The Sounds of Capitalism: Advertising, Music, and the Conquest of Culture

367 Pages·2012·2.03 MB·English

by  Timothy D. Taylor

The Sounds of Capitalism

The Sounds of
Capitalism
Advertising, Music, and the
Conquest of Culture
Timothy D. Taylor
University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Timothy D. Taylor is professor of ethnomusicology and musicology at the University
of California, Los Angeles. His books include Beyond Exoticism: Western Music and the
World; Strange Sounds: Music, Technology and Culture; and Global Pop: World Music, World
Markets.
Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2012 by Th e University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2012.
Printed in the United States of America
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-79115-9 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-226-79115-7 (cloth)
Portions of chapters 1 and 2 fi rst appeared in an earlier form as “Music and Advertising in
Early Radio,” echo 5 (Spring 2003), htt p://www.echo.ucla.edu/volume5-issue2/taylor/
index.html. A portion of chapter 3 appeared in an earlier form as “Th e Rise of the Jingle,”
Advertising and Society Review 3 (2010), htt p://muse.jhu.edu/journals/advertising_and_
society_review/v011/11.2.taylor.html. One portion of chapter 9 appeared as “Th e Chang-
ing Shape of the Culture Industry; or, How Did Electronica Music Get into Television
Commercials?” Television and New Media 8 (August 2007): 235–58; another portion
of chapter 9 appeared as “Advertising and the Conquest of Culture,” Social Semiotics 4
(December 2009): 405–25.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taylor, Timothy Dean, author.
Th e sounds of capitalism : advertising, music, and the conquest of culture / Timothy D.
Taylor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-79115-9 (cloth : alkaline paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-79115-7 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Music in advertising —United
States. 2. Advertising—United States—History—20th century. 3. Mass media and
music—United States. I. Title.
ML3790.T395 2012
306.4'8420973—dc23
2011041483
Th is paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
For Sherry

Art imitates life and commercials imitate art.
—Composer/lyricist Peppy Castro, 1988

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
List of Examples xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: Capitalism, Consumption, Commerce,
and Music(cid:8)(cid:8)1
1 Music and Advertising in Early Radio(cid:8)(cid:8)11
2 The Classes and the Masses in the 1920s and 1930s(cid:8)(cid:8)43
3 The Great Depression and the Rise of
the Radio Jingle(cid:8)(cid:8)65
4 Music, Mood, and Television: The Use of Emotion in
Advertising Music in the 1950s and 1960s (cid:8)(cid:8)101
5 The Standardization of Jingle Production in the 1950s
and After(cid:8)(cid:8)127
6 The Discovery of Youth in the 1960s(cid:8)(cid:8)147
ix