At the beginning of the 20th century, Theodor W. Adorno – one of the most prominent thinkers of the Frankfurt School – dedicated some of his texts to reflect on a phenomenon of the so-called cultural industry. This concept, according to the thinker, consisted in establishing the implications of the process of commodification of cultural practices. According to him, since the 19th century, culture has been debased by the interests of the capitalist system.
To illustrate his reasoning, Adorno sought, mainly in music, an example of the problems involved in the commercialization of culture. In his famous text “The fetishism in music and the regression of hearing”, the author demonstrates the problems that the reproduction of music through disc and radio would bring to culture. Furthermore, making a musical analysis, taking jazz as the main reference, the author demonstrates how certain patterns of aesthetic repetition would impoverish people's musical taste.
To a certain extent, the criticisms of this German thinker largely define the situation of culture and, at times, it seems to speak of the contemporary situation. Undoubtedly, these days, many people shape their musical taste through aesthetic and symbolic patterns offered by the media. At the same time, record labels are increasingly concerned with selling rather than favoring the artists' free creative process.
Adorno's ideas, developed in 1938, established an apocalyptic vision of the future of music co-opted by the cultural industry. However, the emergence of a new musical style in the United States would come to oppose the theories elaborated by the German thinker. Rock'n roll was a style that emerged among the young population, establishing a reading of the contributions of three previous popular genres: country, blues and jazz.
Using the same “limited” forms of music making instituted at the beginning of the 20th century, rock used strongly syncopated rhythms to talk about new conceptions of life, love and the world. Even in its early days, where the lyrics spoke of the pleasure of rock dancing or situations romantics, we can recognize worldviews that demonstrated the value shifts that marked that time. In this sense, we can see in rock a cultural manifestation capable of thinking and reflecting on the context of an era.
Even among rockers with great commercial projection, we can notice the presence of songs where the interference of a cultural industry seems to be failing. As early as 1956, the song “Long Tall Sally”, by Little Richard, spoke about the sexual adventures of a man who sought an escape from the obligations of work and marriage in extramarital relationships.
Even in the most romantic songs of Elvis Presley, seen by many as an overly behaved rocker, we see an interesting contradiction. The masculine and attractive image of the “king of rock” made an interesting contrast with lyrics where he shows himself completely subordinated to the female figure. In songs such as "Hard Headed Woman", "Teddy Bear" and "Devil in Disguise" we have clear examples of the situation presented.
Finally, could we say that rock has died with the culture industry? Definitely not. Just remember that in the early 1980s, AC/DC, one of the most revered rock bands, holds the mark of the second best-selling album in history. In case that argument isn't enough, we can glimpse how a fabricated band like “The Monkeys” came out to the independent work and got good sales combined with critical lyrics like "Pleasant Valley Sunday".
Without following rules or the demands of the fans themselves, this musical genre seeks to transgress standards and not worship the past or the beginnings of a golden time. Therefore, rock music is a way of conceiving and not crystallizing art with creativity and innovation. Classic, heavy, pop, hard or punk, rock is still trapped by a creative freedom that perhaps not even Adorno could have imagined.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/artes/rock-industria-cultural.htm