Music culture and our lives
By Harin Fernado
'It's Not Only Rock & Roll' by, Professor Donald Roberts of Stanford
and Professor Peter Christenson of Lewis and Clark College offers some
comfort to parents and others who are worried about graphic sex, morbid
violence, overt racism and challenges to authority in popular music lyrics
and videos.
"Music doesn't appear to have massive negative effects," the authors
say, "but it does seem to be dangerous for some youth.
Parents of adolescents who can't tell heavy metal from pop rock may
have a tough time discussing the meaning of life with their children. That's
because music is central to youth culture. Entertainment executives and
teenagers who argue that pop music is "just music" do not take into account
that "most human learning is incidental in nature and takes place outside
of designated educational settings".
On average, American youth listen to music and watch music videos four
to five hours a day, which is more time than they spend with their friends
outside of school or watching television. Music matters to adolescents,
and they cannot be understood without a serious consideration of how it
fits into their lives
Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang,
dominates their conversations and provides the ambience at their social
gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they run in. Music
personalities provide models for how they act and dress. Such consequences
may not spring as quickly to mind as sex and violence, but they may ultimately
play just as crucial a role in adolescent development.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, music plays a very important part
of your life.
Although you may not realize it, music has become a subliminal force
on modern day youth. Individuals today dress, talk, act and think in line
with their musical icons. Just as Black artists such as Tu Paq, Puff Daddy
and Dr.Dre write about the realities of an urban American living, fans
of an artiste tend to relate to the lyrics and the personal situation of
the artiste.
For example, the virginity of Britney Spears has been well utilised
by her record label to promote her image. She has come to symbolize the
modern day teenage female, ideally one who dreams and longs for romantic
escapes, all the time focusing on the negative morals of premarital sex.
The way in which these artistes, reach their audiences and the mediums
they utilise mean that their work becomes all the more accessible to a
needy market segment reaching out for guidance on how to fit into society.
All the time that fans are spending money on artistes they realize that
what the artiste represents and talks about influences their thoughts as
being the right/correct ideas on society and behaviour etc.... these thoughts
are then translated to their peer groups thus establishing small groups
of individuals who think, talk and dress alike in styles personified by
rockers and rappers.
But what individuals in their haste do not realize is that often labels
identify specify market segments and then locate artistes who are best
suited to reach out to those segments, such as the Backstreet Boys and
the Spice Girls who were specifically appealing to teenagers. This was
a known choice of the label which influenced what they sang about (mostly
romance and love) what they wore and who they were seen with.
They use music most to control mood and enhance emotional states. Music
can make a good mood better and allow us to escape or 'work through' a
bad one. But it can also be used to enhance bad moods, which has led some
to believe music lyrics about suicide and violence against women have occasionally
led troubled youth to commit suicide or violent crimes.
Adolescents also use music to gain information about the adult world,
to withdraw from social contact (such as using a Walkman as a barrier,
not unlike an adult hiding behind a newspaper at the breakfast table),
to facilitate friendships and social settings, or to help them create a
personal identity.
Billboard now reports on more than 20 music charts, and the annual Grammy
awards recognize 80 music categories. Yet even the industry does not recognize
as much fragmentation as youthful consumers when they are asked about their
music preferences.
The symbolic environment of genres varies and adolescent preferences
are linked to both individual and group identity. "A kid whose tastes run
to rap artistes such as Coolio probably thinks of himself in different
terms and associates with a different peer group than one who prefers the
pop sound of Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson."
Females and males differ substantially in how much they like various
categories, with females showing more attraction to black music and more
dislike for hard rock and especially heavy metal. The latter is not surprising,
given the harsh view of women in heavy metal lyrics.
Males generally like mainstream pop less than females; males tend to
think of the music as "unhip" or "uncool." The gender gap is so large in
adolescent music that the industry simply dumps its elaborate pop music
categories into "male appeal" or "female appeal". The gender gap holds
for other ages also but perhaps is greater in adolescence because the development
of cross-gender relationships is a new focus for that age group. For kids
alienated from the school culture who wish to project an image of individualism
and unconventionality, they say, just hearing a song on commercial radio
can be a reason not to like it.
These 1974 lyrics by the Rolling Stones show the true marketing tools
of labels: "I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it." The Stones
knew this was a lie even as they sang it. Then as now, it wasn't only rock
and roll, and kids didn't just like it, they loved it.
Pincho's Story
 'I
am seven months old and the people with whom I presently live cannot keep
me any longer. I shall be most grateful if someone can give me a home and
in return I will give them loyalty, devotion and love.'
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