Weaknesses of the production of culture persepective to the birth of Rock and Roll.

In Peterson's article on the birth of rock and roll, he clearly states that there are six main factors that created the opportunity for rock and roll to emerge. These are: law, technology, industry structure, organisation structure, occupational career and market. Although he eloquently explains these factors in great detail, we could say that there are several weaknesses in his article, and we can ask ourselves why indeed he chooses to dismiss the most important factor itself which is the music.
Peterson distances himself from the music and never actually analyses how rock and roll came to be so popular. From the article it is very clear that Peterson's interest lies in the structure of the industry and not in the music itself. When Peterson talks about the technology and the development of the vinyl 45 rpm which was a major technological innovation to the advent of rock, he also goes on to note the importance and development of the transistor radio receivers which were introduced in the mid-1950's. Peterson states that the arrival of cheap transistor radios and the development of the Top 40 radio-as-jukebox format meant that a much larger number and far wider range of music was exposed to the audience. However this did not mean that by having lightweight compact transistor radios that operated on small flashlight batteries that suddenly rock was now being heard more often on the radio, this would not make a change as radio stations had already been playing rock and roll for the share of the market who were interested in it.

What is popular music?

When we talk about popular music what we mean is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and is circulated by one or more of the mass media. It is sometimes abbreviated to pop music, although pop music is more often used to describe a narrower branch of popular music.
Much popular music is the product of the modern business in order to make a profit. There are several definitions for popular music, however if we look at it from a sociological point of view then popular music is associated with or produced for or by a particular social group. The modern business enterprise will analyse the market and cultivate the music which will have the greatest success with the public, whilst at the same time maximizing profits for their business.
If we look at it this way then you could say that popular music differs a lot from traditional folk music which was created by ordinary people for their own entertainment and enjoyment. It also differs greatly from classical music which was created to serve the purpose of the church.
Popular music dates back to the mid 19th century and it is commonly subdivided to genres. Different genres appeal to different age groups and most often are the people who were young when the music was new.