Production Agencies and Music Festivals as Factors of Stylistic Renewal of Ukrainian Pop Songs of the 1990s

Abstract

The purpose of the research. The study characterises the activities of production agencies and music festivals as factors in the stylistic renewal of Ukrainian pop songs in the 1990s. The research methodology consists in the use of historical-cultural, systemic, and musical-analytical methods and approaches, which made it possible to determine the importance of production agencies and music festivals in the formation of the soundscape of the Ukrainian pop music in the 1990s. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the activities of production agencies and music festivals were characterised as factors in the formation of the style of Ukrainian pop music in the 1990s. Conclusions. In the 1990s, there was a reorientation of Ukrainian pop music from the Soviet to the Western organisational model, in which production agencies played an important role, and the festival movement received a pronounced promotional function. Popular music, with the support of production agencies and the festival movement, during this period becomes an important factor in the Ukrainisation of society thanks to stylistically relevant Ukrainian-language song content. The most organic combination of promotional-commercial and national-educational components was in the activities of the production agency “Territory A” and the festival “Red Rue”. Thanks to the Western organisational model and the Ukrainian-centric approach, the Ukrainian-language pop song of the 1990s was represented by all musical styles (pop music, rock, rap, folk, bard song) and was distinguished by stylistic pluralism, which responded to current trends in world popular music and at the same time took into account pop songs previous years.

Keywords: popular music, Ukrainian pop song of the 1990s, production agency “Territory A”, popular music festival “Red Rue”, musical style.