Sub culture theory

Media- subculture theory

Subculture theory can be defined as a group of people which are united through a range of common values and tastes this could be in the genre of anything for example music, politics or clothing etc. In relation to music it can also be said to be a group of people who are positioned outside of the mainstream, this could mean that they go against what’s popular.

    One of the theories which I looked at was Grant McCracken’s. He believed that the post modern world is full of a range of different dynamism, diversities and creativity. McCracken also believes that as an audience we all look at an array of values, and ideologies. Therefore it would be wrong for us to say that all sub cultures come from one initial culture.    

    I also looked at another theory this was the view of CCCS. This theory completely ignores McCracken’s theory all together. This is because it assumes that all subcultures come from one culture, and that subcultures are then generated as a reaction from the mainstream. So this is almost like saying that without the initial mainstream there wouldn’t be subcultures as this is what they originally come from and without the mainstream being the way it is they are able to be subcultures otherwise the mainstream it would be like saying that all cultures are either subcultures or all mainstream.  

    But this theory is said to be out of date as now in the 21^st century the word mainstream has a different meaning to what it use to have. This I because the mainstream is changing all the time, it can also be said that there is no longer a mainstream and that there are many streams rather than just one. This is because of it changing all of the time as such as fast rate that the word mainstream almost no longer exists. Thus meaning that if there is no mainstream then teens have nothing to react against. This could then mean that they are driven by other motives, these then become more of individual terms.   

    The last theory which I looked at was Hebdige theory. He looks at the music industry differently and has come to the conclusion that although some people think that subcultures may only appear to be different but deep down they are all the same. He even thinks that if you look deeper there is enough richness to warrant renaming ‘subcultures’ as ‘little cultures’. I think that this is like saying that there are no real subculture theories and that everything is part of the mainstream, they are just different sections which makes up the mainstream.

I think that for the genre of music which I have chosen to base my music video on is Hebdige’s theory this is because he believes that it takes a whole range of different cultures to make up the mainstream. As I have chosen to produce a dance related genre for my video, I think that the dance genre is part of the mainstream and I think that it is one of those genres which very much help to make up the mainstream. This is because I think that dance comes in a range of different forms, and is part of a subculture of many different genres, for example dance is often mixed with, R&B, House, and pop these are just a few examples or where else the dance genre is often used. As I have chosen to base my song around the dance genre, as the group which I have considered to choose is Swedish House Mafia, as they are more of a dance and house genre. This why I think for the genre of music I am doing, I think that they will defiantly fit into the main stream, as it one of the genres which help to make up the mainstream. I have chosen to create a narrative and concept based music videos both of which are conventional to dance. This links into the theory of Hebdige as he believes that all subgenres are all similar in some way and I think that this is something which may become evident within my music video where I have used both a narrative and a concept even though both of these style of video is conventional to dance these are also very familiar to other music genres and occurs within their conventions as for example; in an R&B music video, or a pop music video they too use narrative. Thus supporting Hebdige’s theory of how all subgenres link in together, one way of showing this being through the style of videos which they chose to make. Mixing the styles is something which I am doing within my own music video.