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This article presents the authors' reply to their article Cycles in Symbol Production: The Case of Popular Music. Contrary to the thinking that innovation is prevalent in economics, that innovation is most likely in oligopolistic industries, we found that the greater the competition in the popular music industry in a given year, the greater the innovation in the music. To measure the degree of control of the music industry held by a few firms we used the conventional four-firm concentration ratio which gives the proportion of the market controlled by the top four firms. Musicologists of popular music advise that any written transcription is an inadequate representation of a recording and of the nuances that made it a hit. Moreover, an index of diversity should also include measures for song lyrics because lyrics are vital in making a record into a hit. We applaud Alexander for combining the several measures of songs in a single index of diversity. There must be diversity if there is innovation but the opposite is not true because there can be great diversity with no innovation. In focusing on diversity alone, Alexander, among others, has forgotten that the master question deriving from Shumpeter is the relationship between industry concentration and innovation.

This study questions the common assertion that culture forms go through cycles. Data on the structure of the music industry and the sorts of music produced over 26 years are examined. Periods of market concentration are found to correspond to periods of homogeneity, periods of competition to periods of diversity. A relatively long period of gradually increasing concentration s followed by a short bunt of competition and diversity, with changes in market structure preceding changes in music. Assertions that consumers necessarily "get what they want" or "want what they get" are not supported. The degree of vertical integration at three key points (creative factors, merchandising and distribution), as well as diverse mechanisms in the industry's task environment, are found to be important in explaining these associations. Their nature suggests the fruitfulness of comparative studies of the production of symbol systems in the arts, science, and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Substream” recordings (performances at variance with current commercial “mainstream” song types) disseminate essentially regional material to a mass audience. This paper details the fluctuations in popularity of substream musics relative to mainstream (traditional pop and rock) musics and examines artist type and lyric content for number one records to indicate that substream material is usually performed by solo male vocalists and includes primarily narrative ballad and novelty songs, not the love songs typically reported by prior studies of popular music. Sub‐stream hits appear independent of general trends in sound recording and achieve popularity in times of industry stability as well as industry change. This evidence suggests that substream music success is generally unpredictable in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although solo female vocalists do not have “hit” recordings with the same frequency that male vocalists do, they have, especially during certain periods, achieved considerable public acceptance. This paper presents the fluctations in popularity of solo female vocalists relative to other artist types and examines sound and lyric content of number one records to show that female vocalists “hit” with the same kind of material that other artist types do during any particular historical period. Examination of popularity cycles reveals female solo vocalist popularity follows and for a time coincides with periods of male solo vocalist popularity. Moreover, female artist ascendency occurs in times of industry stability. This evidence suggests an essentially conservative nature to music productions by this artist type. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article informs that the Ward Evaluation Scale (WES) is a 69 statement true-false inventory intended for research purposes. It is designed to obtain information and opinions about psychiatric wards from the patient. Scoring consists of summing the scale value of all statements with which the respondent agrees and adding a constant to prevent negative scores. The higher the score, the more "favorable" the overall response. Using a restricted randomized sampling procedure, 190 patients from eight wards in a state hospital were asked to complete a WES designed to measure the degree of satisfaction with ward facilities, patient management, and services.

The article discusses a report on evaluation of performance of hospital. In evaluating the performance of a psychiatric hospital, it is of great importance to assess the quality of care rendered to patients. Problems in the evaluation of care in the setting of the general hospital have long been recognized. Such problems are at least as difficult when one attempts to measure the quality of care provided in a psychiatric setting. The Ward Evaluation Scale (WES), designed for this purpose, elicits the reactions of psychiatric patients toward the wards on which they live. The technique of measuring patients' attitudes toward the psychiatric treatment situation is not an altogether novel one.