Simon Frith is a former rock critic and a sociologist who specializes in popular music culture, and the brother of guitarist Fred Frith and psychologist Chris Frith. He read PPE at Oxford and did a doctorate in Sociology at UC Berkeley. He taught in the Sociology Department at Warwick University and the English Studies Department at Strathclyde University. In 1999 he came to the University of Stirling as Professor of Film and Media. Since 2006 he has occupied the Tovey Chair of Music at Edinburgh University. He is the author of many books including his first, The Sociology of Rock, ISBN 0-09-460220-4. He has chaired the judges of the Mercury Music Prize since it began in 1992. On January 1 2006 he took up the Tovey Chair of Music at Edinburgh University. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. ... Fred Frith performing at the Moers Jazz Festival, 1 June 1998. ... Chris Frith (born March 16, 1942, United Kingdom - ) is a psychologist working at the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, University College London. ... PPE can stand for: Property, plant, and equipment in accounting. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ... University of Warwick Motto: Mens agitat molem Logo © University of Warwick The University of Warwick is a world-class campus university which, despite its name, is located mainly inside the southern boundary of Coventry, England, some 11 km ( 7 miles) from the town of Warwick, the remainder of the campus... The University of Strathclyde in Scotland is a top research-led British University which originated as Andersons Institution in 1796. ... The University of Stirling is a campus university, founded in 1967, in Stirling, Scotland. ... The Mercury Music Prize, now officially known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize, is a music award given annually for the best British or Irish album of the previous 12 months. ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ...

The Sociology of Rock

In The Sociology of Rock (1978) Frith examines the consumption, production, and ideology of rock music. He explores rock as leisure, as youth culture, as a force for liberation or oppression, and as background music. He argues that rock music is a mass cultural form which derives its meaning and relevance from being a mass medium. He discusses the differences in perception and use of rock between the music industry and music consumers, as well as differences within those groups: "The industry may or may not keep control of rock's use, but it will not be able to determine all its meanings - the problems of capitalist community and leisure are not so easily resolved." In economics, consumption refers to the final use of goods and services to provide utility. ... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles, however saxophones have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s. ... A relaxing afternoon of leisure: a young girl resting in a pool. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Elevator music, also known as piped music or Muzak, refers to the gentle, bland arrangements of popular music designed for play in shopping malls, grocery stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold), and, of course, elevators. ... Mass society is a society in which the concerns of the majority – the lower social classes – play a prominent role, characterized by extension of voting rights, an improved standard of living for the lower classes and mass education. ... For other uses of the word Media see media (disambiguation). ...

"Bad Music"

Frith (2004, p.17-9) argued that, "'bad music' is a necessary concept for musical pleasure, for musical aesthetics." He distinguishes two common kinds of bad music; the Worst Records Ever Made type, which include: The aesthetics of music or musical aesthetics is the quality and study of the beauty and enjoyment (plaisir and jouissance), the aesthetics, of music. ...

• "Tracks which are clearly incompetent musically; made by singers who can't sing, players who can't play, producers who can't produce,"
• "Tracks involving genre confusion. The most common examples are actors or TV stars recording in the latest style,"

and "rock critical lists," which include:

• "Tracks that feature sound gimmicks that have outlived their charm or novelty,"
• "Tracks that depend on false sentiment (...), that feature an excess of feeling molded into a radio-friendly pop song."

He later gives three common qualities attributed to bad music: inauthentic, [in] bad taste (see also: kitsch), and stupid. He argues that "The marking off of some tracks and genres and artists as 'bad' is a necessary part of popular music pleasure; it is a way we establish our place in various music worlds. And 'bad' is a key word here because it suggests that aesthetic and ethical judgements are tied together here: not to like a record is not just a matter of taste; it is also a matter of argument, and argument that matters." (p.28)

Sources

• Frith, Simon (1978). The Sociology of Rock.
• Frith, Simon. "What is Bad Music" in Washburne, Christopher J. and Derno, Maiken (eds.) (2004). Bad Music: The Music We Love to Hate. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94366-3.

Links

• "Online exchange with Simon Frith" at rockcritics.om