Neoliberalism, World Music and Corporate Aesthetics

Summary

The script explores the paradox of 'World Music' in the 90s, illustrating how the genre, born from anti-colonial struggles, was commercialized, often misrepresenting and exploiting indigenous cultures for profit. It highlights the case of 'Deep Forest' and their controversial use of a Solomon Islands lullaby, which led to legal disputes and cultural misappropriation, questioning the authenticity of corporate multiculturalism and its impact on preserving cultural diversity.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a shift in global ideologies and a reinvention of cultural symbolism in the West.
• 🎶 The 1990s saw a rise in corporate imagery that celebrated global unity and embraced the aesthetics of simplicity and purity, often represented by third-world cultures.
• 📀 New-age and world music gained popularity in the 90s, with record sales and media usage peaking, reflecting a cultural trend of the era.
• 🎵 The song 'Sweet Lullaby' by Deep Forest sampled a traditional lullaby from the Solomon Islands, highlighting the commercialization of world music.
• 🤝 Ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp initially hesitated to allow the sampling of the lullaby due to concerns about supporting traditional music over fusion projects.
• 💔 The commercial use of 'Sweet Lullaby' in various advertisements led to controversy and accusations of misrepresentation and exploitation.
• 📜 The term 'World Music' is inherently paradoxical, promoting cultural diversity while also standardizing and commercializing it for mass appeal.
• 🌱 The trend of 'returning to simplicity' in music and culture may be seen as both a genuine refuge from modernity and a new facet of capitalism that sustains it.
• 🎬 The movie 'Avatar' exemplifies the tension between the portrayal of an authentic tribal lifestyle and the technological advancements of its production.
• 🛒 The profitability of 'World Music' and similar cultural products often comes at the expense of the very cultures they claim to celebrate and support.
• 🔮 The script suggests that instead of seeking a lost past, we should look towards a future that retrieves the values and potential that modernity has overlooked.

Q & A

What significant event occurred in 1991 that influenced the ideological landscape of the West?

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked a significant shift in the ideological landscape of the West, leading to a perceived end of large-scale alternatives to liberal capitalism and the concept of the 'end of history' as famously proclaimed by Fukuyama.

How did the 1990s corporate imagery reflect the changing global landscape post-Soviet Union collapse?

Corporate imagery in the 1990s showed an increase in trends that celebrated global unity and a return to 'simplicity and purity', often represented by third world cultures, such as children's choirs, cultural groups holding Coca-Cola bottles, and native chanting from unindustrialized areas.

What role did new-age and world music play in the 90s in terms of popularity and cultural representation?

New-age and world music reached its peak in the 90s in terms of record sales and use in TV and stores, embodying themes of global unity and cultural diversity, but also leading to controversies around cultural appropriation and misrepresentation.

What was the controversy surrounding the song 'Sweet Lullaby' by Deep Forest?

The controversy arose when the song 'Sweet Lullaby' by Deep Forest, which sampled a lullaby from the Solomon Islands, was used in commercial advertisements without the consent of the original singer's community, leading to accusations of misrepresentation and exploitation.

Why was ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp initially hesitant to allow his recording to be sampled by Deep Forest?

Hugo Zemp was initially hesitant because he wanted to support traditional music rather than fusion projects, but eventually agreed on the condition that the sample would be used for a non-commercial, charitable recording for Earth Day.

What was the misunderstanding about the origin of the melody in 'Sweet Lullaby'?

There was a widespread assumption that the melody of 'Sweet Lullaby' was a Pygmy melody, which led to further controversy when Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek recorded his own arrangement of the melody, calling it 'Pygmy Melody'.

How did the term 'World Music' come to be associated with 'third world music' and what are its implications?

The term 'World Music', often used to mean 'third world music', grew out of anti-colonial struggles and was initially an academic interest. It became a marketing term in the 80s and 90s, reflecting a tension between promoting cultural difference and standardizing it for popular appeal.

What is the inherent tension within the genre of World Music as described in the script?

The inherent tension within World Music is that while it markets itself as promoting cultural diversity, it also standardizes and popularizes cultural expressions to appeal to a broad audience, thereby potentially diluting the very cultural differences it claims to celebrate.

What is the concept of 'liberal multiculturalism as an experience of [an] Other deprived of its Otherness' as mentioned in the script?

This concept refers to the experience of consuming cultural expressions from 'Others' in a way that strips them of their original context and authenticity, turning them into a commodified form of entertainment or identity that fits within the framework of liberal multiculturalism.

How does the script relate the phenomenon of World Music to modernity and capitalism?

The script suggests that the desire for cultural authenticity and simplicity, often associated with World Music, may not be a genuine refuge from modernity and capitalism but rather a new aspect of capitalism itself, using cultural expressions as commodities to be marketed and consumed.

What is the significance of the movie 'Avatar' in the context of the script's discussion on cultural representation and capitalism?

The movie 'Avatar' is highlighted as an example of the tension between presenting an authentic tribal lifestyle and the fact that its production relies on the very technologies and systems that threaten such lifestyles, reflecting the complex relationship between cultural representation and capitalist interests.