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The impact of digital music distribution on the structure of songs and the way they are published
Škopek, Matěj ; Ježková, Tereza (advisor) ; Halada, Jan (referee)
The topic of this thesis is musical compositions and the potential impact of the modern method of their distribution on their structural characteristics, overall form, and method of their release. The work compares two periods, from the years 2005-2010 and 2015-2020, i.e., before and after the rise in popularity of music streaming services such as Spotify. The author's goal is to find a correlation between the changes of parameters selected by him and the development of the music industry and music distribution. In the work, the author first presents the concept of distribution in this broader, general sense of the word and its role as part of the marketing mix. It follows the role of distribution in the context of the music industry and a more detailed description and overall shape of the music market in each of the defined time periods. For each researched year, 10 songs were chosen that ranked at the top of the American music chart Billboard Hot 100. Therefore, the author's research includes 120 recordings. The monitored parameters are the length of the song, its tempo, the location of the first chorus, the total number of choruses, and whether the song was released as a separate single. The author presents five hypotheses that are based on the authors' publications in the field of music. As...
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Reactions of Foreign Performers of Popular Music to Selected Social Issues in the 21st Century
Krajdl, Erik ; Kruml, Milan (advisor) ; Halada, Andrej (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the reactions of foreign performers of popular music to selected social issues in the 21st century. The diploma thesis is divided into a theoretical part, a research methodology and an empirical part. In the theoretical part, the development of popular music is described and its genres are introduced. Selected social issues of today are also theoretically explained. Qualitative analyzes and research questions are defined in the research methodology. The empirical part includes two main types of research. In the first phase, a qualitative analysis of the content of musical texts together with a qualitative analysis of foreign media content is used on musical texts from this century. In-depth interviews are conducted in the second phase of the empirical part. In the conclusion, the results of the empirical part are interpreted and summarized. The aim of this diploma thesis is to find out, through qualitative analyzes and research questions, how world celebrities from the field of popular music stand towards selected social issues of the 21st century and what impact their opinions can have on the general public. The benefit of this diploma thesis is the analysis of the influence of musical texts and world-famous artists on the listeners thinking. Music is a big part of...
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The Beatles in the context of socialist Czechoslovakia in the radio documentary
Jakšič, Marek ; Lovaš, Karol (advisor) ; Gulda, Jana (referee)
The bachelor's thesis The Beatles in the Context of Socialist Czechoslovakia in the Radio Documentary is divided into two parts - practical and theoretical. The main practical part is focused on the impact of The Beatles on Czechoslovakian politics and culture. In the radio documentary, the author is trying to describe the atmosphere of the sixties. Therefore, the listeners can hear original Beatles songs as well as songs performed by Czechoslovakian interprets. Thanks to the comments of the singers and music publicists it is pointed out that The Beatles had a huge impact on Czechoslovakian society as, apart from the music itself, the band had a symbolic meaning creating a connection with the democratic world for the Czechoslovaks. The theoretical part of the thesis mainly deals with the definition of the radio documentary. It describes the particularities of radio broadcasting and it briefly mentions the history of radio broadcasting in Czechoslovakia. The creation of the radio documentary is also described in the practical part. It explains why the author decided to choose this topic and also the respondents and the choice of the target audience is clarified. The problems the author had to solve while working on this bachelor's thesis are mentioned and so are the experiences that I gained while...
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Conceptualization of Life in the Czech Popular Lyrics (Contribution to the Study of the Linguistic Picture of the World)
Janovská, Zuzana ; Vaňková, Irena (advisor) ; Saicová Římalová, Lucie (referee)
This thesis examines the conceptualization of life in the lyrics of Czech popular songs of 1960s. The thesis derives theoretically and methodologically from cognitively and culturally-based approaches to language, especially from the theory of conceptual metaphor and metonymy (e. g. Lakoff and Johnson) and the concept of language as a picture of the world (school of Lublin). At first the thesis analyses the semantics of lexeme life. The analysis is based on the data from dictionaries and it reaches the basics of the linguistic picture of life as it is anchored in common language. Simultaneously the thesis works with the picture of life (in contrast with death) how it is served in the literature about Czech folk culture. The main part of this study consists of almost a hundred interpretations of lyrics from the examined period, which depict human life in its various stages and forms (through oppositions of life - death, youth - old age, etc.). The analysis follows relevant semantic elements which participate on its conceptualization. The thesis describes systematically and in detail particularly metaphors (structural, ontological and orientational), metonymy, and also the image schemes which are associated with life (scheme of JOURNEY, CYCLE). The attention is paid to their specific language...
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Construction of national identity in Eurovision Song Contest: case study
Bičíková, Zuzana ; Reifová, Irena (advisor) ; Vlasák, Zbyněk (referee)
The diploma thesis Construction of National Identity in Eurovision Song Contest: Case Study analyses the ways and forms of shaping the Czech national identity in the Eurovision Song Contest, the largest and most watched international festival of popular music in the world. In particular, the thesis aims to identify the manifestation of identity and self-presentation of the Czech Republic from the point of view of a media institution, in the national selection, in the form of the entry itself, in postcards and video clips as well as through voting and viewer ratings. These findings were attained by the combination of three research methods, namely semi-structured interviews with media professionals, qualitative content analyses of audio- visual materials and secondary data analysis. The theoretical framework presents basic concepts of identity formation and nationalism, and provides an in-depth presentation of the Eurovision Song Contest from geopolitical and sociocultural perspectives. The thesis outlines the historical development of the competition with regard to the political and cultural ideas it aims to endorse, and explains the development of participation with special focus on eastward expansion. Several examples of self- presentation and identity construction of other countries within the...
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Western Music in the Post-1968 Czechoslovakia
Havlík, Adam ; Pullmann, Michal (advisor) ; Rákosník, Jakub (referee)
This paper addresses the peculiar topic of western music in post 1968 Czechoslovakia with emphasis on the official music scene. It shows how western music was actually treated in Czechoslovakian society and how the image of western music was shaped within the public discourse , including many significant ambiguities. It also follows various ways (legal and also illegal) in which ordinary people used to obtain foreign music records in the era of late socialism. An analysis of actual impact of western music on Czechoslovak popular music and the role of institutions within that is also present. This paper could thus be considered as a modest contribution to the social and cultural history of socialist dictatorships.
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Evolution of western popular music and mainstream musical taste 2010-2019
Severin, Ivan ; Kruml, Milan (advisor) ; Hroch, Miloš (referee)
1 Abstract This thesis aims to map the evolution of western contemporary music ranging from year 2010 to 2019 due to a lack of information about it's development compared to previous decades. The recurring theme in this thesis is our paradigm shift into the age of new digital media. First chapter unwraps all the changes related to a move from old physical means of music distribution into the new world of digital platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music. I set out to show just how much this fact affected all parts of music creation all the way to its consumption. What follows then is an attempt to answer the question if today's music is in fact of a lower or higher quality than music of past decades. Next chapter describes the new phenomenon of so called supercomposers, the kind of composers that affected the sound of music we hear everyday with their handwriting. Actual production techniques and ways to make music are the next topic of this work alongside the explanation of how accessible these tools are to a new generation of musicians. Alongside to changes new media brought to the music world I set to explore the ways modern musicians use social media to gain their following and expand their audience. To close out the thesis I present several examples of how specific genres came to be affected by the rise...
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Is Czech Spotify Gender-Biased?
Křížková, Alžběta ; Hroch, Miloš (advisor) ; Lütke Notarp, Ulrike (referee)
Is Czech Spotify gender-biased? Alžběta Křížková Abstract This thesis analyses the gender inequality of music streaming platform Spotify. It focuses on Czech Spotify, ergo, on the Czech music industry between May 2020 and March 2021. The interdisciplinary study covers crucial theoretical concepts from the theory of platforms, popular music, and gender studies. It verifies whether the theory built on Anglo-Saxon tradition can be applied to the local setting. The dataset comprises of songs placed in the "TOP 200" chart and select editorial playlists. The chart illustrates song popularity based on listeners (organic listening), and chosen editorial playlists indicate the platform's promotion of songs (suggested listening). The gender gap analysis is based on a comparison of three gender ratios of songs entering the platform in total, in the playlists, and songs that make it to the chart. The empirical research utilises fundamental statistics and presents various song aspects (genre, record label, band formation, and others) in relation to artists' gender on Spotify, but also in the Czech music industry. The results show a low representation of female artists in the whole industry, while the platform actively promotes female artists via suggested listening. Organic listening endorses gender stereotypes and...
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