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| popular culture | |
|---|---|
| Name | Popular culture |
| Focus | Mass-mediated cultural products, practices, and audiences |
| Regions | Worldwide |
| Related | Television broadcasting, Film industry, Music industry |
popular culture is the set of mass-mediated cultural products, practices, and phenomena that circulate widely among large audiences in modern societies. It encompasses commercially produced film industry outputs, television broadcasting programs, best-selling music industry recordings, widely read newspapers and magazines, and viral forms distributed through social media platforms. Popular culture operates at the intersection of artistic production, market structures such as the Hollywood studio system and global distribution networks like Netflix, and everyday consumption in locales ranging from the Times Square commercial district to street markets in Shibuya.
Scholars define the field by reference to mass distribution channels (e.g., radio broadcasting, cable television), high-circulation cultural goods (e.g., blockbuster films, chart-topping Billboard singles), and mediated icons (e.g., Madonna (entertainer), Michael Jackson). Scope includes commercial entertainment from the Bollywood industry, serialized narratives like soap operas, transmedia franchises such as Star Wars franchise and Marvel Cinematic Universe, and participatory phenomena on platforms like YouTube and TikTok (application). Boundaries intersect with institutions such as the Recording Industry Association of America, award systems like the Academy Awards, and regulatory frameworks exemplified by the Federal Communications Commission.
Modern popular forms emerged alongside technologies: the mass market for printed newspapers during the era of the Penny Press; the expansion of phonographs and the Gramophone Company in the late 19th century; the consolidation of the Hollywood studio era in the 1920s; the rise of networked radio broadcasting such as BBC and NBC; and the televized culture of the postwar period marked by series on CBS and ABC. The late 20th century saw globalization via conglomerates like Walt Disney Company and multinational labels such as Sony Music Entertainment. The digital turn accelerated with companies like Google and Meta Platforms, Inc. and distribution innovations from Spotify to Amazon Prime Video.
Popular cultural forms include film (e.g., Citizen Kane, Avatar (2009 film)), television (e.g., I Love Lucy, Game of Thrones), recorded music (e.g., albums by The Beatles, Beyoncé), literature with mass appeal (e.g., Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code), graphic storytelling like Marvel Comics and DC Comics, videogames from Nintendo and Electronic Arts, and viral content on Twitter and Instagram (service). Media industries such as the Motion Picture Association and festivals like the Cannes Film Festival shape production and prestige. Ancillary markets include merchandising tied to franchises like Pokémon and touring circuits exemplified by U2 and Taylor Swift (singer).
Popular outputs contribute to identity formation through fandoms around figures like David Bowie or properties like the Lord of the Rings (film series), ritualized consumption at events such as Comic-Con International and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and public discourse mediated by outlets such as The New York Times and BBC News. They can mobilize political expression—examples include protest songs by Bob Dylan and televised moments in elections involving Donald Trump or Barack Obama—and influence taste via critics at publications like Rolling Stone and awards juries from the Cannes Film Festival or the Pulitzer Prize committee.
Transnational flows move formats and stars across borders: Japanese properties like Godzilla and Marvel Cinematic Universe entries achieve global box-office reach, while industries in South Korea propelled K-pop acts such as BTS into international markets. Co-productions between studios in United States and India or distribution partnerships with platforms like Netflix facilitate cultural exchange. Trade agreements and institutions such as the World Trade Organization affect intellectual property regimes that govern cross-border dissemination and local adaptation.
Debates focus on commodification and power: critics like Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer argued mass culture homogenizes taste; scholars responding include Stuart Hall and Henry Jenkins who emphasize audience agency. Controversies arise over representation in casting disputes involving #OscarsSoWhite critiques, copyright disputes connected to Napster and sampling controversies involving artists like Biz Markie, and censorship cases such as bans of films in China or controversies around The Satanic Verses. Corporate concentration—exemplified by mergers like AT&T and Time Warner—raises antitrust concerns debated in courts and regulatory bodies such as the Department of Justice (United States).
Academic inquiry draws on archives of materials in institutions like the Library of Congress and employs methods from textual analysis to audience ethnography, digital humanities approaches using data from Google Books and streaming analytics, and political economy studies tracing conglomerates like ViacomCBS and Walt Disney Company. Interdisciplinary programs at universities such as University of California, Los Angeles and New York University combine film studies, media studies, sociology, and cultural history. Key journals include Journal of Popular Culture and Popular Music and Society, which publish research on topics from fandom studies of Star Trek to reception analyses of Black Panther (film).