The Culture Industry

Today we officially decided our groups as we had to work with them for the task set in lesson.  Lauren and I had already chosen to work together, so we were a group.  The aim of the lesson was to learn about Adorno and Horkheimer's 'Culture Industry' through the example of The X-Factor.  Each group was assigned a judge to act as, and we were given Cheryl Cole.  Our group decided Cheryl would like to find a unique sellable artist, most likely a boy, who would be targeted to a young female audience.  We also had to describe The X-Factor, and we thought that it was a celebrity making machine where dreams come true for everyday people, but also produce one hit wonders.

We were shown performances from this years X-Factor, and had to consider the feedback Cheryl would give live to the artists' faces and the thoughts as an industry professional on how to improve them, which we would keep to ourself.

Even the performances that were good had feedback to change them, mostly to make them appeal to particular or a broader audience.  This demonstrates the music industry's view that artists are not people, they are commodities to sell and make money.



Adorno and Horkheimer's theory on the Culture Industry suggests that it is analogous to how consumer goods are produced, like an assembly-line of artists that are fitted with the same components for quick and successful results, for example boy bands.  As culture production is standardised and has a routine, consumption is also standardised.  This means that the audience are passive and have expectations on what they are going to receive.  The mass taste is typically homogenic and vulgar, used solely to make money, otherwise known as industrial capitalism.