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In this essay, I will tell about the curated and prepared debut of the Blackpink group. I will also try to understand the reasons behind the group's crazy success and leading positions, referred to as “Blackpink Phenomena”. I will try to look into the K-pop industry where artists often do not have a choice of how to look, act or write songs. Where does the line between the “musician” and “idol” lie? How controlling the company can be and how does it infringe personal freedoms? Considering all these factors, could Blackpink be considered authentic or just a part of a business project? Will music companies and artists create a new business model to increase the profits where there will be little place for freedom or authenticity, approaching band as a scripted product? And is it essentially good or bad for music consumers?
Bibliography: Blackpink movie on Netflix, Articles, Zach Sang Blackpink Interview

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Blackpink: light up the Sky (documentary)

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Blackpink: light up the Sky (documentary)

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Researching origins and debut of Blackpink.

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Choose a stage costume or music subculture/tribe's costume or style. Analyze and write up how the outfit creates or connects with a particular style or set of meanings. What are those references and how are they presented?

I think you can slightly notice that the glitter and glamour of the costume send back to 70 and 80-s. With gigantic lips attached, it also resembles Salvador Dali's lip brooch and lip sofa, from the surrealistic era.

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Task 1: Please read the section form p19-22 on this pdf (page numbers for the pdf file). Pay attention to, and note any new terms or concepts introduced

New words: signified, connotation, denotation.

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Choose a music video, analyse and write up the ways the imagery presents the band/artist. What messages or meanings are being presented? How do they connect or conflict with the artist/band's identity?

The Blackpink Album. I think the connotative meaning could be that Balckpink are "queens" of pop with millions sales worldwide. The pink and the crown together could be referred to female empowerment, especially in K-pop with gender imbalance. The crown is also spiky and unusual, which could be referring to unique style and edgy music.

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Many artists have challenged out expectations of gender and gender roles, have played with sexuality as part of their identity or persona or offered themselves as role models and icons.
Are you familiar with any specific examples and how they challenged expectations or norms?

A good example of challenging sexual orientation expectations in conservative society is the video clip "Touch" of Korean performer Anda. It was quite scandalous and even considered vulgar. It is still not considered normal to show queer references in South Korea.

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As Billie Holiday performed but did not write the song, how might we reflect on the idea of authenticity and our expectations of authenticity (as discussed last week) with Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit?

In my opinion, despite not being the one who wrote the song, Billie Holliday put her heart and mind into performing and singing, which in some cases is as valuable as writing the song. The song becomes a result of collective effort.

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"...as a discursive practice, music ‘is situated in particular social relationships and locations that are a product of complex intersections of culture, class, gender etc., in lived experience'"
(Balliger, 1995, p. 13).

What does this quotation say about how we encounter and engage with music?

To simplify the idea, it is telling that music is consumed and analyzed based on background of the person (cultural, gender, etc).

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In the journal, I feature weekly discussions and tasks given by tutor for the Music Youth Group, as well as research for the essay. During lectures, I explored a variety of topics, some directly connected to essay while some questions are more distant.

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Task, Week 3, Selling "Culture Industry"

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Task, Week 3, Selling "Culture Industry"

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Consider Primark selling metal band t-shirts, or Duran Duran covering Public Enemy's 911's a Joke. How might we link these things to he Culture Industry as concept, or how might our reactions be considered in relation to ideas of taste and authenticity?

What other examples of recouperation can you think of?

Lots of retailers are selling musical bands and merchandise, as said in the question, Primark as well as Bershka, Pull&Bear sell metal t-shirts. I think it connects to the idea of authenticity and asks existential questions whenever music is made as a creative outlet or as a business plan to generate more income. With metal t-shirts widely available at major retails, some people might wear them because of aesthetics and not because they are fans of the band, which was the case in the 90-s (reflecting to the idea of taste).

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Task, Week 3, Challenging the gender roles

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Task, Week 3, Challenging the gender roles

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There are many examples of artists addressing ideas around gender and expectations of gender roles and politics in their work.
Can you list some, representing different genres if possible

Group Queen appeared in drag in their video in 1984, which was ahead of it’s time

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Lots of artist made songs about gender expectations, for example Beyonce with her famous song "If I were a boy", challenging the gender expectations.

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The song I remember the most is Cranberries "Zombie"

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Good examples are "Harajuku" fashion style to protest against the Japanese working class expectation on youth. Another one is "Fashionables" group of people during Soviet Era who wore bright closing and listened to semi-legal western songs during communism regimes.

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Billie Holiday performing the "Strange Fruit"
I think the guts to perform such song, is as valuable as writing it.

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Reflect on the questions below and how they connect with the themes from the session.

Look for places/ways in which gender is performed in pieces of popular music that you regularly listen to and/or genres you identify with. Be specific with your examples.

How might gender and/or race impact expectations for the performance of popular music? Which genres? How?

Why might rock be both a predominately male, and predominately white genre? Which female rock instrumentalists can you think of?

Consider the ways in which value is inscribed in speech surrounding popular music performance -- what terms denote praise (killing it, shred, nail, wail, hard hitting, hard swinging, etc) vs. terms of derision (play like a girl, weak, effeminate, insipid, limp, anemic, etc.).

I think there is certain expectation towards gender in music groups. A good example can be K-pop, where sexism is still existing. Loads of female k-pop groups are required to wear short skirts even in wintertime and have a controlled, or sometimes unachievable diet. The idea of femininity is prominent and you would rarely see somebody who is not fitting into a standard. It can be also seen that majority of girl bands in K-pop sing about love or relationships, catering to male fans and viewers.
For the rock genre, I think it incorporates masculinity and traits traditionally associated with males. But of course, there are. still female rock instrumentalists such as Orianthi or Mary Ford.

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Task 2: Authenticity

1)What words, ideas, genres, artists/acts etc would you associate or connect with the idea of authenticity?

2)What do we view as identifiers/elements of ‘authentic’. (for example traits/biographical details suggest authenticity)

3)Genres and associated artists considered authentic/inauthentic (and why)?

I would describe authentic artists as people who translate their lifestyle experiences and imagination into music or songs, as well as emotions if the song is not written by them. I think identifiers of authenticity are seeing personal growth in the songs. I would say that the least authentic genres is K-pop and J-pop due to heavy control of business agencies,   as well as some American singers and bands.

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Task 1 Part 1: Do you have good taste?

What are your favourite and least favourite genres?

What influenced your interest in your favourite genres/bands/artists?

How do you listen to music? What do you think that says about you or your tastes?

I listen to almost any genre aside from Russian folk music (was forced to be in choir when I was younger) and rap or techno, due to strong repetitive beats and Opera (one hour is fine, but I do not understand why the concert could be 5 hours long, and it's in Latin). I cannot specify what influenced my interests. Usually, I will listen to Spotify to a compilation of different artists.

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Which unit topic seems most interesting to you?

The topic which interests me the most is Authenticity in the music industry, especially in strictly controlled environments and structured societies, such as K-pop and J-pop.

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Task 3, Five functions of subcultures (Brake, M. 1985)

1) providing magical solutions to the socio-economic structural problems.
2) offering a form of collective identity different from that of school and work.
3) winning space for alternative experiences and scripts of reality.
4) applying sets of meaningful leisure activities in contrast to school and work
5) furnishing solutions to the existential dilemmas of identity.

In your group; consider two older youth cultures
- describe the specific activities that meet the five functions named above

1) what activities/fashion choices etc could be seen as a reaction to social status e.g. look at Teds
2)What identities/shared image or ideas does your group have?
3) What spaces did they create or occupy?
4) What leisure activities?
5) How did these groups offer any help to develop a sense of identity?

Five functions of subcultures. In my opinion, Hippies and K-pop cultures provide five functions of subcultures. For K-pop, a lot of fans seem to engage in music to escape into glorified reality, have a community of like-minded people, join fun clubs with strong ties available elsewhere and rethink beauty and music standards across the globe. For Hippie culture it provides strong political context, provides a sense of collective identity via lifestyle choices (etc. no war, peace), festivals, and hippie living communities. For K-pop the fashion is attributed to the specific idols and what they wear or with which company they sponsorship with. The K-pop community helps to broaden the horizons and develop an identity and learn about new different cultures if the fans are coming abroad. The fans have Instagram and active social network group with lots of activities, such as fan meetings. For hippies, the fashion is more sustainable and caused by the total lifestyle view. The activities include entire living hippie villages and gateways, concerts, and major festivals. The hippie community develops the identity by having close-knit community.

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Can you think of any subcultural groups?

What exactly is ‘subcultural’ about them?

What defines a subculture?
As a group try to come up with a definition.

I think subcultural means a part of certain smaller groups of people, connected by the same ideas or ideals. It can be music tastes or something different such as fashion or lifestyle. For example, Rave or Pop subcultures.

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Week 1, Introduction and Artefacts- Task 1

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Week 1, Introduction and Artefacts- Task 1

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Task 1: Introductions and Artefacts

Introduce yourself to your group and, in turn, present your chosen object. What does it say about your musical interests and favourites?

My chosen object is my hair. I firstly colored it 16 years ago when I saw the Avril Lavigne Video, and I have been colouring it ever since. Her music influenced me a lot, and for me in childhood, she was the icon of style.