Adorno and Horkheimer
Adorno and Horkheimer came up with the term 'culture industry'. They wanted to argue that the items produced by industries such as toy dolls, posters, duvet covers and so forth were comparable or analogous to how the other manufacturing companies would produce items for their client. They use the phrase 'assembly-line character' which are seen as commodities so that they can see how much money they can make out of for example JLS so that they have longevity within their career and so that they can make more money out of the products that they are selling.In example of the X-Factor it can be compared to a machine, that like JLS they went in singing acapella with a very R'n'B style to them but as they went through the process of the X-Factor they soon became a stereotypical boy band that sung pop songs and the corporation wanted to have them seen as. This machine produces commodities which are goods that can be exchanged for money, this also makes us passive in our interaction with the X-Factor. They are a capitalist institution that are seeking to keep control of the status quo...break down of that sentence: Capitalists in this case means; an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned or corporately owned, by the meaning of status quo we mean that they want to control the way in which we stereotype music so that pop artist don't start singing screamo music etc.
It is all about control within the X-Factor industry. Adorno and Horkheimer were trying to show us that shows such as X-Factor are surrounding us by mass culture that is filling us with sceneries that we would not be faced with on a daily basis, they are diluting us of the real culture. The X-Factor is like a machine you see this amazing act that have all it takes to be a big success but then the X-Factor corporation intervenes and they turn them into what they think the audiences want to see, the real talent that we are so desperate to see is being corrupted by the function of X-Factor. They only do this so that the acts fit into what they feel will sell and will draw in the audiences, they do not think about what the act wants they only think of the marketing and longevity that they can get out of the act, this is the dreaded X-Factor machine process. Adorno and Horkheimer use a very interesting word when describing this in their book which is 'homogeneity', this basically means the saneness of mass taste.
This also shows us that even though we understand what the process the X-Factor machine is doing we are all being controlled by this process and we listen and we like what we hear, the X-Factor is able to keep the status quo and hegemony (prominent influence of a group then over another in maintaining the status quo) which means that we have been taught to reject everything that is not familiar to us, this helps the process that the X-Factor use as it allows them to be in control and become almost omnipotent (all powerful/present). As an example of hegemony we were told in lesson would be that Akala Ms Dynamite's little brother interviewed a well known British grime/rapper. This rapper is well known on YouTube but his music is not shown on charts or radio stations as he sings about political and social issue's that corporations such as the X-Factor do not want us to hear, as this would disrupt the status quo; they would not longer be omnipotent.
Adorno and Horkheimer also suggested that many industries within the culture operated in a similar way as manufacturing industries did; all the work had become formalized and in the case of the X-Factor all the artist that were churned out ended up being within the same music genre and sounding all the same.
When talking about 'Standardization' we can look at acts such as Take That, Boyzone, Westlife, JLS and One Direction to whom do not have anything massive that sets them apart. When thinking about things that they have different they are very small factors that do not even come off of the top of your head at first. They also said that songs that become successful and well known over time are referred to as 'standards' this means that songs were based around a repetitive sequences, this was used for certain reasons in a commercial sense so that the song would imprint on the persons mind and provoke a response which would lead to them purchasing the item. For Adorno the production of songs had become mechanical and a very manipulative process purely for a commercial gain.
You also have the Pseudo Individuality (force difference), this meant that the ay the industry such as X-Factor claim to be original and unique acts which when looked at more carefully they exhibited little more that superficial difference, such as my boy band reference. Adorno and Horkheimer also used the example of the lock and key - an item that is mass produced in millions, whose uniqueness lies in only very minor modifications.
In conclusion what Adorno and Horkheimer are trying to tell us is that the culture industry is allowing people to become a mass of one and that their is no individuality even though they make us believe there is. We can be easily manipulated by capitalist corporations and authority figures within the industry.
It is all about control within the X-Factor industry. Adorno and Horkheimer were trying to show us that shows such as X-Factor are surrounding us by mass culture that is filling us with sceneries that we would not be faced with on a daily basis, they are diluting us of the real culture. The X-Factor is like a machine you see this amazing act that have all it takes to be a big success but then the X-Factor corporation intervenes and they turn them into what they think the audiences want to see, the real talent that we are so desperate to see is being corrupted by the function of X-Factor. They only do this so that the acts fit into what they feel will sell and will draw in the audiences, they do not think about what the act wants they only think of the marketing and longevity that they can get out of the act, this is the dreaded X-Factor machine process. Adorno and Horkheimer use a very interesting word when describing this in their book which is 'homogeneity', this basically means the saneness of mass taste.
This also shows us that even though we understand what the process the X-Factor machine is doing we are all being controlled by this process and we listen and we like what we hear, the X-Factor is able to keep the status quo and hegemony (prominent influence of a group then over another in maintaining the status quo) which means that we have been taught to reject everything that is not familiar to us, this helps the process that the X-Factor use as it allows them to be in control and become almost omnipotent (all powerful/present). As an example of hegemony we were told in lesson would be that Akala Ms Dynamite's little brother interviewed a well known British grime/rapper. This rapper is well known on YouTube but his music is not shown on charts or radio stations as he sings about political and social issue's that corporations such as the X-Factor do not want us to hear, as this would disrupt the status quo; they would not longer be omnipotent.
Adorno and Horkheimer also suggested that many industries within the culture operated in a similar way as manufacturing industries did; all the work had become formalized and in the case of the X-Factor all the artist that were churned out ended up being within the same music genre and sounding all the same.
When talking about 'Standardization' we can look at acts such as Take That, Boyzone, Westlife, JLS and One Direction to whom do not have anything massive that sets them apart. When thinking about things that they have different they are very small factors that do not even come off of the top of your head at first. They also said that songs that become successful and well known over time are referred to as 'standards' this means that songs were based around a repetitive sequences, this was used for certain reasons in a commercial sense so that the song would imprint on the persons mind and provoke a response which would lead to them purchasing the item. For Adorno the production of songs had become mechanical and a very manipulative process purely for a commercial gain.
You also have the Pseudo Individuality (force difference), this meant that the ay the industry such as X-Factor claim to be original and unique acts which when looked at more carefully they exhibited little more that superficial difference, such as my boy band reference. Adorno and Horkheimer also used the example of the lock and key - an item that is mass produced in millions, whose uniqueness lies in only very minor modifications.
In conclusion what Adorno and Horkheimer are trying to tell us is that the culture industry is allowing people to become a mass of one and that their is no individuality even though they make us believe there is. We can be easily manipulated by capitalist corporations and authority figures within the industry.
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