He states, “The history of popular music and its innate syncretism, its vital habit of "borrowing" across the lines of race, class, gender, and national identity.” This may be true, I have listened to songs on the radio that I didn’t care for at first but after hearing it a lot and learning other people liked it, I started liking it. He wonders if we really like current hit music or if we have simply been trained to like it. He writes, “The original function of copyright was to encourage social advance by giving creators a financial stake in their work and by insisting that intellectual property become, after a reasonable period of time, public property.” He feels, “Public benefit has been effectively factored out of current copyright law.”Īs we read on a very interesting idea comes up. This was not the original intension of copyright laws, however, large corporations like Disney have twisted the laws for use in their favor. He feels like it over protects the artist at the expense of the public. It seemed he wanted to prove that any genre can work together if the world would just give it a chance.Īfter getting the audience’s attention he also talks about our government’s regulation of the music industry. The other artist is the rapper Jay-Z and you wouldn’t think putting these together could work but Danger Mouse was out there to prove the world wrong. People have become upset because one of the artists is the Beatles and they were one of the world’s most respected bands. This music video has two completely different genres of music that you wouldn't believe could ever sound good together.
In Danger Mouse’s music it shows how you can mix two very different artists. He could have gone into a little more detail about the recording studio, in this paragraph, so the audience would have a better understanding of the current production process. I believe he was trying to enlighten the reader about today’s technology.
He also states, “The contemporary musician is free to experiment at his or her leisure.” It seems this technology may bring out a whole new genre of music. ( def&aqi=l1g-sx1g1g-s1g-sx7)Īfter showing his intense desire for this subject, he begins to provide reasons why studio production is expensive and deficient and states “Noodling around in a studio was not an option except for the wealthiest bands.” This new technology is a blessing for song writers who don’t have a lot of money. A utopian believes in the ultimate perfectibility of man. Remarks like” the fourth and final stage, composition, is essentially utopian,” paints a picture for the reader and shows how strong the author feels about his subject. This is a great way to capture a reader’s attention since many people would be interested in this area. Supposedly you can now produce an album from your computer or bedroom that will sound like it came from a first class recording studio. Gunderson begins his essay by explaining how the recording industry is being driven crazy by new music production technology. He essentially believes “The Grey Album’s a perfect example of the kind of artistic experimentation that can result: combining a capella tracks of famous rapper with pop classics by a band whose record label has never licensed”. Strong argumentative statements with facts to back them up, excellent writing skills, and an interesting topic make this a convincing essay. It should, instead, be cherished for its odd songs and possible start of a new music genre. In his essay Gunderson aims to convince his readers that mash-up art (combining two or more different artist’s songs together) shouldn’t be frowned upon. Gunderson’s “Danger Mouse’s Grey Album, Mash-Ups, and the Age of Composition” first appeared in 2004 shortly after Danger Mouse’s album was released.