Pop Music from Hard Rock, Rock, Teen Pop, Hip Hop, R & B, to Rap enjoys mass appeal and popularity. “Pop taste do not just derive from our socially constructed identities; they also help shape them,” according to Simon Frith.The music and lyrics may hold significant meanings to the listeners, in their concept of self and their roles in relation to others. In this case, Frith will prove correct.The appreciation of this music genre has never been constant, neither has it been original.
It has always evolved. It had once been passive and in another time sensitive. The music of the defiant 50s was mostly in rebellion with the accepted norms of society.Rock and rolls were associated with drugs, violence and sex. Fans of punk sought originality and shunned anonymity.
Taste for the popular and the in thing was never dictated by conventions.They are adopted and become their audience’s self and social identities. This has also been their vehicle of expression including hairstyle, like the Beatles’ cut.Popular music has been a conduit of change in the attitude towards love, leisure and consumption. Love is portrayed two-ways in songs. It is seen as a missing element such as break-up, betrayal and lost.
It is also need fulfilled such as first love, celebration and chance encounters. Either way love, will continue to put meaning into everyone’s life.Upbeat music and songs that lift the spirit have taken leisure seekers to new heights. With good music, most people have found it hard to resist going on the dance floor and party the night away.
For a while they shove away the cares and worries of the daily grind. They realize not only the value but they appreciate the importance of entertainment for man as a social being. Love and leisure provide life with a kind of security that is most affordable and readily available through music.We seek certain affinities and identities through our choices. These choices help shape these identities.
Works CitedVanini, Philip and Myers, Scott M. “Crazy About You: Reflections on the Meanings ofContemporary Teen Pop Music.” Electronic Journal of Sociology (2002).ISSN: 1198 3655. 10 July 2008 http://www.sociology.org/content/vol006.002/vanini_myers.html
