The role of humor in television advertisement: A study regarding Portuguese consumers’ emotions and reactions

The purpose of this study is to explore the humorous side of television advertisement and its impact on Portuguese consumers’ hearts, minds and wallets. Both qualitative (through in-depth interviews) and quantitative (through an on-line survey and subsequent statistical data analysis) methods were used, guaranteeing a more consistent, strong and valid research. Twenty-five interviews with randomly chosen consumers were conducted face-to-face and three interviews via e-mail with marketers and television advertisers were performed in order to explore profoundly the subject. Moreover, 360 people have answered the on-line survey. Through the analysis of the data collected humor perception was found to be positively correlated with persuasion and intention to purchase the product; intention to share the advert; message comprehension; product liking and development of positive feelings towards the brand and brand credibility variables. The main implication of these findings relies on the fact that humor in advertising is able to boost its effectiveness.

Whales Get Beached, Don't They? An Essay on the Law and Economics of Copyrights in Music

L’auteur fonde son argument sur l’importance déterminante des conséquences économiques de la numérisation sur l’évolution des droits d’auteur afférant à la musique. La musique numérisée correspondant à un bien public, les prix de sa négociation tendent vers 0, et seules les contraintes légales telles que les droits d’auteur ou les ententes sur les prix, qui sont généralement proscrites par les lois sur la concurrence, peuvent sauver l’entrant intrépide ou l’opérateur mis sur le sable. Alors que les propriétaires de droits d’auteur maximisent leurs profits en prônant l’extension de leur champ d’application et en poursuivant leur application par les tribunaux, leur valeur sociale est mesurée en termes d’efficacité pour la promotion de l’innovation. L’industrie de la musique a projeté le champ d’application des droits d’auteur si grossièrement loin au–delà des limites de la raison par rapport à la musique numérisée que leur position légale sera attaquée inlassablement sur tous les fronts, que ce soit par une banalisation des infractions, ou par la résistance devant les tribunaux ou par des campagnes visant une réforme législative.

Enterprise pedagogy in music: an exploration of multiple pedagogies

This article investigates the nature of enterprise pedagogy in music. It presents the results of a research project that applied the practices of enterprise learning developed in the post-compulsory music curriculum in England to the teaching of the National Curriculum for music for 11-to-14-year-olds. In doing so, the article explores the nature of enterprise learning and the nature of pedagogy, in order to consider whether enterprise pedagogy offers an effective way to teach the National Curriculum. Enterprise pedagogy was found to have a positive effect on the motivation of students and on the potential to match learning to the needs of students of different abilities. Crucially, it was found that, to be effective, not only did the teacher’s practice need to be congruent with the beliefs and theories on which it rests, but that the students also needed to share in these underlying assumptions through their learning. The study has implications for the way in which teachers work multiple pedagogies in the process of developing their pedagogical identity.

Beyond a constructivist curriculum : a critique of competing paradigms in music education

The distinction between learning to perform on an instrument or voice and learning music in a wider sense is one that is made in many countries, and is especially pertinent in England in the context of recent policy developments. This article argues that, whilst this distinction has come to represent curricula based on the opposing paradigms of behaviourist and constructivist approaches to learning, this opposition does not necessarily extend to the pedagogy through which the curricula are taught. A case study of the National Curriculum in England highlights the characteristics of a curriculum based on constructivist principles, along with the impact this has when taught in a behaviourist way. It is argued that conceiving the curriculum in terms of musical competencies and pedagogy in terms of musical understanding would provide a basis for greater continuity and higher quality in the music education experienced by young people.

Changes in music tempo entrain movement related brain activity

The neural mechanisms of music listening and appreciation are not yet completely understood. Based on the apparent relationship between the beats per minute (tempo) of music and the desire to move (for example feet tapping) induced while listening to that music it is hypothesised that musical tempo may evoke movement related activity in the brain. Participants are instructed to listen, without moving, to a large range of musical pieces spanning a range of styles and tempos during an electroencephalogram (EEG) experiment. Event-related desynchronisation (ERD) in the EEG is observed to correlate significantly with the variance of the tempo of the musical stimuli. This suggests that the dynamics of the beat of the music may induce movement related brain activity in the motor cortex. Furthermore, significant correlations are observed between EEG activity in the alpha band over the motor cortex and the bandpower of the music in the same frequency band over time. This relationship is observed to correlate with the strength of the ERD, suggesting entrainment of motor cortical activity relates to increased ERD strength

Children's participation in music : connecting the cultural contexts - an Australian perspective

The cultural contexts of home, school and community all have important parts to play in the music education of children, but at present in Australia, these three entities are insufficiently connected on a number of fronts, not the least being an understanding about the purpose(s) of young people's engagement with music. This paper puts forward two specific proposals for action aimed to help build linkages among the three cultural contexts and ensure young people's on-going engagement with music. These proposals, which call on the education sector to assume leadership for action, have implications for policy makers, school personnel, as well as parents, individual artists and community arts organisations.

Enhancing students' experience in music composition through music notation software

A project was undertaken in a Hong Kong primary school to investigate the role of music notation software in leaching music composition. The project was divided into three stages. During the first stage, appropriate hardware equipment and software applications were installed in the school music room, and four teaching plans were developed on the models and strategies derived from findings in the local and international literature. During the second stage, these teaching plans were implemented in Grade One, Grade Three, Grade Five and Grade Six classes of the school. During the third stage, the effectiveness of these teaching activities was evaluated by comparing the experiences from the second stage to the corresponding findings from similar projects undertaken in other Hong Kong primary schools, as well as to findings from the international literature. The results demonstrated that tile visual and audio stimulation created by computer"based technology can motivate students to successfully engage in music composition. Moreover, computer"based technology provides an opportunity for students to compose music in an atonal idiom. However, a large number of students were unable to demonstrate the concept of structural design in their musical products, and one of the findings from this investigation was that teachers need to be more purposeful in their teaching by directing students to employ the technique of repetition of interesting musical fragments or phrases in order to achieve a sense of unity in their pieces.

Perceptions of multiculturalism in music education: what matters and why

Pre-service teacher education students from two Australian universities were interviewed about their understandings of cultural diversity in music education. These initial findings revealed varied but generally consistent enthusiasm about including music from different cultures in teaching. However comments revealed an almost haphazard exposure to other musics. These were generally informal rather than learned in their formal education. Interviewees recognised the training that they had received in their tertiary studies in other cultures (both Western and non-Western) and expressed the intention to pursue professional development in their future careers. Engaging with the music of other cultures allows teachers and students to develop understanding and empathy with others. This is in line with current governmental initiatives on values that states that values education is intended to 'inspire and educate the next generation to see their world through the eyes of others. We want children to become adults who are caring, tolerant, fair and compassionate' (Department of Education, Science and Training, n.d., p. 2). Comments from the interviewees illustrate just such attitudes and understandings. It behoves us as educators to prepare students for teaching in multicultural classrooms that reflect the wider Australian society.

Integration and multiculturalism in music in Australian schools: has/can/should the leopard change its spots?

The 1960s saw a broadening of the offerings of music from other cultures in the materials and programs of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). This is a useful indicator for our changing perceptions. Since then, increasingly ‘authentic’ music materials have been available to primary classroom teachers, but how far have we really come? Blacking (1973) identified the difficulty of truly acquiring an understanding, skill and authenticity in the music of another culture. Blacking stressed the importance of music and musical acquisition occurring in a cultural context. In many cultures there is a clear link between the acquisition of musical and social skills. By removing music from one culture and presenting it in the symbolic gestures of another we may strip much of its meaning. It is very difficult for a member of one culture to comprehend the music and culture of another without understanding its social milieu. This is particularly true for musics from cultures removed from the Western music paradigm. It could be argued that the further we move from our cultural norm, the harder it is to produce authentic experiences for students and future experienced teachers. By considering the resources offered to teachers and teacher education students we can explore the attempts we have made, and continue to make, in our attempts to move from integration to multiculturalism. As a ‘work in progress’, this paper will consider the inclusion of African music in the nationally distributed ABC school singing books as a means of illustrating and marking change.