Music Cultures

Nowadays, there are hundreds of music genres to find and love. Everyone's music taste differs and what one likes is different from another's. This can be considered as a cultural resource. We all have certain songs that remind us of many things. One song could remind you of a family member/friend or a particular memory. We also have songs for getting ready on a night out, studying or relaxing before going to bed. I for one know this is true and thinking about it, I can’t believe how much my taste changes during the day. For example, during summer I listened to a lot of Pop Punk music, as this is the genre I associate that season with. When I’m getting ready for a night out then I listen to bassline and electronic music. As for general listen, it’s Deathcore. Absolute opposite in terms of genres, but this is why popular music is known as a cultural resource. We as humans relate to our environment through culture and our actions affect this culture.

We can identify music in terms of ‘art music’ and ‘popular music’. Their characteristics are quite different and both share different values. Art music is considered more ‘serious’ than popular music. Classical is a good example of art music, because it uses very advanced structures and theoretical techniques. Before the 20th century music was much like this. Popular music did derive from art music but changed after the 20th century when more cultivate ideas came into custom and had a high cultural practice. It was popular music that created this emotional states regarding music. As technology and music progressed, more and more genres came out of old ones. People wrote songs for certain emotions and used melodies for films/TV etc. to express emotions too. As more and more people listened, this is where memories from songs come into play. A song can quite easily remind someone of a friend/family member etc. and this is all because of popular music and expressing emotions.The issue with having emotional states around music is that are we just listening to music to vent our emotions? Are we truly listening to music because we enjoy that genre or has it become more of a mental state? On the one hand, of course we listen to certain types of music because we enjoy it and everyone has their own personal preference; that’s how it’s always been. However, because we have so much choice now, there is that emotional aspect to music now, as I mentioned. We can listen to music whenever we choose and the possibilities are endless. The way we listen to it could have change because of this. When we do listen to music, we are expressing ourselves and emotions. Would you listen to easy-listening, pop music if you were upset and wanted to cry? Possibly not, as you are looking to express certain emotions. The passion towards music has disappeared all because we use it as a mental state. If passion for music really is choreographed nowadays then it means, we truly don’t hear songs the same and true passion was left in the 20th century. There might not be a way to bring back that true connection because of how much music is out there and how much music is being created today. However, it’s strange to think how we’ve adapted our minds through music. We need and use it so much that there’s no way of bringing back passion that isn’t choreographed.

#musicandthefuture