Selena Quintanilla-Perez, most commonly known just as Selena took not only the Latin music world but the entire music industry by storm. Selena’s story begins as a young child when she was apart of band alongside her siblings called “Selena Y los Dinos” which translates simply to “Selena and The Boys” They were a Tejano musical group that played at their father’s restaurant. Singing mainly in Spanish, Selena had to learn to sing in Spanish and did so fairly quickly. [1]

For years Selena recorded and toured with her band.  They recorded their first album in 1984. From this moment on Selena was known as the “Queen of Tejano Music”and began winning many awards like the Tejano Music Award for “Best Female Vocalist” and “Best Female Performer” at the young age of 15. The band was greatly recognized in 1989 and was signed to Capital/EMI. [1]

Her success continued for about another 7 years. She married Chris Perez who was brought into the band later on in 1992 and also started her own company. Selena Etc. Inc, was the name of her very own boutique that sold her personal clothing line. [2]

Unfortunately Selena’s career was cut very short when she was killed in 1995. Her fan club manager Yolonda Saldivar shot Selena as she was walking out of a hotel. She died hours later at the age of 23. [2]

Even with her life quickly ending, Selena continued and still continues to shine. A few months after her death, Selena’s last recorded album “Dreaming of You” was released. The album quickly climbed the charts and topped the Billboard 200 Chart. Selling thousands of copies in its first day of release, Selena posthumously beat the female vocalist record. [2]

The influence Selena had on her fans and the entire music industry will never be forgotten. Over 20 years after her death, there are still releases under her name. The most recent being Lo Mejor de… Selena, which was released on the 20th anniversary of her death. [2]

Selena shone a bright light on Tejano music and helped create its success. Many say she brought the Latin community together and will be remembered for the impact she had it. She also opened many doors for other hispanic female artists when their wasn’t a lot of opportunities before her. Selena inspired her fans by showing that success is possible with hard work. She showed this through her musical success and her business success while remaining very humble. To this day she continues to influence.

Many current artists have spoken publicly about Selena’s influence on them. Jennifer Lopez is someone who was actually able to go into Selena’s shoes. As an up and coming actress, Lopez landed the role of Selena in a movie based on her life. Lopez explained in an interview that she felt Selena really influenced her own personal music career. She explained that Selena taught her to not “neglect parts of yourself and let people put you in a box because you’re an actress. You can do this, and you can also do that. Life is short, and you don’t know what’s going to happen. Go for your dreams and don’t let anyone hold you back.” Jennifer Lopez now has her own role in the Latin music community and has found great success. [3]

Beyonce, another very successful female artist also expressed her love for Selena and named her as one of her inspirations. Beyonce was actually able to meet Selena before her passing. She explained that she saw her across the room and was able to say hello. Beyonce also shared in an interview how Selena’s music, even though it was mainly Latin music, still influenced and had an impact on her as a young performer. [4]

Not only did Selena posthumously launch Jennifer Lopez’s career but she also had made other impacts on pop culture after her death. Selena has a very popular museum dedicated to her in Corpus Christi, Texas (her hometown) that is run by her family to this day for fans to visit. Also a very popular makeup company known as M.A.C released a cosmetic line named after Selena after a fan created a petition for it. [2]

Selena’s music is still celebrated today and as someone who actually has always very much enjoyed her music can say its worth the listen. My personal favourite song is one of her most popular hits, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom What I love most about the song is how happy and uplifting it is. I think it really represents the kind of artist Selena really was. While listening you can her the Tenjano sound that we all know was her speciality. It contains a mixture of different sounds with a lot of rhythm. You can also her the drums throughout the entire song that keeps the beat.

Selena was mentioned in our textbook less than briefly. I really believe she should be discussed way more especially when talking about tejano music. She captured the essence of tejano music perfectly and really gave it a lot of success in America.

Sources:

[1] “Selena Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Accessed August 08, 2018. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Selena.html.

[2] “Selena.” Biography.com. November 08, 2017. Accessed August 08, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/selena-189149.

[3] Cobo, Leila. “Jennifer Lopez on Playing Selena: ‘She Had a Sense of Living in the Present & Following Her Heart’.” Billboard. March 31, 2018. Accessed August 08, 2018. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7728858/jennifer-lopez-selena-film-anniversary-interview.

[4] Alvarez, Alex. “That One Time Beyoncé Met Selena.” BuzzFeed. Accessed August 08, 2018. https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalvarez/memorieeees?utm_term=.fb1OpGdx1#.pfNaPMJXY.

Hi there, this is my second blog post and I will be discussing the historical Payola Scandal.

The payola scandal regards to a time when radio hosts and disc jockeys had the ability to control whether an artist’s career would rise or crumble. The scandal came about during the 1950s’ and affected many people and changed the way radio stations worked.

Payola is the act of disc jockeys (or more commonly known as DJs) being bribed by record companies (sometimes thousands of dollars) to promote and give more airtime to a certain song or artist. This was actually legal as long as the song was publicly acknowledged as being sponsored. If this information was not presented while on air and was played off as being part of the day’s normal broadcast it was actually eventually considered to be illegal.

Payola negatively affected many entertainers and artists. Some popular names that were involved with payola scandal include, Dick Clark, and disc jockey Alan Freed. An investigation took place by the government starting around 1959 and both men were investigated which eventually lead to new laws.

Dick Clark was a very popular television personality. His involvement was investigated when his show “American Bandstand” was thought to be rigged. Clark had many external investments including investments with some record companies. Before the Payola trial, he was advised by his network ABC to sell his shares back and separate his name from these record companies. Free of any conflict of interest, in his testimony, Clark denied to having any knowledge or involvement in payola. In the end he was let go free of consequences and his career continued to rise for many years following.[1] Clark gave an interview in 1999 and described everything to be a very illuminating experience. Dick Clark died on April 18th 2012.[6]

Alan Freed on the other hand did not have as pleasant of an experience. He was a radio and television host that was known for supporting and essentially coming up with the term “rock and roll.” In 1960 he was arrested and investigated by the Congressional Subcommittee. [1] Freed continuously denied his involvement in payola and refused to cooperate with the investigation. This lead to him being charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery. Throughout all this time, Freed was fired by ABC, and lost all of his television and radio shows. In 1962 he decided to plead guilty to two counts and had to pay a fine. With his tarnished reputation, Freed’s career was over. [3] His goodbye to fans after losing his job can be heard below. Very soon after he began drinking heavily which lead to his death in 1965 due to liver and kidney failure at the age of 43.[4]

In the end, the government investigation lead to payola becoming a misdemeanor offense. Fines and jail time were possible consequences of the offense. DJ’s were no longer able to make any decisions involving what was played on air. Any payments made for airplay must be disclosed to the public. Many other DJs were charged as well and networks began to fire disc jockeys that might of put the network at risk.[5]

To this day payola still exists within the music industry and controls radio stations. Today’s payola involved third parties known as independent promotors or “indies” the entire process involves music labels paying indies to then move to the radio station to promote a song. Indies use the money from music label to directly pay radio stations to play a certain song.[2] This process is to blame for independent artists and labels being washed out. It completely affects the music we are exposed to because what we hear is what they want us to hear, whether it is a good song or not. The success of songs is really based on its popularity and the more we hear a song on the radio the more successful it becomes. Modern payola does not just involve radio station but also online streaming services like Spotify. The “Top Hits” playlist for example is very popular for listeners and artist’s songs make their way on the playlist essentially is the same way as they would for radio air time.

Whether or not Payola is a good or bad thing is really up for debate. I believe the music industry would be completely different without it. It is no question that artists need promotion for their music and this is a way for record companies can ensure that they get it. Some may believe that paying for exposer is in a sense wrong but I think it’s simply how business works. We see it everywhere from the ads all over the apps we use to creators on YouTube being paid to promote a certain product. It exists all around us and payola is no exception.

Sources:

[1] “Alan Freed, Dick Clark and the Radio Payola Scandal.” Performing Songwriter Ent., LLC. August 24, 2015. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/.

[2] “How Payola Works Today… Or Why You Only Hear Major Label Songs On The Radio.” Techdirt. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110916/03140815978/how-payola-works-today-why-you-only-hear-major-label-songs-radio.shtml.

[3] Skorup, Brent. “What Happened to Radio DJs?: Payola, Rock and Roll, and Race in the 1950s.” Plain Text. March 02, 2017. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://readplaintext.com/what-happened-to-radio-djs-payola-rock-and-roll-and-race-in-the-1950s-b5f039041bd.

[4] J.D. The Pop History Dig. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/alan-freed-payola/.

[5] “Payola Scandal Rocks 50’s Radio.” Untitled. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola.html.

[6] “Dick Clark.” Biography.com. April 28, 2017. Accessed July 19, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/dick-clark-9249296.

 

Hi, my name is Parissa and this is my first blog post. I will be discussing two different articles that compare sports and music from two different eras and their importance and impact in history.

First we look at the Smithsonian article “A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson” written by Michael Walsh. This article dives into the lives and history of boxer Jack Johnson and Musician Scott Joplin. Both African American men had their own way of making a mark in American history, specifically during the 1900s.’

Jack Johnson was the first black and reigning world heavyweight champion when faced the undefeated Jim Jefferies in the ring, who actually refused to enter the ring with Johnson at first due to the difference in race. This fight is historically known for race riot that occurred after Johnson won. Many were injured and more than 20 people were killed, majority being African American.

Johnson was known for “challenging the white establishment at every turn.” This lead to his name being surrounded by a lot of controversy during early 1900s’. He was known for dating as well as marrying multiple white women which in 1912 actually lead to his arrest and conviction for taking his girlfriend across state line which became a law in 1910. Over a hundred years later, President Donald trump has pardoned the late boxer and stated “I am taking this very riotous step, I believe to correct a wrong that occurred in   our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion.”

The story of Scott Joplin on the other hand is completely different. Joplin was a pianist and songwriter known as the “King of ragtime” however Joplin wanted to be known for more. He began composing music that reflected the racial history of America. He composed his music to tell the stories and tales shard by others including philosophers.

A few of his most popular pieces include, “The Maple Leaf Rag,” “The Entertainer,” and the opera Treemonisha. Treemonisha is the story of an young African America girl who was “found under a tree by an ex-slave named Monisha. Treemonisha grows into a woman who will change the course of her post-Civil war community.” Unfortunately Joplin was not alive enough to see this opera make it to Broadway however, it eventually did in 1972.

Both Johnson and Joplin made their mark in American history by showing and physically proving that African-American people will not back down and conform to what others thought they should be. Even though they did so in their own ways, it’s clear that Johnson and Joplin had the same goal, to challenge racial stereotypes.

Johnson not only proved that he was capable of becoming the first black world heavyweight champion, but throughout his adult life he showed that he would not conform to the “racial rules” placed upon him. Interracial relationships were frowned upon, especially in the early 1900s’ however Johnson continuously dated and marrying white women. He continued to do so even after he was convicted and married a white woman once again.  As well he was known for spending money freely and driving luxury cars.

Joplin on the other hand challenged racial stereotypes in more of a passive way. Following the philosophies of Booker T. Washington, Joplin intentionally reflected Washington’s messages into his music and operas. The opera discussed earlier, Treemonisha was written based on Washington’s stories. James Joplin made it clear he did want these stories or himself as a musician to be silenced.

Now we look at another article called, “Taylor swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Is the First pure piece of Trump- Era Pop Art” written by Mark Harris. This article relates to the previous article I discussed, as they both look at history making boxing matches and music. However, the tone of this article is much more casual. I believe the first article presents the information in more of a serious and educational way. Whereas the second article presents its information In more of a humorous and entertaining way.

Michael Walsh’s article suggests that during that particular era, race and racial stereotypes had on impact on everything from sports and music. However that did not stop individuals like Johnson and Joplin to stand up and go against those stereotypes. Mark Harris’s article also discussed a boxing match between two difference races, Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor, but beside McGregor being a “racial baiter” to hype up the match it doesn’t compare to the story of Johnson and Joplin. The fight was extremely publicized and promoted and made millions of dollars in the end. it did not make anywhere near the historical imprint.

Now if we compare the music discussed in both articles, we can clearly see there is no comparison again. The music form Joplin’s era has resonated throughout history. It had meaning and purpose and stood for his beliefs. His music told the stories that he believed should be told. In Harris’s article, Taylor Swift’s hit song ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is presented and discussed. The song is all about Taylor’s feuds with other Hollywood stars. The so called song of the summer really has no true or importance message. It only comes to show what music of this era lacks meaning like it used to. It’s all about the flashy videos and what will sell. Now don’t get me wrong, we definitely see a few songs here and there that have real importance messages, however, the issues in 2018 are not the same as the issues from 100 years ago.

I believe that was these articles suggest dictates and influences how we view these artists work. Looking at Taylor swift specifically, she is a very successful artist who has turned out to be a very good song writer but this song does not represent her that way and it may cause her audience to question her talent and the quality of the music she produces.

Sources

“Jack Johnson.” Biography.com. May 25, 2018. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/jack-johnson-9355980.

“A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson.” Smithsonian.com. June 01, 2010. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-year-of-hope-for-joplin-and-johnson-123024/.

Records/YouTube, Big Machine. “Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Is a Pure Piece of Trump-Era Pop Art.” Vulture. August 30, 2017. Accessed July 18, 2018. http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-pure-trump-era-pop-art.html.

“Scott Joplin.” Biography.com. January 19, 2018. Accessed July 18, 2018. https://www.biography.com/people/scott-joplin-9357953.