If you have not noticed already, music has an impact on society. Music is one of the greatest forms of expression. It has caused society to evolve uniquely through many centuries. It has shown to reflect ones culture, beliefs, religion and sexuality. Nowadays, there are many different types of music, which are separated into categories, called genres.
Genres of music can vary drastically, from classical, to hip/hop, to death metal, and even gospel. Music also can be seen to affect how people dress and act. For instance, if you go to a metal concert, you will see a much more animated crowd.Whereas if you were to go to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert, it’s a more relaxed environment with people just sitting back and enjoying the music. Various types of music affect mood, and will draw all different types of people and crowds.
There are also entire stores dedicated to selling music, music apparel, and other accessories. Hot Topic, which is a store commonly located in shopping malls, have become a chain that has made money by selling clothing and music albums. Many of their items show photos of artists, their logos, also featuring the lyrics used in the artists’ songs.They also sell compact disc (CD’s) with the artists’ music on them.
The music industry, along with the film industry, is worth a considerable amount of money. Artists can be paid millions of dollars for just a single album they produce. Music has also been known to be effective in conjunction with other intercessions promoting relaxation, to lessen anxiety, reduce pain, and to even assist in the promotion of distinct endorphins (Francis, 2008). Music’s therapeutic uses have been explored extensively with particular groups of patients, the elderly, those with brain damage, and those with persistent pain (Francis, 2008 para. ).
One of the most intelligent and recognized men to ever live, Albert Einstein, played his violin as assistance when composing his theories, problems and equations (O’Donnell, 2008). Music has also shown the ability to jog one’s memory. It has been studied that if you listen to a certain album while you are studying, you are more likely to remember the information that you are studying. The brain can associate music with information and vice versa. Likewise, there are many teachers that come up with songs, rhymes, or musical phrases in order to aid students in memorizing information (Hallam, 2010).
Music has been extremely influential on society, and can be seen in everyday in modern history. The development and recording techniques in the latter half of the 20th century has revolutionized to the extent to which most people have access to music (Francis, 2008, para. 1). Music began its evolution in the 17th century with the Native Americans. The instrument they used and played was known to be spiritual and to be known as a form of worship. During the 18th century, America received its Independence, the Civil War began, and music began to considerably diversify.
African American music became more popular through Cajun forms arising from Louisiana. A famous military piece known as, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was composed from this era as well. However, in the 19th century, classical music was the most popular type of music. Well-known classical composers consisted of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Handel.
By the 1920s in the early 20th century, radio broadcast began to exceedingly increase, supplying the general public with music. Later in the 20th century, particular artist such as Bob Dylan and Woody Gurthies came about.Bob and Woody composed and sang mostly folk and protest music during the 1960s. Bob and Woody’s music are particularly distinct because the songs they produced were about protesting war and violence, were produced during the Vietnam War. Now in the 21st century, we have many genres to pick from.
The top three current artist according to the Billboard Hot 100 (2013) are as follows: Macklemore, who composes “Hip-hop”, Justin Timberlake who composes “pop and R&B”, and Daft Punk who produces “house” music. With different time periods and current events in the world, you can watch music change to fit those eras.For instance, after September 11, 2001, there were many more songs about how superior America is to other countries. There were many artist and composers creating songs about war, against war and world peace.
It was hard to find an artist that didn’t mention something about the World Trade Centers, or American pride. Everyone wants to listen to music. You can even watch artist on the television (T. V. ) at your home in the comfort of your own living room. Such famous shows as Bandstand first aired in 1952.
American Broadcast Company (ABC) picked up the show, hiring Dick Clark and later changing the name to American Bandstand. This show featured live teenagers dancing to the most popular music at the time. MTV (Music Television), also had a show similar to Bandstand known as TRL (Total Request Live) airing from 2006-2008 was hosted by Carson Daily. A music video, or a song’s video is a short film integrating a song and visual imagery. Although the origins of music videos date back much further; music videos came became popular in the 1980s.
Music videos can also sometimes be a video of a live performance.Modern day videos portray a certain type of lifestyle. In modern day hip/hop music videos, the lifestyle shown is often lavish living. The videos usually feature exotic cars, woman, drugs, and money.
In 1964 an invention known as the 8-track tape came about. It was popular from the 1960s to the 1980s and eventually evolved to a smaller audio cassette tape. The compact disc took over in the 1990s, which are still sold today. We also have MP3’s (a computer file containing music or sound that can be easily transferred from one device to another) which are the most widely used.More than 91 percent of Americans own a smartphone, those smartphones being able to hold MP3’s and ringtones from the phone’s owners’ favorite artist (Stern, 2013) Music is not only a way for someone to express himself or herself; music inspires its listeners to think differently and to take action (Denton, 2005).
Since the 1950s, the youth has become more open about their experimentation with sex and drugs, also a sweeping rejection of authority and power structures (Denton, 2005).Genres such as gospel are able to carry messages through its music as religious inspiration and devotion. Music influences stimulation, which is also entertainment for most. Most people listen to music to lift their mood or to pass time, accompany travel time, surf the Internet, and reading. Music can distract someone’s mind from unpleasant thoughts, release emotions, help find a connection with a loved on or someone lost, encourage daydreaming, and even opening up old memories and exploring the past.According to Woodlawn Theater (2013), “Music is a magical gift we must nourish and cultivate in our children, especially now as scientific evidence proves that an education in the arts makes better math and science students, enhances spatial intelligence in newborns, and lets not forget that the arts are a compelling solution to teen violence, certainly not the cause of it” (para.
3). Playing music stimulates brain functions such as imagination, motor control, sight memory and hearing. Music is a magical phenomenon, a sacred universal expression that has somewhat of a spiritual aspect.Music is also known as a universal language.
You cannot travel around the world and communicate with everyone through your native language, however anyone and interpret the beat of a song. It can inspire common human feelings, and grasp languages spoken between all cultures and bring people together. It can make a person laugh, cry or get up and dance. Certain types of music speak to certain people.
Salsa, Opera, etc. , you can get the idea of the song through the beat, video or dance. Most people listen to music, and do not always listen to the words.This is why music is so universal; you can find music in any society.
To say that music influences society as a whole is a broad generalization. Technology and society evolves every day bringing more advanced digital and audio solutions. The media, radio, and television influences culture and personal desire in a person’s choice of music. Music is everywhere, in an array of styles, available to most people, 24 hours a day at just a simple touch of a button.
Above all, society changes drastically, and evolves everyday because of music.
