1980 Pop Era: The Struggle of Music - Essay Example

1980 POP ERA: THE STRUGGLE OF MUSIC 1980’S DECADE The 1980’s decade is among if not the most celebrated eras in human history for several reasons. In many perspectives, the events that took place in the said period of history were very significant in the pages of our past. The 1980’s era was a time when there was a great change in the economic and social trends in many parts of the world, most especially the United States and the United Kingdom. In the mentioned places, there was really an upward trend in terms of progress. In the context of international relations and diplomacy, there were also several conflicts and wars which ceased which further made the relationship of countries a bit more stable than how it was before. Technology wise, the trend was also fast-emerging. The improvement of telecommunications played a key role in the success of the current technology. Scientifically speaking, there were several vital breakthroughs in science which led to further improvements in the succeeding years. There was also a recorded tremendous increase in the world’s population and is actually one of the periods with the largest recorded rate of increase. The fashion and style aspect also rocketed during this period in time and there were many things which made the people, most especially the youth, go gaga and engrossed to their icons to the extent of imitating them in how they look, what they do and all sorts. There are many other factors which made many people and even historians consider this era as a highly celebrated one in terms if the aforementioned reasons and events. However, as the saying goes, for every swing of the pendulum, there is always a counter-swing. This is because there are also several aspects which made people look at this era as an uncalled for- something which is ridiculed because of several negative implications that it brings to the people. One aspect which suffered bittersweet treatments is the entertainment industry, more specifically the music industry. It was this specific industry which is home to one of the most celebrated yet criticized icons. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY The music industry was considered to be at its peak during this period. Much advancement such as technology, style, genres and other matters emerged during this time. Pop music during those times was more of the dance tunes and even reached the age of rock and rap because of the advancement. Because of the great acceptance of the public to music, many musicians became icons which gained international fame and respect. To name some are Michael Jackson and Madonna- who were both extremely popular during their reign in the music industry. Michael Jackson became famous with his style and his steps, most especially the moonwalk. He also holds a record for the best selling album entitled Thriller. His concerts and songs always sell like pancakes and he enjoyed every drop of fame and glory which resulted with him being crowned as the King of Pop. Jackson’s counterpart, the Queen of Pop Madonna also gained prominence because of her songs which captivated many music lovers and listeners. She became a crowd favorite because of her versatility in many genres of music such as hip-hop, pop and even dance music. They are just few of the very popular pop icons during that time. There are hundreds of them and some still continues to produce music and perform. Because many deemed the path of music as a ticket to fame, many tried their luck to stardom. While others succeeded, others also failed but the success really made them great artists and icons. This era is considered home to the best and well-renowned artists of all times whose achievements are still unbeatable and unequalled by other stars. POP MUSIC DEFINED Pop music is named after the word popular music because it is the current fab of music in a certain period of time. Pop music rose to fame when many musicians, composers and singers struggled to make a living out of what they have in common- music. Pop music is also termed “commercial music” (Donald, 2001) because it is the type of music whose purpose is to make money aside from expressing themselves. What makes this type of music distinct from other types of music is that this can be accessed by the general public and are interest bound (Middleton, 1990, p.4). It is appreciated by many people unlike art music which can only be appreciated by the higher strata of the society (New Oxford Companion to Music). Pop music has several broad definitions and views according to Birrer (1985, p. 104). First is that it is an inferior type of music because of one purpose it serves which was mentioned earlier. It is also viewed as a music which is “not something else”. “Next is that it is a type of music produced by, for or with a social group”. And lastly, it is a type of music which is brought to the awareness of the public through mass media and other forms of technology. THE RISE OF POP MUSIC This type of music encompasses all genres and is an international business which is currently making billions of dollars per annum (Donald, 2001). The emergence of pop music at the 1980s was a blast because of the wide acceptance of the public to the contemporary music. This led to more and more artists coming out for the music industry, thus the period came to be the peak of the industry. Artists of all genres came out and made the industry more competitive and colorful. Among the greatest artists who were discovered that time were, as mentioned earlier Michael Jackson and Madonna. Rock bands and heavy metal bands also came out with their own style of music such as Aerosmith, Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi and a lot more. Metallica, Slayer and other thrash metal bands also emerged in underground locales and has achieved more exposure in the succeeding years. New wave and dance music were also popular that time in the same manner as synthpop (the use of synthesizers in music). These and many other genres were developed during the 1980s and still continue to be appreciated by millions of music fans around the globe. In the progress of this paper, the aforementioned genres will be discussed including their effects and implications to the music industry and why they are considered negative by some critics. CONTROVERSIES OF POP MUSIC Pop music received the most negative criticisms during the era and even until today, it remains to be. Criticisms about the era commonly revolve around the moral aspect and implications to the public most especially to the youth. It was claimed that pop music raises activism especially regarding the youth. It was resolved that the main audiences and primary target of music was the youth group and because of that, the artists and performers really made their own names and trademarks only to catch the attention of the youth. Add to this reason the number of emerging artists who are on their sojourn to stardom. These factors thus led to a competition which was gradually becoming unhealthy. Some artists integrate in their songs some explicit forms of lyrics and castigations to some members of the society. Because of this, social activism was fast approaching and the youth is on top of it. Some of the music produced by artists that time promotes negative behaviors and unhealthy practices such as drug use and violence. In the context of religion, there were also artists which promote anti-Christian movements which were to the disgust of the Christian church. One example is Led Zeppelin whose songs are claimed to contain satanic and diabolic messages. Because of these effects, many were alarmed of the consequences which led to the negative criticisms of the pop culture during this era. THE BIRTH OF MTV The birth of the Music Television (more popularly known as MTV) was another reason which brought about the rise of the music industry during the 1980s. Its launching last August 1, 1981 has brought a world-wide phenomenon in which people are so much into music and the videos of their favorite stars. MTV’s original purposes are to show and broadcast music videos and attract the attention of youth in appreciating all genres of music. It was also MTV which made the music industry more visual and appreciated fully by the audiences who gets more to see than to hear. This opportunity for viewing the videos becomes more complex with the rise of some pornographic images shown on the said station. MTV stirred up the general public because of the variety of music videos they showcase which led to the popularity of the show with over three million subscribers in the US alone. It is through this channel that many artists have been in the glory of fame and fortune such as Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince who have mastered the forms of music and made it big. ADDITION OF MTV TO THE HYPE Although MTV became an important milestone in history of music, it also created a wide turmoil in the era because of its effects to the youth which was in relation to what was mentioned earlier in this discussion. Because of the immense popularity of MTV during the 1980s, it became home to the performers and artists who are trying their luck and quest to fame. In simpler terms, MTV was considered a factor in promoting negative values on people which was lamented by many conservatives and concerned people. MTV became a factor which led to the overt criticism of the 1980s pop music because MTV was considered the most powerful media influence at that time. The hottest issues regarding the criticisms of 1980s pop music involves the promotion of unhealthy behavior to the audiences especially to the youth (Casey, 2005). Recreational drug use, pornography and even violence and abuse were the common issues of castigation regarding the pop era which further rose because of the introduction of MTV. ARE THE CRITICISMS JUSTIFIED? Justifications of the criticisms need not to be mentioned because it is very blatant that the criticisms are based on what is really happening. These criticisms only aim to help and improve the quality of music which some of the artists produce. Music is supposed to be healthy and surely, it is against this principle if artists use the gift of music to raise some activisms and negative behaviors to the people. Although the 1980s era became a very celebrated time in the context of music since it gave birth to some of the most popular and greatest artists, there is also a negative side to it. This kind of instance is not just present during the 1980s- it is also true to all eras. Therefore, these criticisms also come out naturally and they should not be viewed as something negative and uncalled for. Instead, we should treat them as a means for improvement so that those things which happened during the 1980s era would not happen again in our generation. CONCLUSION The 1980s era is also a gift to the music industry and the negative things which happened are just challenges of the time. We should not view the 1980s era as something dark and unholy because it also became the bridge to the traditional world to the modern world wherein we are living at the moment. More than that, the 1980s era was also a time when the music industry became a warrior against the challenges which are external to the industry. Examples are the concerts and performances for some causes such as movement for peace and prevention for diseases. The music at those times were also making it a global scope wherein places which allowed music to reach places which were unreachable before (L.C., n.d.). This was the time when many musicians collaborated and united their talents to serve a cause for humanity and peace. We should always remember that there are two sides of everything. For every positive side, a negative side emerges and that criticisms are part of the natural order which should be viewed as a complement and rooms for betterment. BIBLIOGRAPHY Donald, Clarke 2001, The Rise and Fall of Popular Music, Austin, Texas The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 2: K-Z, Oxford University Press. The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: A-J, Oxford University Press. Birrer, Frans A. J. 1985, Definitions and research orientation: do we need a definition of popular music?. Middleton, Richard 1990, Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia, Open University Press. Williams, Casey 2005, MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids with Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol. ParentsTV.org. Parents Television L. C. Live Aid, Available at: http://arted.osu.edu/160/21_Intro.php Read More