Hidden Implications Behind Music in Television

Ben Aslinger's Rocking Prime Time: Gender, the WB, and Teen Culture

Music has helped the television industry convey messages that aren't easily expressed through character dialogue and action. Music has also been able to emphasize a situation, such as Xander, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, being emotionally rejected by Buffy and walks away to "Falling to Pieces" by Patsy Cline. Listening to something more heartfelt is considered to be feminine, thus the stereotype in conjunction to being played to emphasize a man's feelings can belittle the moment and the character by emasculating him (although I argue femininity isn't negative and shouldn't give such a discriminatory effect). If Xander walked away with a male singer and the song had more of an aggressive "f*ck you," then the audience would have a different understanding of his character. Driving away from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as another example can be if Celine Dion's song, "My Heart Will Go On," played during the ending of The Godfather where the Heads of all the mafia's were 'taken care of.' Although the audience experiences the same story, with same dialogue, and the events, music has the power to subconsciously send the audience signals and assumptions to how they should perceive a moment, thus changing the entire viewing experience of the movie scene.

The reason why I was so interested in this essay and felt disappointed was that I studied the same thing Aslinger seems to have only brushed the surface. For two film projects, I had to create my own soundtrack for my videos and I had to create a score which successfully emphasized the feeling and understanding of the short film. So I understand the importance of music and how one awkward section in a song can completely change the overall 'feeling' of a scene, whether you, the director, wants that sudden change of perception or not. Instead, I felt Alsinger focused too much on the history of music being incorporated into the television industry than its effects on gender and teen culture (he mostly focuses on how teen television was effected behind the scenes).

As said before, what Aslinger argues in his essay good to read, but felt as though he could have gone more in-depth between music, gender, and what makes it for teens. True, the Xander example was good, I was hoping to have more (and better) examples of how different forms of music can effect the same scene and the amount of influence a single song has over it. I'm not able to fully understand what Aslinger talking about in his examples of Dawson's Creek because I have never watched a full episode of the series. In short, I felt that Aslinger could have also gone more in depth with the way music manipulates the viewer's perception.



Caralyn Bolte's "Normal Is the Watchword": Exiling Cultural Anxieties and Redefining Desire from the Margins

What grabbed my attention to Bolte's essay was how she originally compares novels to television and how both mediums utilize genre to critique and deconstruct the real world, particularly with the power of an 'exiled' protagonist. Although I have never seen Veronica Mars, I was able to understand Bolte's argument through her examples with Veronica, exposing the social hierachy of class, and with Buffy in terms of how the power of an exiled female protagonist assists the audience in understanding the messages and critiques their series tries to express about the real world. By isolating the character from the social "norm," they become their own being and are the comparative force which emphasizes and highlights the problematic issues these female protagonists continuously challenge, particularly by being an island upon themselves.

With particular attention to gender and identity in Buffy, I appreciated Joss Whedon's approach in reversing gender expectations by having the stereotypical white blonde woman repeatedly killed by a monster in a horror movie, and changing her into becoming the one to kill the monster. Furthermore, Buffy contradicts the traditional expectations of women; an obvious example is Buffy's small size that isn't weak and frail as the traditional perception of women perceives it to be. Instead, Buffy is strong and resilient, staking those misogynistic and demeaning descriptions of women in the heart.

Nevertheless, by breaking gender-stereotypes, both Veronica and Buffy make themselves "alone in their responsibilities" (99), making themselves even more isolated from the traditional conventions of women, particularly in them being depending on a man (with Twilight as a prime example).

Music on TV

Ben Aslinger’s piece in Teen TV discusses the presence of music in teen shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek. It talks about how the music not only enhances the show’s entertainment value, it also helps viewers better understand the characters and plotline. Different styles of music can set the tone of the scene, as well as establish the personality and mood of the characters. It can build many extra details that otherwise wouldn’t be possible to squeeze into a half hour to an hour television slot.

The chapter discusses how there are often issues getting the licensing for songs when the episode is being sold on a DVD or placed on instant stream services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime instant video. The original music in the episode may have to change to songs that are easier to receive licensing for. When this happens, the fans are often outraged. When Dawson’s Creek was added to Netflix, the insanely popular Paula Cole theme song was changed to a fairly unknown song. Even someone who didn’t watch the show was subjected to countless complaints.

The battle with music licensing is nothing new. It has existed in the film industry for years. We’ve all experienced the moment when you try to watch a film clip or tv clip on Youtube and are given a message that the clip has been removed due to copyright infringement. I don’t see why we’re still having this issue. The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation. Having a tie-in with a popular tv show only popularizes the song more. For example, having “I don’t want to be” as the theme song to One Tree Hill launched Gavin Degraws entire career.

Music and TV

            In Ben Aslinger essay we learn about the role of music in the history of television. WB network in attempt to reach teen audience included music into their programs. However, because  licensing was expensive the network figured an agreement where tv would be propaganda for the artist and their music in exchange for a lower cost to play the songs during one of their shows. However, when it came time for the programs to be released on DVD the licensing was too expensive that WB had to replace the original songs by soundalikes.

"the economic and legal negotiations surrounding licensing hit a major snag over DVD licensing rates.  The WB and production companies working with the network angered fans when early seasons of Felicity and Dawson's Creek were significantly altered in the transition from broadcast to DVD with original songs replaced with soundalikes" (82).

Aside from just having an aesthetic importance, music also has "textual, and affective importance." (86) Music was used as a way to "map characters' emotional growth in addition to the dialogue, mise-en-scene, and cinematography of the program" (87). I always considered music to have an impact in the way we perceive what we see. However, I dont think I've noted music involved in the development of a character.

Today, this the use of hit songs are still used on tv. However it works in reverse compared to the 90's. A song first becomes a hit song and then it is used on tv. When I speak of tv hit songs are mostly played - from what I'm aware of- on big time movies. I've failed hear big time songs on tv programs. although the last ones I've watched have been True Blood and Game of Thrones. Therefore, the music of today would not be fitting.

In the movie Tammy (2014) one of the sound track songs is Thrift Shop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes).  

Then we have programs like Carrie Diaries that use a lot of hit songs from previous years. Could it be that licensing it cheaper for older songs?

The list of Carries Diaries soundtrack for season 1 is: 
 "Material Girl" – The Bird & The Bee
 "Just Can't Get Enough" – Depeche Mode
 "Jetfighter" – The Three O'Clock
 "Footloose" – Kenny Loggins
 "Burning Down the House" – Talking Heads
 "Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes
 "Blue Monday" – New Order
 "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" – Cyndi Lauper
 "Hold Me All Night" – Jerry Honigman
 "I Melt With You" – Modern English
 "Let The Music Play" – Shannon
 "Temptation" – Cobra Verde
 "The Way You Love Me" – Jerry Honigman

Music in Teen TV

When we watch shows or movies, we tend to under think the role music plays. Little do we know, the tunes we hear are placed into the show we watch to relate the historical context and familiarize narrative meanings. The WB is the first and most known for capitalizing and creating this synergy. Not only did it help monetize but also helped the artist and viewers connect to the show they are watching. Music speaks volumes, especially when its played during certain scenes. It helps hook and draw viewers. The music also expresses what the character is feeling as well as relating to the realities of the viewers.

We greatly under estimate the significance of music. When I watch TV or even watch someone else watch TV, with and without sound, you can begin to see how music or melodies play a character. As described on page 89, " we persist in ignoring how soundtrack has modified our perception".  The soundtrack has not only spoke on behalf of what the characters feelings but what they are going through, as well as relating to the viewer. It does this with gender, dilemmas, and personality. We can observe the way music does this by looking at TV and music together over the years. Take American Bandstand for example. Early AB shows are seen with people dressing, dancing and looking the same. As the years went on, we can see the individualistic and unique way music has shifted the way people carry themselves.

Music also helps narrow viewers to smaller groups. A certain show will play music that relates to its viewer and his/her teen life. Music has helped niche together people of its targeted audience. Even the instruments used help in this aspect. A guitar, something mostly younger people play or listen to will be heard on a show. The audiovisual takes the observer on a pov ride mirroring what they have been through or what they will go through.  
 

Veronica Mars and Me

I am a self proclaimed Marshmallow* and I don't care who know's it. I watched the whole series, contributed to the kickstarter and even went to an advanced screening of the movie. (I have two T-Shirts to prove it!) What I found most interesting about the Bolte article is how important it is to view Veronica as an outsider. While I always understood the show to challenge the societal norms of high school, I never really appreciated how key it is for Veronica to be someone outside of those norms. In fact, until the death of her best friend and her rape, Veronica never questioned anything and took advantage of the exact norms and societal rules that she picks apart in the series. On the inside, it's almost impossible to see the truth, while an outside observer can pick up on wider ideas.

I think this is very important for how the audience connects with both the show and Veronica as a character. Generally speaking, most high schoolers are not in what Bolte refers to as the "in-crowd." This means that a majority of teenagers feel in some way that they themselves are outliers. As an intelligent, critical outlier, Veronica can communicate with the audience the advantages of outlier-ness and why it is more important to be honest and thinking than be part of the "in-crowd." The show serves as a critical analysis of teenage social dynamics, but by telling this story through an independent and intelligent character, these observations can be easily appreciated and understood by people of all types.

*For those who are unaware, Marshmallow is the name given to the fans of Veronica Mars based off of a line in the Pilot.

Teens On TV

This class has made me feel nostalgic because everything in the text so far reminds me of that era and time period, when I was 13-14 freshman year of high school. That being said the thing that drew me into the text was the statement that was made by the first article by Ben Aslinger, that the music was in fact programmed to make the audience buy the CD and buy the clothes from the show. I distinctly remember buying Paula Cole's album and loving the theme to Dawson's Creek. And the characters being older than I was brought an awakening to me to be exposed to more teen issues, being that at that time I was not aware of anything that was really going on in the show meaning sexually. But another fact was that having the music videos playing at the end of the program and also having the "American Eagle" commercial introduced, the branding that the author of the article mentioned as well. I never heard of "American Eagle" until "Joey and Dawson " were wearing it. That different preppy light summer style was never something that a girl from Queens circa 1999 would ever wear. Paula Cole would never be music that I would ever listen to unless I had the influence from the show. That being said I completely agree with the statements that the authors did say because I am a product of exactly what kind of branding and marketing they wanted (lol).

Narrowcasting and the WB

*I misread the prompt and thought we were supposed to write about Tuesday's readings. Instead of deleting this, I'm just going to write another one that will count as my assignment*

The WB's targeting of teens and the like could be considered the beginnings of modern narrowcasting approaches. Whereas beforehand the goal was to reach as wide an audience as possible and thereby making your programs as accessible as possible, the WB's approach was to create specific programing that may not have appealed to everyone, but certainly appealed to teens. Wee points out in her article that not only did their share of the teenage market increase, but their share of a much wider market ranging from 18-49 year olds increased as well.

At first this result may sound counterintuitive, but I believe it's an important note about narrowcasting and story telling in general. In most cases, I find that the wider you try to cast your metaphorical net while storytelling, the lower the quality of the produced narrative. This is because the more people you try to include, the farther you get from really connecting with any individual. If a story about kids spends half it's time viewing the world from the adults perspective to give the adults something to latch onto, you take away from the connection kids are making to the narrative and emotional arc of the story as a whole and vice versa. By trying to tell a story from one general outlook, you can make a more consistent and compelling narrative, that will in fact appeal to more than simply those perspectives represented in the story. Today, it is easy to see this line of thinking in action, with so many different and focused genres appealing directly to specific audiences. Yet it's also clear to see that the lines of who these audience members is blurred simply because many people just enjoy quality programming.

Music in Teen TV

In class, so far, there have been a few key components to a Teen TV program that we have discussed. One of these factors, as discussed in the introduction to our textbook, is the idea that one of the goals of Teen TV is to attract younger viewers to broadcast television in order to sell advertising space to companies that wish to reach the younger audiences.

This week's readings, specifically Aslinger's essay, shows another example of Teen TV being used in order to promote some other type of media. In the essay, Aslinger discussed the strategy introduced by the WB network in which the producers of their programs would use popular music within their episode soundtracks. In order to use these songs, the WB had to solve one big obstacle: Licensing popular songs is expensive!

The WB solved this issue in multiple ways. Firstly, they made deals with artists to give them a 15 second slot at the end of an episode which used their song in order to promote their albums. Secondly, Warner Brothers worked in-house and used many artists from the Warner Brothers own record label.

Many of the songs used in Teen Television shows soon became radio hits as well

The use of popular Music in Teen TV shows another example of the merchandising potential of teen television.

Influence of Written Fiction to Our Reality

Ben Aslinger addresses some very important factors regarding the shows we used to watch, and how much we, or at least I, didn’t pick up on that included the reasoning behind why these shows did what they did, and still do what they do. Music is essential in TV shows, and is a majority of what tugs at the emotions of viewers, making them tune in to the episode airing next week. What Aslinger points out that I didn’t put together as much while I was watching, is how much of a marketing strategy this was for upcoming artists. “WB’s business and its programs’ textual strategies represent a watershed moment in the history of music licensing for television.”(79) I found it amazing that “producers saved anywhere from three to ten thousand dollars in licensing fees per song.” (81) However, I believe that they were lucky in a time period where kids were not as savvy as they are now in pirating music. Aslinger even points out that statements made regarding piracy in relation to music licensing were “utopian statements.” (82) I specifically remember the show One Tree Hill forever sparking my interest in discovering new artists and being one of the main reasons I love listening to the music I still listen to today. I didn’t realize then that it could have been because I related so much to what a certain character was “going through,” as Aslinger points out how  the emotional and mental struggles of characters would be the “meat and potatoes of the program.” (87)

The last line in Bolte’s article really strikes me: “For us, as audiences and for the protagonists we connect with, alienation means power.” (112) As this is discussed in its entirety throughout the article, I realized how much of a hook alienation is for most successful shows. Personally, I never watched Veronica Mars or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but this article makes me want to start from season one. If you look at plot lines for “teen shows” there is alienation in every single one. If there is not a character to alienate, there is no conflict, and no conflict leads to zero interest for the audience. Bolte mentions class status in Veronica Mars, stating how one of the characters mentioned that there is “no middle class,” “your parents are either millionaires or your parents work for millionaires.” (96) This is such a relevant topic that may unfortunately hold true to the feelings students have in certain school districts/private schools. This “exiled narrative” is the perfect hook for children that constantly feel left out, and so that they have a character to relate to. I also appreciate the fact that it leaves the viewer with an important message to bring back to reality: that “an individual, regardless of age or gender, has the power to choose one’s destiny and, as a result, subverts myths of identity formation and of gender restriction.” (104)

 Teens may not notice the influence both music in shows and plot lines in shows have influenced there reality, but reading this has made me realize how much in TV shows actually has influenced certain areas of my life.

Thursdays reading - Music Industry

In the passage it discusses the musical aspect and how it was incorporated into television shows as well as movies. In 1990 is when music first became popular to be heard on t.v. Thinking about it now i could not imagine watching a show or movie and not being able to hear a soundtrack. I feel the soundtrack plays an essential part because it helps us to decipher how the the character is feeling or what is going to happen. Such as scary movies you always hear a dramatic soundtrack or love story you will always hear soft mellow love songs. I think being able to hear music while watching shows is what makes the media industry that much better. I also feel having music in shows gives the viewer a broader interest for certain songs because some people may think a song has a certain meaning to it but putting it in a different setting you slowly see a different side to the song and appreciate it more. 

On page 80 it talks about how you had to pay both master use and synchronization fee in order to have that song feature on you're show. It says how the producers took advantage and would change parts of the song or beat so they would not have to pay fully or wait for the license to use the song. Clearly i think that is unfair considering these music producers work hard to make there songs perfect and then the t.v industry comes along and changes it for there own advantages. 

Thursday readings

Hello Class,

Remember your 200 word blog posts are due today by 4pm. Remember that I asked you to write a 200-word response to the assigned readings that are due today -- the Aslinger and Bolte articles from your textbook. It's a "free response" meaning I'm not giving you a prompt. You could pick one place in each article where you see the author making an argument about teens, music, character, etc. There are plenty of resonances with what we've already been discussing -- particularly how music and teen identity/representation work in the series that are discussed in the assigned readings.

Please bring your textbook to class -- bring all assigned readings to class when we are scheduled to discuss them.

JF

Blog 3- Thursday's Readings- Music

Music. A series of notes and pitches that produce a sound while sending us a message. Music in television shows became popular in the 1990s when the music industry tried to license for film and television shows. The WB was the network that started the idea of "teen tv".  The WB wanted to make sure that the shows could relate to the teens, by having the characters go through certain challenges of everyday lift. The decision to add music allowed the shows to relate to the viewers more and it brought many meanings towards a scene.  I do agree with the essay when it mentioned that music allows for questioning of emotions, gender and growth. They type of music that does play in television shows can show us who the character is, what are the emotions, and can set the tone. It allows us to acknowledge how music maps out a certain character from a show. If a music plays in a television show, it allows not only for the artist to get exposure, but it can also allows the viewer to decode who the character is/ and what is his/her gender. Having the soundtrack play on the television show is great but having a soundalike replace the music when tv shows came out on video, I thought was very redundant. It is messed up to the singer that his/her music would be replaced It is one thing to change the tone/ melody/ harmony to create a certain emotion for a character, but its another thing to change it completely. At that time DVD releases were having difficulty with their licensing, and there was a shift in the release of DVDs.