Adornos Model kings of leon vs nickelback

1549 Words7 Pages
Theodor W. Adorno attended the Frankfurt school in Germany where he became noted as one of the most influential theorists of popular music and cultural industry.1 He developed what is known as the Adorno Model; which depicts the idea of standardized music and how it relates to popular culture. I believe Nickelback is an example of a standardized band who tries to fit in with popular culture, placing themselves in Adorno’s Model. Furthermore, I believe Kings of Leon is a good example of an individualistic band that doesn’t intentionally try to fit into popular culture, putting them outside of Adorno’s Model. In comparison these two “rock bands” differ in image and by their music; giving us an accurate portrayal of the two extremes. “Standardization of song hits keeps the customers in line by doing their listening for them, as it were. Pseudo-individualization, for its part, keeps them in line by making them forget that what they listen to is already listened to for them, or ‘predigested’” (Course pack page 41, page 445 in original source). Adorno stated that music can be “listened to for you” and that customers are “kept in line”. Both of these statements are referring to music that is a byproduct of Adorno’s Model. When Adorno states that music can be “listened to for you”, he is referring to the standardization process which all popular music goes through. I believe music that is intended to be popular among a vast group of people must do so by adhering to certain standardized traits. By adhering to these traits it is probable that the song will become a hit; yet it will be among the same as every other “rock hit”, in this case. Therefore, the fact that you like all these “rock hits” is related to the fact that they are all based around the same traits, i.e. already listened to for you. Bringing us to the next statement, being that customers are “kept in
Open Document