Since the development of popular music, various time periods have been classified into music industries that encapsulate the overall songs and genres of the era. Two such music industries include Tin Pan Alley in the 1890s, and Motown in the 1960s. In order to examine the ways in which these two industries overlapped and differed, a series of questions can be posed. The first question is what kinds of songs were being written and sung in these industries? The songs coming out of Tin Pan Alley were all about quantity over quality. The melodies of songs were simple and the lyrics in the chorus were easy to remember. The producers and songwriters were described as “song factories” as they used standardization and formulas to create as many…show more content… During the Tin Pan Alley period, producers focused their attention on selling the songs rather than the artists. Songs were simplified to ensure individuals of lesser musical talent could still sing the lyrics. Additionally, the majority of popular music at the time was sung by white individuals. Motown put greater emphasis on developing the artists. Berry Gordy carefully crafted the image of his artists by having them undergo musical, beauty, and fashion training, as well as using their celebrity status to market the artists even more than the songs. Motown helped facilitate the breaking into the mainstream music scene by African…show more content… The first question to tackle is how race affected the production and consumption of music? And simultaneously whether these industries proved to more uplifting or detrimental to African Americans? Tin Pan Alley was characterized by a lack of racial diversity, as the industry was made up of overwhelmingly white artists. Ragtime became popular during this period, and incorporated elements from black culture. Not only were elements of black sound appropriated, but black culture was ridiculed heavily as well, such as in songs like If the Man on the Moon Were a Coon. In addition to the vaudeville performances of this period, blackface minstrelsy performances became central to the cultural appropriation and ridicule of African Americans. Due to the inability of African Americans to break into the music scene and the level of appropriation and racism directed at them, Tin Pan Alley can be classified as being largely detrimental to African Americans. Unlike Tin Pan Alley, Motown was a much more racially uplifting period for African Americans. With his record label, Berry Gordy helped black artists become stars. Through a careful process of grooming and marketing his artists, Gordy helped empower African Americans by allowing them to be proud of their black culture while also crossing racial boundaries. Gordy’s artists attracted large white audiences and broke through barriers previously holding back black artists
