Mar 11, 2022Piano Man and much more. A tale of emotional engagement.Piano Man is a song written by American recording artist Billy Joel in 1973. As he struggled to find early success, the song largely depicts real life events while he performed at a small piano bar called the Executive Lounge in Los Angeles (Getlin, 2014). While initially only peaking at…Songwriting9 min readSongwriting9 min read
Aug 22, 2021Emotion, Music & Science.Is peoples value in music related to the emotions it evokes in you when you listen? While some scholars believe that the notion of musical emotions remains a controversial area (Juslin & Västfjäll, 2006), and that the recognition of emotion in music has received little attention (Lima & Castro, 2011)…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
Aug 22, 2021Jealous Guys and Grief“There is no way around grief and loss. You can dodge all you want, but sooner or later you just have to go into it, through it, and, hopefully, come out the other side” (Johnny Cash, 1998). The process of releasing strong emotions through a particular activity or experience, such…Grief5 min readGrief5 min read
Aug 20, 2021Did video kill the radio star? A look at convergence culture.In the words of American media scholar Henry Jenkins, we are living in time of transition. A time in which the old system is dying and the new media is at its advent. The possibilities are endless. …Convergence Culture4 min readConvergence Culture4 min read
Aug 18, 2021Spotify as the new music mediumMedia theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman used a biological metaphor to explain media ecology. In biology the medium is defined as a substance within which a culture grows. When you replace the world substance with technology, the same fundamental principals apply. …6 min read6 min read
Aug 4, 2021The Allusion and Intertextuality in MusicOne of the best ways to think about the relationship between pop music and postmodernism is historically. In most accounts, the moment of postmodernism begins in the late 1950s — the same period as the emergence of pop music. …Intertextuality5 min readIntertextuality5 min read
Aug 3, 2021A playful responce to PostmodernismPerhaps the most significant thing about postmodernism for the student of popular culture, is the recognition that there is no absolute, categorical difference between the high and low. …Postmodernism5 min readPostmodernism5 min read
Jun 29, 2021The Familiar Art of Pop MusicOver the course of 2020, 75 songs, 70 performing artists, 265 songwriters, 119 producers and 20 record labels charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. This may seem like a fair and reasonable distribution of figures on the out set, however a closer look reveals that only four of…Pop Music4 min readPop Music4 min read
Jun 24, 2021From the Inside-Out: Banksy and The SimpsonsAnimated TV series The Simpsons is an anomaly within the contemporary media world. Presenting a satirical view on American life, its longevity and continued relevance to popular culture is perhaps the most unique thing about it. It’s the longest running American sitcom in history (1989-present) and to a large extent…The Simpsons6 min readThe Simpsons6 min read
