Task 2 - On popular music

Adorno believes that popular music for the masses is 'a perpetual busman's holiday' (Adorno, T.,1941, On popular music,p81). He believes that a 'concerntrted and conscious' (p80) experience of art is only possible to those who are not exploited by the working class system. According to Adorno these workers need relief from their boredom and tiredness and 'cheap commercial entertainment' (p76) is one of a few things that fills this void. 
 This 'boredom of mechanical labour' (p74) is manifested in pre-sructured beats which reflect the mechanical rhythm of industry. Adorno believes this 'standardization' (p73) is audibly present in the thrity-two bar chorus and limited range. The 'rigidity of whose pattern is understood' (p.73) in a way that the listener automatically connects to it. In many ways the 'composition hears for the listerner' (p77) in the way that the music is written and promoted with the advantage of being able to predict the response of the masses. 
 The irony in this 'pre-digested' (p77) listeing experience is that enjoying it leaves the consumer with a feeling of individuality. The 'halo of free choice or open market' (p79) promotes pseudo-individuality, allowing the listener to feel as though they are defining themselves through associating themselves with a particular music, when in actual fact each individual listerner is lead to the same standard experience. The listener can only engage with what they are given. 
 The band 'Hard-fi' illustrates Adorno's steotype perfectly. They appeal to an extensive target audience for mupliple reasons. They represent the ulimate working class dream of escape to fame and fortune in their very existance. There music is heavilly reliant on a mechanical rhythmic beat, a simple five note structure and repetition of a chorus. In addition to this, the actual theme of the song is the five day week and the concept of 'living for the weekend'. Adorno mentions that this music creates a 'distraction' (p80); installing a sense of 'fear and anxiety about unemployment and loss of income' (p80). This is a subject matter within popular music 'whose pattern is understood' (p73) by the masses.