The concepts of blackness and whiteness are useful as a starting point as they allow us to identify where the music is from and how it originated. However, it is a very complicated concept, as certain music seems to be fused between the two.
Hatch notes “Pop music has always depended upon the interaction between white and black traditions”. An example of this is "Rock and Roll came about from white peoples fascination with black music" (Barry Shank). It works both ways with Bhangra music being influenced by sounds from the West.
So with music having elements of both black and white the music is therefore hard to define, Artists such as Elvis blur the lines between ‘black’ and ‘white’ music, making these concepts ideological (Tagg). For me a far greater issue of importance is class and location as this plays a pivotal part into why music is the way it is.
I do agree about the importance of class and economic background but if you are going to throw a word like 'ideological' into the mix I would like a little more explanation of what you understand that to mean.
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