27152 - Music Laboratory (1) (G.B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students are supposed to know the central theoretical issues in the field of popular music studies. Moreover, they are familiar with a number of empirical research projects carried out in the last two decades in various countries on popular music fields, subcultures, festivals, industry.

Course contents

The program deals with the analysis of popular music. It is articulated into two sections. Theoretical frameworks and empirical research projects will be recontructed, presented and discussed also by the students, individually or in teams.

The first section focuses on the theoretical state of the art. It defines core concepts from the sociology of music, (sub)cultural studies, and popular music studies. The aim is building a conceptual tool-kit to analyse the social, cultural, economic, and tecnhological dimensions of popular music.

The second section focuses on the methods and results of various empirical research projects carried out in the US, the UK, Italy and Spain over the last two decades. Their research objects deal with the practices of production and consumption of popular music and the increasing role of digital technologies; the organization and role of urban music festivals; the institutionalization and symbolic conflicts of various popular music fields (e.g. 'indie', jazz, hip hop and rap); the political and identity-building role of popular music.

Please note: in order to be enrolled, students MUST send an email to the Professor by the first day of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Thornton, S. (1995) Club Cultures. Music, Media, and Subcultural Capital, Cambridge, Polity.
   
   
2. Spaziante, L. (2008) La musica popular e gli studi culturali, in C. Demaria and S. Nergaard (Eds.), Studi culturali. Temi e prospettive a confronto, Milano, McGraw-Hill, pp. 255-291.
   
   
3. Magaudda, P. (2009) Il rischio di dilapidare un capitale (sottoculturale). Processi di istituzionalizzazione e conflitti culturali nel «campo» della musica indipendente in Italia, in M. Santoro (Ed.), La cultura come capitale. Consumi, produzioni, politiche, identità, Bologna, il Mulino, pp. 117-140.
   
   
4. Magaudda, P. (2013) I festival di musica elettronica e le culture giovanili. Successi e fallimenti, dal Sònar ai festival italiani, “Polis”, 27 (1): 55-80.
   
   
5. Santoro, M. and Solaroli, M. (2013) Ecologia istituzionale di un festival: il caso Umbria Jazz, "Polis", 27 (1): 81-124.
   
   
6. Barra, L., Manzoli, G., Santoro, M., Solaroli, M. (2019) Un marziano all'Ariston. Mahmood tra televisione, musica, politica e identità, "Studi Culturali", 16 (2): 329-343.
   
   
7. Bonini, T., Caliandro, A., Anselmi, G. (2019) La diffusione della musica pop nel sistema ibrido dei media: tra piattaforme digitali e broadcaster tradizionali, "Studi Culturali”, 16 (2): pp. 225-256.

Teaching methods

Lectures, team-work, class presentations.

Assessment methods

Students can pass the course only if they attend at least two thirds of the class meetings, actively participating in the team-work and presentations.

Teaching tools

Screen and PowerPoint.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Solaroli