k i s s m y d e s i g n: GD3

Research about Mainstream Vs. non-mainstream

Introduction

According to dictionary.com (2011), it defined mainstream as the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend. It also belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc. (dictionary.com, 2011). Generally, the common current thought of majority always referred as mainstream. Cultural construct is often considered by the concept, mainstream which is far cohesive. All popular culture, typically disseminated by mass media is included in mainstream.

Non-mainstream

The opposite of mainstream is non-mainstream which also referred to non-commercial. Besides, it also refers to subcultures, countercultures, cult followings, and genre. Especially when delivered in a culture war speech, mainstream is sometimes a code word used for an actual ethnocentric or hegemonic subculture point of view.

Subcultures

Subcultures always use as a pejorative term who view ostensibly mainstream culture as not only exclusive but artistically and aesthetically inferior. It is often used as a pejorative term by subcultures who view ostensibly mainstream culture as not only exclusive but artistically and aesthetically inferior.

Media

Mainstream media (MSM) are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter. The term also denotes those media generally reflective of the prevailing currents of thought, influence, or activity. Print publications, such as newspapers and magazines that contain the highest readership among the public, along with radio formats and television stations that contain the highest viewing and listener audience, respectively re generally applied by mainstream media. This is in contrast to various independent publications, such as alternative weekly newspapers, specialized magazines in various organizations and corporations, and various electronic sources such as podcasts and blogs.

Film

Commercial films also can be defined as mainstream films. They are made by major entertainment studios or companies which owned by international media conglomerates.

All these films can afford more expensive actors because of better financing. Wide releases or limited releases, and sold at popular retail stores. Major studios or companies that make films are not owned by a media conglomerate, such as lions gate, are also considered to be mainstream and are often referred to as mainstream independent films. Low budget films, art films, and experimental films are the alternative to mainstream films.

Music

Popular music, pop music, middle of the road music, pop rap or pop rock are the music that is familiar and unthreatening to the masses which denoted by mainstream music. Besides that, mainstream jazz is seen as an evolution of be-bop, which was originally regarded as radical. Opposing mainstream music is the music of subcultures. This exists in virtually all genres of music and is found commonly in punk rock, indie rock, alternative/underground hip hop, anti-folk and heavy metal, among others. In the 1960s this music was exemplified by the music of the hippie counterculture.

Punk music

Punk rock has distinguished itself from other non-mainstream genres by self-asserting an active anti-mainstream social movement that resists commercialism and corporate control. The punk subculture generally frowns upon major label bands that play punk music that disavows the DIY punk ethic, and views them as synonymous with mainstream music. Several anti-corporate and not-for-profit forms of alternative protest have surfaced in the punk underground, such as self-made publications known as zines, where there is greater freedom to discuss controversial political issues such as discrimination, LGBT community issues, feminism, antitheism, and veganism. These principles have also been adapted to a certain extent also in heavy metal and alternative hip hop cultures, amongst others, but not to the same degree as punk.

Media and Globalization

In a world of increasing globalization, the media has much potential. It has the possibility of spreading information to places where in the past it has been difficult to get diverse views. It has the potential to contribute to democratic processes and influences especially on countries and regimes that are not democratic. On the negative side though, it also has the ability to push the ideas and cultures of more dominant interest.

The phenomenon of “cultural imperialism” raises concerns in many countries where people fear that their culture gets diluted or given a back seat to the demands of large media and corporate interests in the name of globalization, where products and imagery, mainly from the west, make it into the televisions and homes of people. The fear of many people is that if people around the world are moulded into model consumers, following a western standard, then it is easier for large companies to sell their products and know their buyer’s habits etc., while eroding local cultures and traditions. There is often extensive debate as to how likely this will be, whether local cultures and traditions will exert their influence on local forms of globalization, or if there will be more extremist backlash. In different parts of the world, many of these and other reactions are already seen.

Conclusion

Mainstream media sometimes is also referred as mass although it is in fact something different, due to the tendency of media choosing to choose prominent, yet trivial, stories which will be of interest to a general audience (such as celebrity break-ups), whilst ignoring controversial or intellectually stimulating news. This trend is attributed to the fact that media, though used to provide a service to the public to keep them updated, is essentially a business and will naturally do what it must to sell newspapers or magazines etc. Mass media has become one of the main sources of news and entertainment for the general public, and over the past century, mass media has become a globally huge industry.

Reference

Chomsky, N., (1997) What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

Available at: http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199710--.html (Accessed at: 19 November 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media (Accessed: 20 November 2011)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mainstream (Accessed: 1 December 2011)

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