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The importance of music within society
The importance of music within society
Musical cultural identity
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In today’s pliable, fad-driven societies, music holds a key role in influencing modern culture. Through music, lyrics, and music videos, specific lifestyles and activities can be suggested and advertised. These activities can range from becoming a follower of Christ to earning respect to being promiscuous. This alone proves that music plays an influential part in the daily lives of modern societies. This also shows that music’s effect can be positive or negative. With this evidence comes a question: Do music, lyrical content, and music videos influence people and society?
Music is a relaxing inspiration that allows listeners to escape from the difficulties of everyday life. Music is well known to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development, perhaps more than any other entertainment medium. Music, unlike most visual media, taps into an individual’s personal identity, memories, and mood (Parker-Pope 2). Music can positively affect society by conveying a positive message. It is obvious music has an impact on behavior. Not only does music mentally affect people, but it also physically affects people. Music tends to reduce or delay fatigue. Music is important to current culture and its identity; it helps define social and sub-cultural boundaries. Current music is geared mainly toward teenagers. Teens become absorbed in songs they believe help them better define themselves during their rocky transition into adulthood (Liljequist 1, 2). Most children between the ages of two and eighteen spend upwards of seven hours a day ingesting some sort of media (Kirchheimer 2). Teens agree that music is a way to enhance their current mood; however, this can lead to negative results. Twenty-five centuries ago, Plato stated...
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...modern culture. From pop to rap to rock and roll, music and lyrical content must be cleaned up to benefit society.
Works Cited
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“Hip-hop: Negative effects on today’s youth.” Bookrags.com. BookRags,Inc. Web. 24 Apr. 2011.
Kirchheimer, Sid. “Does Rap Put Teens at Risk?” WebMD.com. WebMD,LLC. 3 March 2003. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.
Liljequist, Kevin C. “Does Music and Lyrical Content Influence Human Behavior?” Positive Music Association.com. 15 Oct. 2002. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
“Music Influence on Society.” SocialPC. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
Parker-Pope, Tara. “Under the Influence of…Music?” NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company, 5 Feb. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.
If one were to look back into the world’s history, one would find that an important and consistent element is the world of music. Music has presented itself in various forms throughout its spread and through our identification of its magical realm, people have been fortunate enough to come across a means of relation. Whether it is blues and reggae or rap and pop rock, there is music out there for everyone. Music can serve as a stabilizer for some, a relaxant to others, and to many a form of inspiration.
...des. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Link Between Rap Music and Youth Crime and Violence: A Review of the Literature and Issues for Future Research." Justice Professional 11 (Feb. 1999): 339. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Rap is widely renowned for telling stories of drunken parties and crazy hook-up’s, but believe it or not many rap songs have deeper meanings than many may actually realize. Songs like Mask Off by Future give rap a bad credit, especially considering the hook of the song consists of just “percocets, molly, percocets,” and “mask on, f*** it, mask off.” The entirety of the song is about taking different drugs and partying, and unfortunately these types of rap songs are the types that are played on the radio. Because of this, paired with the heavy useage of profanities, rap has a stigma of partying, drugs, alcohol, and sex. Although rap is typically written off due to foul language and inappropriate stories, artists like J. Cole, Logic, Kendrick
“We favor music censorship? No, that’s not true,” says Wendy Wright of an organization, Concerned Women for America, on the enemy list of virtually all other anti-censorship supporters. “Censorship means that the government restrains speech. We are in favor of those in the music industry using common sense: In essence, that they don’t promote behavior or activities that they wouldn’t want committed against their wife or children.” CWFA sees music the music in question as having potential to cultivate certain ideas in the minds of the youth.“The argument that it does not affect kids, that it does not promote similar behavior, is ridiculous. If that were true, they would not advertise or rely on marketing – both fields depend on the fact that humans can be enticed into doing something that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own.”
Studies have demonstrated that certain sorts of rock music can heighten feelings. This means youth and adolescents who are inclined to negative, fierce, or depressive contemplations are more prone to have these sentiments (and follow up on them). By the same accord, youngsters who are characteristically content and happy are more averse to have the negative verses in specific tunes influence them in any capacity. To them, it’s simply entertainment (Kwan,
In the past couple of decades, music has been in trouble. It has been said to be the cause of deaths, suicides, unwanted sexual behavior, and other forms of indecency. It has taken blame for everything no one wants to be responsible for.
How Hip-Hop Destroys the Potential of Black Youth. N.p., n.d.
It’s also interesting to think about how music plays a role in someone’s identity. Many articles found discuss the Social Identity Theory, and the people who conduct these experiments always keep this in mind, “Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) maintains that individuals gain a social identity from the groups to which they belong. The theorists claim that members have a desire to evaluate their own group positively and that they achieve positive evaluations through social comparisons with relevant other groups along valued dimensions. One maintains positive social identity and self-esteem through in-group favoritism, positive distinction from the out-group, and, occasionally, out-group derogation (e.g., Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995)” (Tarrant, North, Hargreaves, 2001). Towson’s online database is an excellent place to research what has been found on music’s effects on psychology, and ...
Often times throughout history and in today’s world, music along with lyrics of songs and musical artists are blamed for deviant behavior in adolescents and teenagers. Some argue that subcultures are created because of artists and their music which leads to groups of young adults taking part in deviant behavior, while others argue the opposite; that the behavior leads the person to listen to the music. There is also concern about the effect that music videos have on the behaviors of the listeners of music throughout all genres. Although there is not much extended research on music and the effect it has on its listeners there is plenty of speculation, theories, and minor studies.
Weir, Kirsten, and Debbie Nevins. "Music And Your Mind.. (Cover Story)." Current Health Kids 34.1 (2010): 10-12. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 9 Jan. 2012.
Sprankel E. and End Christian, . "The Effects of Censored and Uncensored Sexually Explicit Music on Sexual Attitudes and Perceptions of Sexual Activity." Deepdyve. Zavier University, n.d. Web. April 2011. .
McWhorter, John. “Rap Music Harms the Black Community.”Popular Culture. Ed. John Woodward. Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 53-59.
Levitin, Daniel J. “This is your Brain on music: The Science of a Human Obsession.” Print
Teens and the human populous have been draw to music, and the relief it gives off. As recent as the 1990’s, we’ve seen an increase in explicit and violent lyrics and deviant behavior in the music industry surrounding such genres as heavy metal, rock, rap, and gangster rap. During this past decade, lyrics are becoming more violent and sexually explicit. It is approximated that teens listen to an average of 40 hours of music a week, and somewhere along the way, a child will hear something derogatory, or cruel. Along with this, teens don’t necessarily interpret what is said through lyrics in the right manner. In one study, only 30% of those somewhat questionable lyrics by popular bands were comprehended by the teen population.
"Music Influence On Society." SocialPC - Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy etc. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .