Topic: Music Business
lesson:
The United States and World War I featuring Tin Pan Alley Songs
Why did the United States enter World War I and how did music reflect the changing viewpoint of Americans toward the war?
lesson:
Emo: A Short History
How did Emo music emerge from Punk to become its own unique genre, and how has Emo influenced a newer generation of artists and audiences?
lesson:
Motown Records: Detroit’s Sound of Success
How did Detroit’s cultural and economic history influence the sound and success of Motown Records?
lesson:
Mi Gente: Fania Records & New York Salsa Music
What is Fania Records, and how does it reflect the history of Spanish-speaking Caribbean communities in New York City?
lesson:
Intersectionality and Punk Music in the 2020s
What is intersectionality, and how do musicians in the Punk music scene navigate life at different intersections?
Unit Plan:
Math and the Music Industry
Math is inherent in the music industry. Whether calculating touring costs, analyzing industry data, or determining fan engagement on social media, math interprets numerous aspects of the music industry. Through five lessons, students practice math skills within the context of the music industry. Utilizing important artists as case studies, students...
lesson:
Using Algebraic Expressions to Analyze Concert Schedules
How can writing and evaluating expressions be used to explain the scope of an artist’s concert schedule?
lesson:
Using Ratios to Identify Social Media Engagement
How can ratios be used to identify a music artist’s social media audience engagement?
lesson:
Using Graphing to Analyze Music Industry Data
How can graphing be used to analyze music industry data?
Student Edition:
Toby Keith and The Chicks: Songs and Words during the War on Terror
Student Edition:
Indigenous Music: From Wounded Knee to The Billboard Charts
Student Edition:
Music as a Window to the Past
Trace It Back:
Drake
lesson:
Business with the Grateful Dead
How did the Grateful Dead’s business practices create a dedicated fan culture and ensure the financial success of the group?
lesson:
Supporting Sobriety in a Musical Community
Who are the Wharf Rats, and how do they exemplify the practices of sobriety, peer support, and community building within a musical fan culture?
lesson:
Math With The Grateful Dead
How can math be used to better understand the Grateful Dead’s success?
Trace It Back:
Kate Bush
Trace It Back:
Chance the Rapper
lesson:
The Teamwork Behind the Beatles (Elementary Version)
How did the input of manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin help The Beatles develop and refine skills that aided the band in presenting their music and personalities to a mass audience?
Trace It Back:
Kesha (aka Ke$ha)
Trace It Back:
St. Vincent
lesson:
Loudspeakers, PA Systems, and the “Wall of Sound”
What is a PA system, how does it work, and how were the Grateful Dead pioneers in live sound technology?
lesson:
The Original “Going Viral”
Could a musical group “go viral” before the internet?
lesson:
The Leadership Skills of a Music Producer
How do successful music producers practice positive leadership skills?
lesson:
The Music and Poetry Behind the Red Power Movement
What was the Red Power movement, and what role did Folk and Country music play within it?
lesson:
The Many Roles of a Music Producer
What does a music producer do and in what ways does one hear the sound of a producer’s work in recordings?
lesson:
The Beatles and Teen Culture
How did the Beatles’ image as a “rock band” affect young people in America?
lesson:
The Teamwork Behind the Beatles
How did the input of manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin help The Beatles develop and refine skills that aided the band in presenting their music and personalities to a mass audience?
lesson:
The Beatles, a New Kind of Star
How did The Beatles establish a new paradigm for the image of "the star," and how did that image support their global success?
lesson:
The Impact of the Electric Guitar
How did the electrification, amplification and design of the guitar facilitate its emergence as a dominant instrument of popular music?
lesson:
Sound Waves, Analog Synthesis and Popular Culture
How did synthesizers allow musicians to create new sounds and how did those sounds reflect American culture throughout the 20th century?
lesson:
Producing the Sounds of a Changing South
How did the recordings Sam Phillips produced at Sun Records, including Elvis Presley’s early work, reflect trends of urbanization and integration in the 1950s American South?
lesson:
The Rise of the Electric Guitar
What factors led to the rise of the electric guitar as the dominant symbol of Rock and Roll?
lesson:
Assembling Hits at Motown
How did Motown Records in Detroit operate during the 1960s?
lesson:
The Influence of Rhythm and Blues
What did R&B bring to early Rock and Roll, and how was early Rock and Roll different?
lesson:
Birth of the American Teenager
How did teenagers become a distinct demographic group in the 1950s?
lesson:
Beatlemania
What were the factors that contributed to the rise of Beatlemania?