Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music?

When we listen or interact with different genres of music, consumers are often unaware of the cultural influence behind it. Race within music has always been an issue that has caused debate; it was during the earliest recording of music from the 1920s that race was a big problem. During these times leading record companies i.e. Colombia would have separate labels for black and white artists. Obviously as times have evolved and legislation has changed, something as drastic as distributing music by appointment of skin colour would be completely inappropriate. Some of today’s most famous popular songs that were originally sung and written by people from ethnic groups (i.e. blacks), have been covered by white artists which consumers are unaware of. I believe that it is useful to know these facts as it acknowledges the sources talents and triumphs, especially black artists that were involved and possibly exploited during the earliest days of recording. However I don’t think it is as important within our current social context, as racial discrimination would not be tolerated. Therefore the music will be judged and successful down to vocal talents not skin colour

can popular music achieve genuine political change?

Achieving genuine change is debateable as it is difficult to pin point whether that initial thought or idea proposed, is in fact to be used for the better. Promoting genuine political change through popular music proves to be a complicated task, as it is important to remember that the music industry is a business and within any successful business profit needs to be made. Having famous artists fronting various campaigns will surely grab a vast amount of consumers attention, although this could be seen a positive it also brings negativity too. It is worrying to admit that we are more likely to pay celebrities attention and feel more of an emotional attachment to what they are fronting, than that of any ‘normal’ individual. I don’t think that popular music could solely hold credibility for achieving genuine political change, as it is hard to determine whether people’s intentions are to really help stomp out the bad or to help (record companies) line their pockets.