ABSTRACT
In addressing the question of how meaning is produced in popular music, a central role must be accorded to those who actually make the music. But this is not to simply accept the ‘creative artist’ view of the production of cultural products, which sees ‘art’ as the product of the creative individual, largely unencumbered by politics and economics. Those involved in making music clearly exercise varying degrees of personal autonomy, but this is circumscribed by the available technologies and expertise, by economics and by the expectations of their audience. It is a question of the dynamic interrelationship of the production context, the texts and their creators and the audience for the music. This chapter is concerned with the nature of music making and the roles and
relative status of those who make music, primarily, but not exclusively musicians. While they are credited as the authors of their recordings, their ability to ‘make music’ is, to varying extents, dependent on the input of other industry personnel, including session musicians, song writers, record producers, sound engineers and mixers, along with those who regulate access to the infrastructure of the industry (such as venue owners, promoters). For reasons of space, and reflecting their historical prominence, I am largely
concerned with ‘mainstream’ rock and, to a lesser extent, pop, and the demarcations present within their musical production as sounds. I also focus on musicians seeking, at least ideally and in part, to make a living from their work. Other genres, notably disco and dance music, and ‘musicians’ such as the contemporary dance DJ, subvert many of the traditional assumptions of the ‘rock formation’ about the nature of musicianship (see Straw, 1999). My discussion begins with the initial creation of a musical text. For performers
‘starting out’, this is through learning to first play one’s instrument and reproduce existing songs, a form of musical apprenticeship. If the intention is to move beyond this, attention then turns to songwriting and the ‘working up’ of an original composition, for performance and (possibly) recording. The role of the producer is central to the preparation of the musical text as a material product – the sound recording. I then consider the role of live performance, with reference to the issue of authenticity and some of the situations live music occurs in. The final part of the chapter considers the differing roles and status of those who create music. I examine the distinctions frequently used by musicians themselves, as
well as critics and fans, to label various performers. There is an obvious hierarchy of values at work here, both between and within various categories, and in the discourse around the application of terms such as creativity and authenticity.
