Unit 8 Music Videos

1. Unit 8 Music Videos English for Cultural and Creative Industries

2. What is pop music? The most famous pop stars throughout history – Elvis Presley, The Beatles, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Lady Gaga – seem to have nothing in common. However, a closer look reveals that their songs share three characteristics: • They appeal to a wide audience. • They are short, memorable and usually follow a verse-chorus structure. • They borrow ideas from other musical genres such as jazz and hip-hop. • There is one more characteristic which applies to many pop songs, but not to those by legends like Elvis and Gaga: • They follow current fashions, rather than innovate.

3. All of the artists mentioned above have pushed the boundaries of music as an art form, but most contemporary pop is a product to be sold – after all, the industry is worth around $30 billion a year. Nowhere is this commercialization seen more clearly than in reality TV shows such as American’s Next Top Model and American Idol which search for the latest star. This kind of manufactured pop often comes under fire from serious music critics, but young people all over the world seem to adore it.

4. What is it about pop music that attracts children and teenagers? As well as catchy tunes and lyrics, the singers often become idols to young people because of their appearance or personal views. The Beatles, for instance, had a distinctive and much-copied look – their “moptop” hairstyles, their Indian-influenced shirts, their ankle-length boots – but they also represented countercultural ideals such as free love which were popular in the 1960s. Today, although not many people would be crazy enough to copy Lady Gaga’s outfits, she is widely looked up to for supporting lesbian and gay rights. In 2010, she played a charity concert for victims of the Haiti earthquake and raised half a million dollars in one night.

5. Concerts are an important way for pop stars to make money and raise their profiles. Most bands go on tour once a year, coincidingwith the release of a new album, and play smaller gigs in between. Tour concerts are expected to be extravagant, theatrical performances; Katy Perry promised fans in 2011 that her California Dreams tour would ‘engage all of your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch’ and it did, with its magical candy land theme and countless costume changes. Although the tour received positive reviews, and Perry donated some of its profits to charity, the singer was also criticized for setting high prices. Tickets for her 2014 Prismatic world tour cost up to $140, putting them out of reach for most young people.

6. Pop music will always have its detractors. It is common to hear the older generation complain that all of the songs sound the same, or that stars these days lip-sync instead of singing live. But pop has been a teenage obsession since Elvis burst onto the scene in 1953, and it doesn’t look to be going away any time soon. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaqokusDbbs

7. Dialogues

8. Dialogue 1 • Two students are talking about going to a pop concert on the weekend. • Dean: Clare! I’ve got some good news for you! • Clare: Oh yeah? What is it? • Dean: These arrived in the mail today. • Clare: Oooooh! The tickets for the 2PM concert! • Dean: Yeah, I thought you’d be pleased. • Clare: Only six days to wait. I’m so excited. • Dean: Me too. They’ve been my favorite band since they started. • Clare: What are you going to wear to the concert? • Dean: Well I’ve got a 2PM tee-shirt, so I guess I’ll wear that. It’s old, though. I hope they’ll be selling some new ones on the tour. • Clare: I’m sure they will be. I want one too! • Dean: Have you been on the tour website? It has loads of details about the costumes they wear, the songs they play … • Clare: No, I haven’t. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. • Dean: Ha ha, OK. But it looks amazing. Shall we go listen to some of their music now?

9. Dialogue 2 • Two students are taking with excitement about the news that an international pop star is coming to Taiwan. The star is known for her controversial and bizarre style of stage performance. • Penny: Guess what I heard on the news last night? • Will: What? • Penny: Lady Gaga is playing a gig in Taipei in summer. • Will: No way. Lady Gaga? I love her! • Penny: So do I. We have to go! The tickets go on sale Friday. • Will: How much are they? • Penny: Um … this is the problem. The cheapest ticket is $3,000. • Will: What?! That’s so expensive. I don’t have that much money. • Penny: We have to find a way. We can’t miss this concert. Could you borrow some from your parents? • Will: I don’t think they would lend me the money. They hate Lady Gaga. • Penny: Seriously? Why? • Will: Oh, you know my parents. They’re pretty conservative. They think she’s kind of crazy, I guess. • Penny: But that’s just how she dresses. She’s a good person. • Will: I know that, and you know that. But they’re from a different generation. They don’t understand. • Penny: Well, ask them anyway, and I’ll ask my mom too. It has to be worth a try!

10. Cultural notes

11. Note 1 • Before the 1990s, the world did not pay much attention to South Korean pop music. These days, K-pop has a global audience and is worth around $3.4 billion a year. What happened? • In 1992, the group Seo Taiji and Boys released Nan Arayo, which borrowed elements of foreign hip-hop music and caught the public’s imagination. A few years later, the first “idol bands” – groups of young people who had been trained in music and dance since childhood – started to appear. And from there K-pop just grew and grew, peaking in 2012 with Psy’s Gangnam Style. • The distinctive features of K-pop, compared to music from other countries, are its tightly choreographed dance routines and matching costumes for band members. Fans of K-pop are said to be the most loyal in the world; perhaps even members of the Korean government are fans, since they partly fund the industry – or perhaps they just recognise what a valuable export K-pop is.