Summary
American music has failed to be unique because it has begun sounding like favorite African music. However, this argument forgets to note that African music has also started to sounding like American music, which is at the time the script is written. The duality of appropriation should be based on the premise that music is a growing industry. As such, the propensity to borrow ideas from a different group and incorporate them into a given taste of music is imperative and should not be used to attest to the fact that American music is major to blame for the manner in which it sounds like African music. Record labels are out to make profits from massive album sales all the time, and they struggle to find a place for favorite beats in songs to the masses, which pays for the music. Circulation and repetition of the same are imperative since their popularity is hard to counter.
Critique and Response
Feld consents that American music has borrowed from African popular styles. While this may seem an overstatement, it is the reality considering Afro-American songs exist. However, the fact that Americans do not borrow from the Hispanic or Latino group implies a powerful influence from African music. Latinos are more than Africans in America, but the propensity to adopt from them is significantly reduced. In 1966, when Charles Keil noted the trend, he addressed it by stating that the copying was on a year-after-year basis, not just a onetime affair. ‘Worldbeat’ and ‘world music’ imply the music that Americans feel is the best and impose it on other people in the world. Westernization stresses the relevance of Western music, which means that from different regions is pointless and increases the urge to copy from the West. Nigerian music does not adopt popular culture from the West. On the contrary, these musicians since in the native language and produce unique beats, which is a form of de-Westernization.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
