Are Blackness and Whiteness useful concepts in the study of Popular Music?

The concepts of blackness and whiteness are to some degree useful when studying popular music. They allow theorists and other people studying trends to identify where the music is from and how it is originated. It is however only useful as a starting point, of far greater importance are issues of class and location these types of issues have a greater relevance to why the music is the way it is but ti is difficult to access these ideas without finding a way of dividing the music up first. These issues are easier to address if there is a framework to build upon which is where the ideas of blackness and whiteness in music come in helpful. They are not defining concepts more guidelines which help to address underlying social issues in the propagation of certain types of music.