Rockism

Rockism is an ideology of popular music criticism, coined by Pete Wylie and used extensively in the British music press from the early 1980s [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1782646,00.html Rockism - it's the new rockism] , Paul Morley, "The Guardian", May 26 2006] . The fundamental tenet of rockism is that some forms of popular music, and some musical artists, are more authentic than others.Fact|date=September 2007 However, in recent years the term has been used increasingly in a pejorative manner. Critics have further charged that the ideology is racist, sexist and homophobic (See Criticism section below).

Overview

Rockism, derived from the British music press in the early 1980s, can be defined in more than one way, and it would be difficult to recognize one absolute meaning. While there are many vague interpretations of it, rockism is essentially believed to treat rock as normative. From a rockist view, rock is the standard state of popular music. Fact|date=September 2007

Interestingly, it is not entirely rockist to love rock, or to write about it. One may also care about R&B or norteño or bubble gum pop, but discuss them in a rockist way. The idea is built into the way people talk informally about what kinds of popular music interest them.

Rockism is suspicious of the use of technology, from synthesizers to Pro Tools-style computer-based production systems. Rockism places value on the idea of the composer and performer as an auteur; authentic music is composed as a sincere form of self-expression, and usually performed by those who composed it. This is as opposed to the notion of manufactured "pop" music, created in assembly line fashion by teams of hired record producers and technicians and performed by pop stars who have little input into the creative process, designed to appeal to a mass market and make profits rather than express authentic sentiments.

Rockism is a primitivist ideology; a subtext of rockism is that, at one time in history, they "got music right", and that all subsequent innovations have compromised this purity. (This golden age is often placed sometime during the 1960s or 1970s.) Critics of rockism assert that this vaunted "golden age" of pure, authentic music is a myth, and that popular music never was entirely free of the interference of commercialism, marketing and commodification.

Design critic and indie pop musician Nick Currie compared Rockism to the art movement of Stuckism, [ [http://designforum.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=_getfullarticle&aid=876278 Nick Currie on "Design Rockism"] ] which holds that artists who do not paint or sculpt are not artists.

Critiques of rockism

One of the most famous critiques of rockism was delivered by Kelefa Sanneh in a now-famous editorial, "The Rap Against Rockism." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/arts/music/31sann.html?ei=5088&en=bae986089f3d2d35&ex=1256965200&partner=rssnyt&pagewanted=all&position= "The Rap Against Rockism"] ] He defined rockism as follows: "A rockist is someone who reduces rock 'n' roll to a caricature, then uses that caricature as a weapon. Rockism means idolizing the authentic old legend (or underground hero) while mocking the latest pop star; lionizing punk while barely tolerating disco; loving the live show and hating the music video; extolling the growling performer while hating the lip-syncher." Sanneh further asks music listeners to "stop pretending that serious rock songs will last forever, as if anything could, and that shiny pop songs are inherently disposable, as if that were necessarily a bad thing. Van Morrison's "Into the Music" was released the same year as the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"; which do you hear more often?"

Sanneh further accuses rockism of representing a sexist, racist and homophobic point of view. Senneh writes: "In The New York Times Book Review, Sarah Vowell approvingly recalled Nirvana's rise: "a group with loud guitars and louder drums knocking the whimpering Mariah Carey off the top of the charts." Why did the changing of the guard sound so much like a sexual assault? And when did we all agree that Nirvana's neo-punk was more respectable than Ms. Carey's neo-disco? "

Contemporary writers use rockism as a polemical label to identify and critique a cluster of beliefs and assumptions in music criticism. Rockism is therefore not a connotatively neutral term; as music writer Ned Raggett writes, "You’re not going to find anyone arguing FOR [rockism] any time soon, or at least coming out and saying so—but that’s precisely because of the terms of the discourse." [ [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=1666 Music journalist Ned Raggett on Rockism] ] For example, some critics of rockism have alleged that it is a racist, sexist and/or homophobic ideology, in that the artists it privileges with the label of authenticity are predominantly heterosexual white males; the genres of music attacked by rockist criticism as less authentic than rock have included many black musical genres (hip-hop, R&B) although rock music has its origins in black music. Other genres included are those associated with the gay community (disco, house) and pop music, where female performers such as Madonna (often charged by rockist critics with inauthenticity and trading on image over substance) have often found success.

References

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/arts/music/31sann.html?ei=5090&en=5d74c31cbf3d2d34&ex=1256965200&partner=WEBLOGS&pagewanted=print "The Rap Against Rockism", New York Times, 31 October 2004]
* [http://www.seattleweekly.com/2005-05-04/music/thinking-about-rockism.php Thinking About Rockism, by Douglas Wolk]
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2141418/nav/tap1/ "Does hating rock make you a music critic?", Slate May 9 2006]
* [http://rockcriticsarchives.com/features/rockism/galleryofrockism.html "Gallery of Rockism" in rockcritics.com]