Essay on Music and Authenticity

Submitted By roll123
Words: 1210
Pages: 5
Open Document
NIMRA IKRAM
STUDENT ID: 11030390
ENGLISH PAPER# 2

1. This essay (http://thetalkhouse.com/music/talks/meredith-graves-perfect-pussy-talks-2/) discusses the issue of artist authenticity as it applies specifically to gender. Describe the rhetorical situation here. What are the different ideologies in conflict with one another? What are the dominant commonplaces of each?
Choose a representative of one of these relevant ideologies as your audience, and answer these questions: How important is authenticity in music today? Why? And to whom?

When we listen to popular music, some songs strike us as "real" and others as "fake." Since a number of years, the quest for authenticity, for the "real," has become a dominant factor in musical taste. Authenticity is a multifaceted concept that has a broad range of implications for people who play and people who listen to music. Everyone has a different notion of this concept of authenticity. Even those who agree that performance by the singer is one critical aspect of a truthful work, likely feel that there is something more that accounts for authenticity.

The given essay, written by Meredith Graves, discusses the issue of artist authenticity as it applies specifically to gender. The writer ponders upon the discrimination between male and female music artists and reflects upon how it is to be a female music artist, who usually faces a ridiculous amount of criticism over the course of her career with media having a double standard of viewing her persona in comparison to male artists.

Artists usually tend to have a total different persona and nature then the one they portray and make everyone believe in, but it usually is looked upon as an awful thing and something worthy of immense amount of disapproval as far as female artists are concerned. Music artists who aren’t exactly what they show people they are, do not only become the center of attention but also receive severe criticism and judgment. Unfortunately, it only happens when a female artist is suspected of not being herself. They evaluate and critically judge every female musician whether she is or not eligible to be questioned upon her authenticity as a performer while a male artist, no matter how fake he is or how much he pretends to be something that he is not or even if he confesses to be carrying an invented personality, is always looked upon as a figure of awe and success. Even after the cat is out of the bag and truth is revealed, male artists are never a target of negative commentary but when a female musician is in any way fake, she’s denied creative agency, written off as uninventive and talentless. Real women with fake names are somehow considered exponentially less authentic than completely fake men portraying a personality that they wish they had or that they invented with their creative minds just to be accepted and more liked by the media.
A lot of people talk about the authenticity of music but generally it doesn’t really affect the music itself. Every person and culture has its own version of music they consider "real." And I think everyone has their own definition of what makes a song "authentic." A lot of teenagers claim that authenticity isn't terribly important to them as enjoyment of music comes down to the pleasure they get from consuming sounds and there is no way of knowing whether someone is playing a part or really being themselves through their music, especially if they are listening to a song without having done any research on the singers background or life. As far as it sounds good to their ears, everything else doesn’t really matter. The only thing affected by unauthentic music is the singer itself. If someone is writing songs, passionately taking stances on issues that they don't really mean and a contrarian belief becomes known, it is possible that it could take some of the luster off. If a singer keeps on going about an issue that they really don’t care about, this would definitely result in
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Music and Authenticity

Defining Authenticity in Music Essay examples

Defining Authenticity in Music Technology is everywhere today. There is hardly any part of our society that remains untouched by it. The purpose of it is to make tasks easier. With implementations of technology into anything really, there many people cry out that it is taking the authenticity out of it. Electronic Dance Music has been under constant scrutiny from day one because it has no real instruments, and does not fallow the traditional method of making music. The people who produce it often…

Words 879 - Pages 4

Musiqa Mizrahit Research Paper

Mizrahit is eastern or oriental music created by Jews from Arab and Muslim countries who now live in Israel. According to Avihu Medina musiqa, mizrahit is a synthesis of the East and the West. It is thus the only authentic Israeli music. Adi Masubi considers the music as playing an ethnic role (Regev and Seroussi 200). The music represents the cultural dimensions of various communities. It does not have a national allure. 2. Musiqa Mizrahit has lost its authenticity of Middle Eastern appeal due to…

Words 328 - Pages 2

argumentative essay on culture

please write 2 paragraphs (or more) on the subject of "authenticity." Please define the term and then explain your relationship to authenticity. Where do you find it in your daily life or in what kinds of environments or situations do you feel most authentic? Authenticity in general terms is the quality of being authentic or genuineness. It is something real which lacks falsehood or misinterpretation. Authenticity is original, no transformation has been made therefore something authentic is…

Words 304 - Pages 2

C. R. A. M By Wu-Tang Cl Song Analysis

the notion of the authenticity and the song. From my perspective, authenticity means realness. Many try to make their music optimistic and appealing in a commercial perspective. However, their songs are unreal, and commoditization of those songs destroys creativity. Successful music should keep the rap untouched and contain “experiential access”, not blindly following the majority and mainstream. Successful singers should present their own experience, story and identity in the music. “C.R.E.A.M” is…

Words 370 - Pages 2

Alice Gerrard Case Study

Alice Gerrard and the Piedmont Melody Makers took their music to the streets of downtown Raleigh at the 2016 Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest. A mid afternoon slot on Friday the 30th of September saw the group performing on the Davie Street stage, an urban venue sandwiched between two office towers. Gerrard was supported by the Piedmont Melody Makers, fiddler and guitarist Chris Brashear, bassist Jim Watson and mandolinist Cliff Hale. The quartet were a relaxed contrast to the fast paced bluegrass…

Words 975 - Pages 4

Straightedge Essay

a group for people who are not using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. As a further matter, they believe with not having sex with one person in life. Straightedge was found in song by the early 1980. In the “Straightedge Subculture, Music, and the Internet”, the author examines Straightedge developed as an offshoot of the punk rock of the early 1980's. In the “Straight Edge” by Ian MacKaye, he wrote about how he differed from other people in his scorn for recreational drug use and promiscuous…

Words 352 - Pages 2

Fake Book Research Paper

Fake books and jazz charts are visual musical notation of the jazz music. A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets aimed at helping the artist to learn new songs rapidly. Every song found in the fake book has a melody line, basic chords and lyrics. The fake book is a main part of the tradition of playing music in public, especially in jazz, where improvisations are particularly most liked. On the other hand, a chart is a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic…

Words 311 - Pages 2

Color Blind Ideology Essay

Color-blind ideology draws on “abstract, liberal notions of equality (‘equal opportunity for all’) to disconnect race from the power relations in which inequality and racial discourses are embedded.” (Rodriquez 646) It serves to “avoid” this sore spot that has been created in society when it comes to talking about race and the discrimination associated with it. However, this is not really something that Hollywood at this was did. They attempted to showcase this equal opportunity through the use of…

Words 860 - Pages 4

Full Metal Jacket Symbolism

the new names there are called, the recruits had to relinquish their former identity. Everything in the film has meaning and symbolism, even the music. Although, some aspects of the film are unrealistic and overly dramatic, it makes a strong point. Since there’s no jungle in Full Metal Jacket it is highly criticized because the setting lacks authenticity. The American public did not support the Vietnam War and it is the job of journalist like Joker to make the news more appealing to the…

Words 103 - Pages 1

Music Influence On Pop Culture

On average, the typical American spends more than 32 hours listening to music according to Nielson Music. The advancement of new technologies- such as synthesizers- made a path for musicians to create and explore new styles of music. Recent studies show that R&B/Hip Hop was the greatest musical revolution in American pop culture and is now the most dominant genre of today's world. Before, creating music could only be done by recording in a studio with live instruments and microphones, but now musicians…

Words 451 - Pages 2