Adorno and Horkeimer...

• They were sociologists and philosophers.
• They argued through film, radio and magazines can manipulate the masses into passivity.
• Easy consumption make people docile and content.

The theory states that culture not only mirrors society, but also takes an important role in shaping society through the processes of standardisation and commodification, creating objects rather than subjects. The culture industry claims to serve the consumers' needs for entertainment, and is delivering what the consumer wants. "The standardised forms, it is claimed, were originally derived from the needs of the consumers: that is why they are accepted with so little resistance. In reality, a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly". By meeting these needs, the industry is manipulating the consumers to desire what it produces. The outcome is that mass production feeds a mass market that minimises the identity and tastes of the individual consumers.

The culture industry claims to serve the consumers needs for entertaining. The culture mirrors society and categorises into height, middle or low brow. This applies to the music industry and video. Due to the capitalism and materialism/ money.

Here is a video to explain this theory;