COMM 1500 Terms Ch. 8
Business Model
-The business model for the recording industry has remained essentially the same, even the impact of digital technology and the Internet, consisting of three main stages: creation, promotion, and distribution
Meter
beats organized into recognizable and/or recurring accent patterns
Adorno's three claims about popular music: 1
popular music is standardized -once a particular type of music provided successful in the marketplace, it became standardized in the industry -if big band music is popular, then record companies start putting out even more Big Band music
Artistic Personnel: Composer
-Creates musical scores for film, television, and computer games. They write music, score, program, and conform music to picture edits
Parental Advisory Warning Label
-In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was formed by four women, two of whom were Tipper Gore, wife of Democratic Senator (and later Vice President) Al Gore and Susan Baker, wife of Republican Treasury Secretary James Baker -goal was increasing parental control over the access of children to music identified as having obscene lyrics or promoting sex, violence, or drug use
Sony Music Entertainment
- A subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation, and the world's second largest music company having merged with Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) in 2004
10 influential singers: Frank Sinatra (1915-1998)
-"Ol' Blue Eyes" began his music career in the swing era as a boy singer with big bands and the idol of "bobby soxers," the first modern pop superstar -evolved from the idealistic crooner of the early 1940's to the sophisticated swinger of the 1950s and 1960s, and ended his career as the most respected pop singer of his generation, known for his ability to phrase a lyric of a song for optimum impact on the listener
10 influential singers: Madonna (1958-)
-"Queen of Pop" With more than 300 million records sold worldwide, Madonna is listed by Guinness World Records as the best-selling female recording artist of all time -did not originate the theatrical concert experience, which goes back at least to Alice Cooper, but Madonna can probably receive the credit for making it the norm; each of her concert tours were major operations -receives credit for constantly re-inventing herself, keeping her music relevant for a longer time than another other female pop artist
10 influential singers: Aretha Franklin (1942-)
-"The Queen of Soul" began her career singing gospel at her father's church -After singing with Atlantic Records in 1967, she became the most charted female artist in Billboard history -Rolling Stone magazine put her at the top of its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Best Known Songs: "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Think," "Chain of Fools."
10 influential singers: Bing Crosby (1902-1977)
-A Crooner with a trademark warm bass-baritone voice, Crosby became the best-selling recording artist of the twentieth century, having sold over one billion recordings -Crosby has two of the best-selling singles of all-time: #1 "White Christmas" (50 million copies sold) and #3 "Silent Night" (30 million)
Econ: Making Money off music
-According to the Association of Independent Music (AIM), a major label is defined as a multinational company that has more than 5 percent of the world markets for the sale of records and/or music videos
Audio Format War #3 Wax discs VS shellac discs (1920s)
-Around 1895 a shellac-based compound (typically about one-third shellac and two-thirds mineral filler) was introduced and became standard for making disc records. -The one advantage that cylinders had, was that they could be used for home recordings. -The production of shellac records would continue until the end of the 78-rpm format in the late 1950s
Child abuse and Domestic Violence
-Both Pat Benatar's "Hell is For Children" (1980) and Suzanne Vega's "Luka" (1987) addressed the issue of child abuse, although Vega's approach, using lighter music as an ironic counterpoint to the subject matter saw her song getting far more credit than Benatar received -Joni Mitchell's "Not to Blame" (1994) told the story of a woman who committed suicide because of abuse -Nirvana's "Polly" (1991) was inspired by a fourteen-year-old girl who was abducted
Protest songs in the 21st century
-Bruce Springsteen has written about those in the armed services, especially those who served in Vietnam—"Born in the U.S.A." - (1984) and it's B-side "Shut Out the Light" (1984)—and Iraq—"Gypsy Biker" (2007), "Last to Die" (2007) which asked "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?"—in songs focusing on the aftermath -Green Day attacked President George W. Bush with "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (2004) and most of the songs on their album American Idiot, as did Conor Oberst in his "When the President Talks to God" (2005) and Neil Young's "Let's Impeach the President" (2006)
Civil War Songs
-During the Civil War both sides had their own patriotic songs -The Union had "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (whose music was taken from "John Brown's Body"), "Battle Cry of Freedom," "The First Gun is Fired," and "We Are Coming Father Abra'am."
Audio format war #1 Tin-Foil cylinders VS wax cylinders (1880s)
-Edison's phonograph cylinders, commonly called "records," were the original commercial medium for recordings. Enjoying their greatest popularity from 1896 to 1915, these were hollow cylindrical objects that had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface - there was an unacceptable level of background noise, no way to adjust the volume level of either the recording or the playback, and a problem with the shape of the cylinder becoming distorted after just a few replays. -Alexander Graham Bell, who used ozokerite, a wax-like substance, instead of tin-foil. When used with an incising stylus, sound vibrations could be cut, rather than indented, into the wax -Edison's improved hard wax cylinders, marketed as Edison Gold Moulded Records, could be played with good quality over 100 times
Civil Rights Freedom Song
-Fats Waller's "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929) and Lead Belly's "The Bourgeois Blues" (1930) were some of the first examples of songs protesting racial discrimination
Theodor Adorno
-German sociologist and composer known for critical theory of society, considered one of the twentieth century's foremost thinkers on aesthetics, the branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste -preferred classical music as the only true form of music that actively challenged and engaged the mind
Mechanical License
-Granting a record company the right to reproduce and distribute a specific composition at an agreed upon fee per unit manufactured and sold
10 influential singers: Bob Dylan (1941-)
-He changed popular singing. And we have been living in a world shaped by Dylan's singing ever since. Almost no one sings like Elvis Presley anymore. Hundreds try to sing like Dylan -Dylan always repudiated the idea he was the spokesman for his generation, but his most celebrated work from the early 1960s became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movement -When Dylan went electric in 1965, the moment created a deep divide in his musical career, but his greatest legacy may well be as a poet
Harmony
-If melody is the horizontal presentation of pitch, then harmony is the verticalization of pitch, as in combining pitches into chords: several notes played simultaneously -We often describe harmony in terms of its relative harshness -Additionally, we can talk about harmony when instead of notes being played simultaneously on one or more instruments, we have different voices singing notes at the same time
Failed Audio format War B: 12in single VS 45s
-In early 1970, Cycle/Ampex Records test-marketed a 12-inch single in an attempt to energize the struggling singles market -In the 1980s, several artists released 12-inch singles with longer, extended, or remixed versions of the actual track being promoted by the single. But the format never moved beyond this specialty niche
10 influential singers: Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
-Italian operatic tenor who sang to great acclaim in major opera houses in Europe and the Americas -Caruso made almost 300 recordings, the first of which helped to spread his fame throughout the English-speaking world
10 influential singers: Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
-Jackson became "The King of Pop" in the early 1980s, driven in part by his use of music videos for his songs -Thriller is the best-selling album of all time and the winner of a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including Album of the Year
Portable audio format war #2 CDs Vs MP3s
-Just as phonograph technology evolved from the first cylinder recordings to 78-rpm records, then 45s, and finally LPs, CD technology has continued to improve because of the changing nature of laser-disc high fidelity -the CD has been supplanted by the MP3 audio file in the format war to end all format wars, because with the victory of the MP3 over the CD, format has been made immaterial
Melody
-Melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm that creates a sequence of pitches in succession. On a musical staff, the melody is the horizontal (or linear) presentation of pitch
Instruments
-Musicians have a choice as to which instruments are used to play their music -Different instruments allow music to have tone color because of the variations in register and range, so the decisions regarding the instrumentation of a particular song can make a significant difference in how it sounds to listeners
10 influential singers: Ray Charles (1930 -2004)
-Nicknamed "The High Priest of Soul," Charles pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues -was so successful he became one of the first African-American musicians to be granted artistic control by a major record company -Rolling Stone ranked Charles as #10 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," and #2 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All-Time."
Public Performance License
-On behalf of the copyright owner or their agent granting the right to perform the work in, or transmit the work to, the public.
10 influential singers: Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
-One of the biggest cultural icons of the twentieth century, Elvis was called "the King of Rock and Roll," and then, more simply, "the King." -Philips wanted a singer who could bring to a broader audience the sound of the black musicians who were the main focus on the Sun label -Presley had that sound, and eventually the door would be opened for black music to thrive on its own terms
Topical Songs
-Phil Ochs, who wrote and sang what he termed "topical songs" instead of protest songs, was a passionate vocalist who wrote numerous songs about civil rights: "Too Many Martyrs," "Here's to the State of Mississippi," "In the Heat of the Summer," "Talking Birmingham Jam."
Artistic Personnel: Song Plugger
-Pitches a songwriter's composition to producers, A&R reps, managers, and music supervisors. They can represent several songwriters or be in-house at a publishing company, as well as being independent contractors. An independent song plugger represents songwriters who have not assigned the rights to their songs to a publishing company
Music Supervisor
-Primarily concerned with selecting songs to be placed in a film or on the soundtrack of a television show. They are familiar with the licensing process necessary to clear the rights and can help a director select the right song for a particular scene. Often in post production the music supervisor puts placeholder songs, called the temp track, into the film. Then, when the director falls in love with songs for which the production cannot afford to pay the rights, then find appropriate (and affordable) replacements
Master Royalties
-Record labels collect royalties from the use of a specific recording of a song that is used in a film, television program, advertisement, streaming service, or other medium. -Radio stations do not typically pay master royalties because playing a song over the radio has traditionally been viewed as free advertising for a recording
Technical Personnel: Studio Technician
-Recording studios have stockpiled a large inventory of audio equipment to meet the needs of their clients and the studio manager is the person who keeps it all in good working condition. Equally important, they are trained to be able to diagnose and fix any problems with equipment. In addition to training in the field, they usually have a college degree in recording arts, electrical engineering, or music production
Technical Personnel: Assistant Engineer
-Responsible for setting up and doing whatever they can to help the engineer, assistant engineers basically serve as apprentices to the mastering engineer
Music Royalties
-Royalties in the music industry are different from other forms of intellectual property in that they have strong links to the individual songwriters and composers who own the exclusive copyright to their music. -Recording companies and performing artists who create sound recordings of music enjoy a separate set of copyrights and royalties from the sale of the recordings and from their digital transmission
Vietnam Protest Songs
-Some of the most famous anti-war songs of the 60s were actually released before President Lyndon Johnson sent US combat forces to Vietnam in March of 1965 --There were also a fair number of what could be called anti-protest songs: not simply songs that supported the war in Vietnam, but songs that attacked those attacking the war: Stonewall Jackson, "The Minutemen Are Turning in Their Graves" (1966), Pat Boone, "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" (1966), and Dave Dudley's "Vietnam Blues" (1966)
Law: Copyright and Censorship
-Songs are automatically copyrighted as soon as they exist in a tangible form, such as a recording or printed sheet music. However, in order for a songwriter to sue for copyright infringement the song should be registered with the copyright office at the Library of Congress. That registration should be completed before the song is released in the public domain by becoming available to hear on a website
Labor Songs
-Swedish immigrant Joel Hägglund became a labor activist in America, better known as Joe Hill --most famous songs included a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet By-and-By" entitled "The Preacher and the Slave" (1911), "Casey Jones—the Union Scab" (1911), "The Rebel Girl" (1911), and "There is Power in a Union" (1913)
Political Criticism
-Ten years after the PMRC got its warning labels, politicians including not only President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle but also Tipper Gore, attacked Time Warner, accusing the corporation of supporting rap music with degrading and offensive lyrics
History recordings timeline
-The "Acoustic" Era (1877-1925) -The "Electrical" Era (1925-1945) -The "Magnetic" Era (1945-1975) -The "Digital" Era (1975-present)
Portable Audio format war #1 8-tracks compact cassette
-The 8-track cartridge offered an endless loop tape, providing four programs of two (stereo) tracks each -In 1965, the Ford Motor Company introduced both factory-installed and dealer-installed 8-track tape players as an option on three of its 1966 models -dashboard mounted 8-track units in combination with AM radio or AM/FM receivers were offered as well -Compact cassettes came in two forms: prerecorded or as a full recordable "blank" cassette -became a portable format that could work with a tape deck player in an automobile or combined with a turntable and radio as part of a home stereo system likely to be found in a teenager's bedroom
Failed Audio War C: CD's VS mini CD
-The Mini CD (also known as pocket CDs) was pretty much dead on arrival when it started showing up in store -Most tray-loading CD devices have two "wells," one sized for a regular 120-mm CD or DVD, and a smaller, deeper well where mini cds fit
10 influential singers: Barbra Streisand (1942-)
-The best-selling female artist of all time (the only female in the top ten and the only non-rock 'n' roll artist), with 33 top-ten albums (including a number-one album in each of the last six decades), Streisand achieved an unmatched level of artistry as a singer
Audio Format War #2 Wax cylinders VS wax discs (1900s-1910)
-The earliest disc records were made of various materials, including hard rubber -In the 1910s, wax discs, the first of the competing disc record systems, emerged as the winner in the marketplace and then became the dominant commercial audio medium once their sound quality was improved. -10-inch discs that could play for 3 minutes were introduced in 1901, followed by 12-inch records that played for 4 minutes in 1903
Failed Audio format War A: 33LPs Vs reel to reel tape (late 1950s-1960s)
-The earliest tape recorders used the reel-to-reel format and their primary use in the music industry was to record artists in the studio. However, in 1952, EMI started selling prerecorded tapes in Great Britain and RCA Victor joined the reel-to-reel business in 1954 -With reel-to-reel tape you had to fast forward and stop periodically to see where you were on an album
Public Performing Right
-The exclusive right of the copyright owner to authorize the performance or transmission of the work in public.
Reproduction Right
-The exclusive right of the copyright owner to authorize the reproduction of a musical work in a record, cassette, or CD.
Radio play Restrictions
-The idea that radio stations would censor themselves by refusing to play certain songs became a topic of public discussion when it became known that in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Clear Channels Communications (now known as iHeartMedia) sent a memorandum to the more than 1,200 radio stations they owned listing 165 "lyrically questionable" songs
Technical Personnel: Mix Engineer
-The individual instruments and vocals are recorded independently, delivered to the mix engineer as DVD or virtual files, transferred to a mixing console, and then mixed together to create one track on an album. It usually takes an experienced mixing engineer four to 6 hours to mix one song
Warner Music Group
-The largest American-owned music conglomerate worldwide, WMG is the third largest in the global music industry. Originally owned by Warner Bros., today WMG is owned by Access Industries
Universal Music Group
-The largest music corporation in the world, UMG operates as a subsidiary of Vivendi, a Paris-based French media conglomerate
Technical Personnel: Gopher
-The lowest engineer position (called a runner in the United Kingdom), this is the person responsible for doing everything that no one else wants to do, such as getting the sandwiches. But this is also an entry position where a lot of people start in the industry to learn the music business from the ground up
Technical personnel: Studio Manager
-The manager of a recording studio could be the owner of the company, a partial owner, or someone hired to manage the studio staff and run the day-to-day operations of the business. They are usually responsible for hiring engineers and other creative and technical staff, selecting and purchasing new equipment, as well as assigning recording and remixing engineers to specific client projects
Technical Personnel: Mastering Engineer
-The mastering engineer takes the final mixed production and transfers it to either CD, cassette, vinyl, or digital. They are hired by the artist, record producer, or a record label representative to complete the audio mastering process during post-production. Their primary job is to ensure each track is balanced, set to the optimum volume, and free of distracting interferences
Campaign songs
-The political nature of songs in the United States began with campaign songs, used in presidential contests, beginning with "The Hunters of Kentucky," used for candidate Andrew Jackson in 1824 and 1828
Rhythm
-The rhythm of a piece is the element of time in music. If you tap your foot in time to the music you are "keeping the beat," which means you are following the structural rhythmic pulse of the music
Audio Format War #5 78s VS 45s and 33PLs (1948-1951)
-The7-inch 45-rpm record was introduced in 1949 by RCA as a smaller but more durable and higher fidelity replacement for the 78-rpm shellac discs -as stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45-rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s -12-inch 78s had a laying time of less than 5 minutes per side, the new discs could play for more than 20 minutes, giving it a total advantage over shellac discs -LPs were not intended for singles, which had been the main product of the music industry since its conception
Performance Royalties
-These are the fees music users pay when music is performed publicly -includes not only concert performances but also playing music over the radio, in a restaurant or bar, or over an online service like Pandora or Spotify -Songwriters and rights holders can be two separate entities
Mechanical Royalties
-These are the fees paid to songwriters and artists when their music is licensed to appear on a CD or vinyl record, but also when music is streamed on-demand on providers like Spotify
Woodwind Family
-This group is divided into two main types: (a) flutes—flute, piccolo, panpipes, ocarinas; and (b) reeds—clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, bagpipes
Brass Family
-This group is made up of two types: (a) valved—trumpet, French horn, tuba; and (B) slide—trombone
Technical Personnel: Recording Engineer
-This is the person responsible for recording and mixing the tracks. They know the techniques for microphone placement and how to record different types of instruments, from guitars to drums. The recording engineer prepares the studio for recording sessions and operates the mixing console
Business Model: Promotion
-To make money, albums have to be bought by customers, so promoting artists and their music are the crucial part of the second stage. Being played on the radio has been the primary way of promoting music, which is one of the reasons major labels have enjoyed a huge advantage over the indie labels in getting their artists airplay -Press coverage would be the second most important way of promoting music -Music videos became an important way for promoting music, especially during the early years of MTV when music videos actually constituted the majority of programming on the cable network
Audio format war #6 vinyl discs VS CDs (1982)
-Vinyl records did not break easily, which was why they were seen as being superior to shellac discs, but because they were made of soft material they were easily scratched and could be warped by heat or exposure to sunlight, as well as by improper storage -The CD is a digital optical data storage format that can hold up to about 80 minutes of uncompressed audio - Unlike vinyl discs but similar to people using audio cassettes to make "mix tapes," CD technology allows consumers to "burn" their own discs -In 1988, CDs accounted for just 22 percent of album sales. However, by 2001, that percentage was up to 91 percent and CDs had clearly won this format war
Business Model: Distribution
-Whatever the dominant format has been, record labels have made copies of the music and sent albums or CDs to local retail outlets that sell them to consumers. There are also online stores, such as Amazon, that can ship CDs to the customer's home -One thing that the move from analog to digital has done in the recording industry is to shift how consumers spend money from albums to singles, where you buy the specific songs you want rather than buying entire albums
Audio format war #4 Shellac discs VS vinyl discs (1940s-late 1950s)
-With the move from shellac to vinyl discs, the recording industry moves from the elite to the popular stage of development -The major problem with shellac discs was that they were brittle and had to be handled carefully, otherwise they would break -Vinyl discs not only avoid breaking easily, they could have up to 260 groove walls per inch, whereas shellac discs were limited to 80-100 grove walls
Songs of The Great Depression
-Woody Guthrie sang hundreds of political songs dealing with his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, when he traveled with displaced farmers from Oklahoma to California, earning himself the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour." -Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee all recorded "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" (1930), but it was Crosby's version that became the best-selling record of its period and came to be viewed as an anthem to the shattered dreams of millions
Artistic Personnel: Lyricist
-Writes song lyrics for performance in songs. They can work both freelance and on staffs at a publishing company. Usually, they collaborate with composers, songwriters, recording artists, and even other lyricists
Common examples of online copyright infringement
-You make an MP3 copy of a song because the CD you bought expressly permits you do so. But then you put your MP3 copy on the Internet, using a file-sharing network, so that millions of other people can download it. -Even if you don't illegally offer recordings to others, you join a file-sharing network and download unauthorized copies of all the copyrighted music you want for free from the computer of other network members. -In order to gain access to copyrighted music on the computers of other network members, you pay a free to join a file-sharing network that isn't authorized to distribute or make copies of copyrighted music. Then you download unauthorized copies of all the music you want. -You transfer copyrighted music using an instant messaging service. -You have a computer with a CD burner, which you use to burn copies of music you have downloaded onto writable CDs for all of your friends. -Somebody you don't even know e-mails you a copy of a copyrighted song and then you turn around and e-mail copies to all of your friends.
Artistic personnel: Arranger
-a freelance artist who works to retool an existing piece of music for a particular artist's style and genre. They arrange many parts of a musical composition, taking into consideration voice, harmonic structure, instrument, tempo, rhythm, and tone balance. The arranger has to transcribe their composition for the band, orchestra, choral group, or artist to transform the song from its original style into another
Protest songs
-basically used to cover songs that have a rhetorical dimension: that seem to persuade, and not simply to entertain -Such songs are usually associated with a movement for social change
Baritone instruments
-cello, baritone saxophone, baritone horn, bass clarinet
Artistic Personnel: songwriter
-craft songs for other artists, which is distinct from artists who write their own songs. Songwriters both compose the music and write the lyrics for their songs
Brass Instruments
-double bass, bass guitar, bass saxophone, tuba, bass drum
Tenor Instruments
-guitar, tenor saxophone, trombone, tenor drum
Business Model: Creation
-major record labels sign artists and then back them financially in creating and recording their music -You got a sense of how this process works in the previous section looking at the personnel making up the music industry
Crooner
-name given to male singers of jazz standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, usually backed by a full orchestra, big band, or piano. The term was originally meant ironically, denoting an emphatically sentimental and often emotional singing style made possible by the use of microphones
Adorno's three claims about popular music: 3
-popular music acted as "social cement," brainwashing the masses into accepting their unhappy lives -when popular music function as "social cement," this is a bad thing because it is keeping people in a place they should not want to be
Technical Personnel: Record Producer
-provide creative expertise that allows artists to come up with the signature sound for an album of single, while record labels count on their business savvy to ensure an album is completed on time and under budget. They collaborate with the artist on selecting songs for the album and can be involved in the rehearsal process, selecting the studio and an engineer, negotiating recording time, and hire session musicians or background vocalists as required. When the album is completed, they are also responsible for business matters like paying studios and contract talent, and providing expense reports and receipts to the label.
Hip-Hop Music
-several critics have observed that all music is protest -"The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five was about the struggle of living in the Bronx during the administration of Ronald Reagan -The 32 hip-hop group N. W. A., one of the earliest and most significant gangsta rap groups, reflected the rising anger of urban youth in their Straight Outta Compton album -Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y." (1993) addressed issues of street harassment, domestic violence, and slurs against women in hip-hop culture
Topical Songs
-song that comments on political and or social events, typically offering a mix of narrative and commentary
Freedom Songs
-songs sung by participants in the African American Civil Rights Movement -Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" (1964) spoke to the struggle for equal rights and became an anthem for the Civil Rights movement because of its refrain: "It's been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come."
Censorship
-the practice of restricting free access to musical works. Such censorship can be based on moral, political, religious, or military reasons, and it can take the form of everything from a complete government enforced legal prohibition to private, voluntary removal of content when a song is performed in public. Political censorship is not common in most democratic societies, while more authoritarian governments routinely censor music considered critical of the government or the military
Timbre
-the quality of a musical note, sound, or tone that distinguishes different types of voice and musical instruments, even when they have the same pitch and loudness. Also known as tone color or tone quality
Lyrics
-the words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses
Percussion Family
-timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, glockenspiel, xylophone
Alto Instruments
-viola, alto saxophone, French horn, English horn, alto horn
Soprano Instruments
-violin, flute, piccolo, soprano saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, oboe
Strings Family
-violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, sitar, electric bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki
Adorno's three claims about popular music: 2
Popular music promotes passive listening -popular music wants you to be a passive rather than an active listener -with passive listening, which is how we usually listen to music, you sit quietly without responding to what your hare hearing -music is something to have on in the background, and you are probably not really listening to the words which explains why sometimes people are surprised to find out what a song is really about once they are shown the lyrics
Duration
how long a sound or silence lasts
Tempo
the speed of the beat