Rhythm Changes: A Cultural Study of Ownership in Jazz
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2918-10-24
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en
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Exploring how jazz was and is commodified in the first decades of the “modern jazz” era and the current era of conglomerate ownership, Rhythm Changes: A Cultural Study of Ownership in Jazz departs from the premise that the influence of record companies on the history and development of jazz has largely been neglected in most literature on the topic. Through examinations of the major stylistic changes in the music, the ways in which the music is brought to market, developments in cultural production, and the operations of two significant jazz labels, it is argued that conglomeration in the entertainment industry paved the way for the emancipation of various forms of popular music, including jazz. This in turn has led to a shift in focus and an expansion of the scale on which jazz is commodified. These developments are traced and analyzed in two case studies, each focusing on the particular commodification practices of two of the most prominent jazz labels of the time: Impulse Records and Blue Note Records (both now owned by Universal). Coinciding with a trend in American business of pursuing diversification strategies, as well as the emancipation of popular music in the second half of the 1960s, record companies’ views on jazz recording projects began to change. Rather than simply meant to document the music, jazz recording sessions are seen as unique artistic events that merit the listener’s undivided attention ever since. As a result, the one-size-fits-all aesthetics of the classic Blue Note and Impulse products were eventually discontinued in favor aesthetics that emphasize the singular importance of these commodities.
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