Can Popular Music ever really be unplugged?
To answer this question I need to establish the meaning of ‘unplugged’ in the context of popular music. I am going to use this definition in my answer: “Of, relating to, or being a musical instrument, arrangement, or performance that does not feature electronic amplification or modification; acoustic” (http://www.answers.com/topic/unplugged).
There are some circumstances where popular music can be unplugged, but usually it is very difficult to do so. If there is a local band in either England or America, for example, that want to play in a local pub or venue, it is very easy for them to play acoustically with just their voices and ‘unplugged’ instruments. However, if there is a band or singer who is popular on a larger scale, for example worldwide like Madonna, it becomes more difficult. If the artist wants to sing live, with only acoustic instruments and no amplification, they can only be heard by a fixed amount of people. If they are extremely popular and lots of people want to see them perform, they would have to repeat the performance many times to satisfy the needs of their fans. This is not practical and therefore 'unplugging' most artists becomes an issue.
1 comment:
I can understand, and indeed I applaud your defining the terms of your argument in this way. However, while your definition is useful in terms of live performance, the way that the majority of fans consume music on a daily basis is through the purchase of their favourite artist's recordings. In this area the recent(ish) vogue for the production of unplugged albums is interesting in the fact that while most of the instruments employed may be acoustic, the microphones and recording equipment are very much electronic.
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