Music and Society


Music and society are two closely intertwined subjects. More of a fitting subject header would probably be Music 'In' Society, as it affects most aspects of such. Within this blog, I shall be discussing the different roles that music does play in the varied contents that fall under the term 'society.' Also, contrary to this, I will discus briefly how social upbringings and factors can effect the music itself.


The first major influence that music does pose, being the first function that comes to mind, is within the entertainment industry. Firstly, before digging deeper into this field, it is evidently clear that music has the potential to reach millions of people and have a profound effect on society through the sheer scale of available media. Music is available on nearly every channel on TV, all over the internet, radio and many forms of visual and audio entertainment. Whether people want to or not, subliminally or consciously, they will hear music from somewhere nearly everyday of their lives. How can this not effect a person in some way ? Not just in media, but in live entertainment music has huge influence. Whether it be to see a band or a night club to dance, the majority of people going to such events do so in order to have a good time listening and dancing to the music they love. This shows music influencing on the intoxicating night life which inhabits many cities around the world. What would a night club be without music ? Another way in which music is vital in entertainment is in the use of soundtracks. Movies and general TV programs would be a lot different with silence in the background. For instance, in a horror visual, the music and sound effects provide most of the initial fright and thrill.


Following on from entertainment, I'd like to talk about communication. I feel that music is also a form of communication for many people. Before the age of modern language, i'd imagine music was used for much more than entertainment. This being true, then music was a language in itself, having the power to relate and translate messages, just as it does today. Many people can have total mood changes from listening to one song or lyric. Its power is a lot greater than appears, and can even have a therapeutic effect on a person, to the point that without music they are not the same. One example of music in communication can be seen in something as little as birds calling to each other. In thinking that music is any form of sound that has some form of reference or beauty to the individual listener, then the birds chirping can be seen as such. Birds use this to call to one another. I feel that people do not realize, including myself, the amount of communicating music that is in everyday life. Things as small as a bell ringing in school communicates that it is time to leave. I think I would be speaking on behalf of a lot of people when I say before getting to know someone, there is a stereotype you would associate with them by the music they listen to and the way they dress. This point moves more onto my next which is the way in which music affects social life and culture.


The effect that music has socially spans many different factions. It's social stance can be seen controversially in areas such as politics and religion, and also as an art and form of expression. All of this also delves into culture and the cult of celebrity. As all the above have social effects, and have knock on effects in areas such as culture. One of the most influenced crowds of people is the younger, less mature generation. In genre's such as grime and hip-hop, the songs that happen to have lyrics about crime and violence can be seen as a way of life that the youth aspire to. Youth crime has been rising for the past few years considerably, and the promotion of this lifestyle in such a widespread way is surely not helpful ?
The video link below is a good insight into what people think about grime music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JvxXP4i3g
Religiously, secular music can be very controversial and seen as a sin. In religion music plays a major role and provides the means for worship. Although it is seen as a gift from god, it has not always been this way. Many years ago certain chords like diminished and the harmonic minor scale were banned from churches as they were believed to be the devils music as they did not sound as 'nice' or common. This in itself shows how music can have its own identiy and evoke certain emotions as whether we realise or not, there are certain chords which we associate with happiness, sadness and mystery etc. 
As stated above, music has the power to relate and communicate with people. It is a form of art and expression which can be used in areas such as politics to get across views. Artists like Bob Dylan used music to express his dislike to the political situations and worldly affairs around him at the time. Also as music is more of a common form of art and expression, people can be easily influenced by political music if they don't fully understand the theoretical and real workings of the parties.