On On Pop Music by Theodor Adorno

This article includes much of the philosophy of the Frankfurt School, which discusses popular music in relation to classical or standard music. Adorno aims to distinguish the difference between the two in a way similar to Ang Ien separates Mass Ideology and Populism. The idea is that popular music–which for Adorno was including but not limited to jazz and ragtime–contained a pseudo individualism that essentially misled an audience into thinking the music contained variety when, in fact, the myriad sounds were more of a parlor trick that repackaged the same things with only slight variations.

He argues that pop music rewards “the distracted listener,” one who can enjoy the music without fully investing in it. The “distracted listener” can superficially enjoy music absent of its history and intricacies. Adorno does not argue that popular music serves no purpose, but he does wonder aloud about its effect upon music as a whole and the culture at large. He does not predict one way or the other but does hint that catering to popularity was becoming easier whereas standard music, despite its growing availability, was falling behind in influence.

He leans towards an either/or ethos and yet he is unclear as to why the two are mutually exclusive–one can enjoy music built for distraction and music built for full engagement. Overall, Adorno believes that good standard music forces artists to into creativity while good popular music forces artists into imitation. The argument, of course, is a reflection of the shifting mores present during the interwar period; music was, for Adorno, a physical reflection of that.