the record labels who only sign young rap artists who can spit about these very things. As one says in the Byron Hurt video, Hip-Hop; Beyond Rhymes and Rhythm, “If I say something righteous, no one wants to hear that today and I’ll never get signed.”

This is a mindset that the record labels do not deny, although they continue to produce albums from more thoughtful rappers and hip-hop artists, from Talib Qwali and Common to The Roots.

I wanted to address what the author and Frith have to say about segmenting the radio audience. Frith writes that competition between commercial stations results in attempts to “freeze the audience into a series of market tastes.” This was chilling to me, because just a generation ago the radio was the place for teens to search out new music, become more knowledgeable about a band, its personnel, and their worldview. Each station had its own personality, and listeners were loyal to that and not as much to the individual DJs. Not so today. The ramifications are far reaching for the music industry.

First, listeners are not as knowledgeable about the artists and their songs. They may know them only from the sound of their voices or instruments, instead of knowing about their background, family, etc., which sets today’s audience apart from those in the 70s and 80s. This has resulted in a decrease in listenership for stations and lower music sales for the recording companies.

Another way this book is dated is the way the author talks about public radio and its programming choices. Things have changed since then, so while the book seems to indicate that public radio cannot successfully manage to “provide an arena where a plurality of musics can coexist and where newer sounds can get some exposure,” the fact is that is exactly what is happening today. The Current enjoys almost scary levels of listener loyalty, and always makes its goal during pledge drives. One reason is its unwavering dedication to providing the greatest range of music, both local and otherwise. Negus talks about the public radio stations needing to devote a large part if its airtime to the most successful chart-based music, but this doesn’t happen here. Instead, The Current provides hours of music from bands few people but the DJs themselves have heard before.

The portion of the chapter on music videos was good. I have my students make these after studying the business, and I am looking for ways to improve the assignment. Next year I will work with them to make sure they understand Goodwin’s three concepts that inform sound and image; illustration, amplification, and disjuncture. I will want to make sure they understand the ways videos are made now, and especially the way they are watched.

Most students claim they might watch a video just once, but will listen to it every time it comes on MTV. Some of the boy are especially less involved in the graphic elements, and just want to hear the music while they are dong other things. Because they are usually engaged in texting or Facebook while online (which is where most teens watch TV, except for specific shows), the boys are often oblivious to the way women are treated in these videos. Is this due to manipulation by someone along the line, or are the girls simply conditioned to hold it together?