Music and race

This thesis examines jazz music first as a language developed by African-Americans to communicate their desire for personal freedom and community, then as a commodity exploited by the commercial music industry dominated by European-Americans. Ownership and the ideology of critics are specific problems of cultural politics which hinder African-American innovators from attaining the commercial success enjoyed by white imitators, producers, and critics. Because real jazz is the creation of African-American musicians struggling to have a voice in society, it is critically denounced and underexposed, lauded and rewarded far less than commercial jazz, its diluted counterpart designed for mass consumption rather than for nationalistic expression. European-Americans largely determine the commercial fortunes of jazz because they control the entertainment industry which consists of publishing, recording, literature, radio, television and film.