FMST 026. Popular Music and Media

(Cross-listed as MUSI 005E/LITR 026/GMST 026)
Is Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) the Stop Making Sense (1984) of this generation? How does YouTube compare to Indie records? What’s similar and what’s different? What is the relationship between social media and commercial means of distribution, and what is its effect on fandom? This team-taught course investigates the histories, structures and cultural connections between popular music and other media. How do musical expressions and genres interact with medium specificity? How can we understand changing exhibition formats (stadium vs. lounge vs. club) and distribution venues (record store vs. Spotify)? How does celebrity culture then and now impact what is popular and how does it affect the music industry and vice versa? What lies at the intersection of national, socio-political and fan cultures?

Providing a grounding in music and media history and theory, we will research and analyze mainstream and independent case studies in radio, film, theater, television and social media in order to better understand and engage with the complex webs that characterize contemporary media, its production, and its consumption.
Humanities.
Spring 2020. Blasina and Simon.
Catalog chapter: Film and Media Studies
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/film-media-studies

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