Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of pop music?

As a way of describing a particular type of music I would not agree this to be a useful way to describe a piece of pop music. I do not believe music can or should be segregated in this fashion due to the idea that white and black artists rend to inspire each other. Many blues and folk artists were black and inspired many of some of greatest rock legends of the last century and yet rock music is still a very multicultural thing. Modern R&B is something you could possibly name as black music as many of the artists in this genre are black, however when we look at those who listen to R&B we can see that the audience is mostly mixed race therefore I don't believe we can simply call R&B black music. While I still believe that music is culturally defined, I also believe that it can influence anyone who listens to it and that the audience decides what it should be called, therefore I think this concept is an unhelpful way of describing pop music.

Does the emergence of the digital download signal the end of the music industry?

In effect the music industry is a multi corporation that is ever present and on going. Downloading from the internet does to some extent rob the industry of some profit but it still does not prevent them from making millions yearly on overpriced CD and digital download sales. I also believe in the concept of the honest customer which is a situation where a person downloads music "illegally" from limewire or bittorrent but at the same time buys albums from shops or from itunes, particularly from artists they think deserves the profit and wish to pay the prices of the industry, therefore so long as the concept continues the music industry can't exactly end. I highly appreciate Ian Condry's comment: "downloading music is ethical provided we support the artists who listen to." Though in a sense, artists can be heavily hypocritical as some of the most famous modern artists started their careers using free distribution do make their music well know, but once they become famous they are against it. Despite the moral question behind downloading I do not believe it spells the end of the music industry.

Can pop music genuinely achieve political change?

By observing the various artists that have existed in the last sixty years we can in some ways agree that in several ways pop music has assisted in altering the way people think which in turn has led to politic change. There are no direct examples of this save what we have seen in the history of pop music. The 1970s through to the 80s are without a doubt the most profound anti government musical entities with the rise of bands such as Rage Against The Machine, The Specials, Foo Fighters ect. who sung songs of a highly rebellious tone which doubtlessly changed the ways in how people, especially young people, viewed politics and the government. However I would not agree that these types of music: rock, punk, ska, ultimately affected political change, moreover they assisted in creating a musical ideology and that aided the rebellious youth.