Can music save itself?
How much longer will the record companies continue their bleating about being poverty
stricken, blaming CD burning for their industry's decline? Is there any chance they'll
actually start listening to the music buyers out there, who are filling chat sites and editorial
columns with angry denunciations of anti-burning campaigns and the fluff-filled
(5) catalogues that record labels we think we shuold be patronising?
The industry's problem is twofold. First record labels are just not listenign to music any
more. Just as radio stations these days search for a niche market and heed nothign else,
record companies look for safe options. Their emphasis is on the pretty and the \
predictable; risk taking it out.
(10) Secondly, there is too mcuh reliance on the visual aspect. The Buggles' 80s hit 'Video
killed the radio star' has come tragically true. the video clip has robbed the listener of
their imagination. A generation has grown up addicted to images projected onto
small sceens, and music has become just a soundtrack. A cute babe of either sex
with a forgettable tune will win the race over a serious musician who doesn't cut it in the
(15) same way in the looks field.
It wasn't like this back in the heyday of pop music - the 60s. And before you start rolling
your eyes, try listening to some of the developmental sounds that came from that era.
From 1965 to 1969, there were hundreds of bands hard at work in garages and tin shack
studios, making music that would sound great even when blasting from a transistor radio.
[Source: 'Our Friends in the North', Sarah Daniells, radio review, New Zealadn Listened, Feb25 - March 5, 2004, vol. 92, no. 3329]
1a) Identify ONE pun in the second paragraph (lines 3-7). (A)
1b) Explain its double meaning. (A)
2. In lines 11-14, the author explains her idea that good radio is 'like a sort of compass when negotiating uncharted territory'. How is Tautoko FM shown to be a like a 'sort of compass' in the review as a whole. (A/M/E)
3. Explain several ways in which lines 29-36 form an effective conclusion to this review. (You could consider aspects such as structure, contrast, links and tone). (A/M/E)
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24-25)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2007 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 25-26)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2009 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 31-32)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2010 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2014 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 31)
stricken, blaming CD burning for their industry's decline? Is there any chance they'll
actually start listening to the music buyers out there, who are filling chat sites and editorial
columns with angry denunciations of anti-burning campaigns and the fluff-filled
(5) catalogues that record labels we think we shuold be patronising?
The industry's problem is twofold. First record labels are just not listenign to music any
more. Just as radio stations these days search for a niche market and heed nothign else,
record companies look for safe options. Their emphasis is on the pretty and the \
predictable; risk taking it out.
(10) Secondly, there is too mcuh reliance on the visual aspect. The Buggles' 80s hit 'Video
killed the radio star' has come tragically true. the video clip has robbed the listener of
their imagination. A generation has grown up addicted to images projected onto
small sceens, and music has become just a soundtrack. A cute babe of either sex
with a forgettable tune will win the race over a serious musician who doesn't cut it in the
(15) same way in the looks field.
It wasn't like this back in the heyday of pop music - the 60s. And before you start rolling
your eyes, try listening to some of the developmental sounds that came from that era.
From 1965 to 1969, there were hundreds of bands hard at work in garages and tin shack
studios, making music that would sound great even when blasting from a transistor radio.
[Source: 'Our Friends in the North', Sarah Daniells, radio review, New Zealadn Listened, Feb25 - March 5, 2004, vol. 92, no. 3329]
1a) Identify ONE pun in the second paragraph (lines 3-7). (A)
1b) Explain its double meaning. (A)
2. In lines 11-14, the author explains her idea that good radio is 'like a sort of compass when negotiating uncharted territory'. How is Tautoko FM shown to be a like a 'sort of compass' in the review as a whole. (A/M/E)
3. Explain several ways in which lines 29-36 form an effective conclusion to this review. (You could consider aspects such as structure, contrast, links and tone). (A/M/E)
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24-25)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2007 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 25-26)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2009 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 31-32)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2010 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2014 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 31)