Contenu du sommaire : Musiques populaires : la prolifération des genres

Old-time time music is becoming an increasing force within mainstream country music. On the wake of the Coen Brothers' blockbuster, O Brother, a renewed interest for traditional American music, from folk to bluegrass, is sweeping the country, attracting a younger, more feminine audience. After having mapped out the various territories and eras of classic country music, this paper explores the nostalgic and religious dimensions of the current revival and analyzes the changes it triggered in the economics of country music.

For some, New York Cabaret started in 1911 and died with the Prohibition ; for others, its golden age started after WWII and waned from 1963 onwards; for the current Cabaret Community, the clubs are alive with the sound of Cabaret. This paper attempts to explain why there is so much confusion about the word “cabaret,” tracing its usage in New York popular entertainment and legislation.

The aim of this paper is to examine the connections between artistic credibility and commercial success in rap music. Indeed, unlike rock stars, gangsta rappers often highlight their status in the entertainment industry to assert the merit of their productions. The author endeavors to show that the staging of their financial independence is part and parcel of their aesthetic praxis.

In assessing the American character of a musical genre that has only become part of American popular culture in the past twenty years, one is likely to be misled. Certainly, there is a general agreement on the role played by black artists in Chicago, New York and Detroit. But that does not settle the question of the European influences that have gone into the making of this tradition. Techno and house would not have achieved their present fame and status without the subsequent extension of the genre in Europe. The very notion of establishing itself as a genre goes against the “living spirit” of the techno “scene.” Indeed, the ideology that drives it insists on transcending differences and overcoming boundaries, a priority that expresses itself in an aesthetics of collage, sampling and mixs. For those who support these claims, defining the origins of techno and setting it down on the map can only arrest the movement that animates it.

The American record industry claims that Internet is threatening its very existence, particularly because of illegal downloading. This article explores to what extent this claim is true, what other elements challenge the hegemony of the major record companies, and focuses on the new business models made necessary by the development of Internet.