Music as a Means of Expressing Identity and Change in the Music Industry - Essay Example

Music as a Means of Expressing Identity and Change in the Music Industry Answer Music is a sound. It is a series of traditions and histories. It is a business. It is also a tool used by listeners and fans to discover, to negotiate and to express their identities in terms of who they are as individuals and as collectives. Listeners have used music to forge and express their sense identity in various ways. These ways are also contradictory. First, listeners have used music for escapism. Escapism is when a person or a group of people divert their minds from the daily life realities by means of entertainment or recreation. People forge concentration on entertainment and recreation to escape from the daily huddles of life, most of which might be boring or unpleasant. For instance, the music that was done by the Beatles was used by American listeners to forge their identity, by escaping from the reality of the conditions that were prevalent in their country. The Beatles became famous during a time when Americans desperately needed a dash of escapism. Given that President J.F Kennedy had been assassinated during this time, Americans needed to divert their minds from the realities through entertainment, and therefore, the Beatles helped American listeners escape reality, through their music (Wald). The American national mood was sombre, but the Britons were happy and cheerful, something that contrasted with the feeling of a lot of Americans. In their bid to express themselves as happy and cheerful as well, Americans used the Beatles’ music to forge this expression (Wald). Secondly, musicians have been known to be crafty in trying to sell their music or attract significant audience. For instance, some musicians were able to convert themselves into the culture of their audiences. As a result, listeners identify with such music, without knowledge that musicians have no roots in the listeners’ culture. The listeners go ahead to identify with this kind of music to express their sense of identity in various ways. For instance, the tunesmiths of Tin Pan Alley converted themselves with ease into duplicate Southerners (Whitfield). Most musicians had little experience with their subject matter. During this era, other musicians wrote hits, which research found as superfluous. The message conveyed in the music was not necessary false, but it was exaggerated in some manner (Whitfield). A typical example is L. Wolfe Gilbert who depicted “The levee, in old Alabammy”. It should be noted that the state is one hundred and fifty miles east of any levees. L. Wolfe Gilbert had some knowledge about the Black Sea because he was born in Ukraine, but he had no knowledge of the Mississippi River. Therefore, singing about the levee when he had no knowledge of any levee was a way of presenting imagination as truth, through music. Those who knew the levees, listened to his music, and identified with it, expressing their identity, a form of forgery it was. Another example of false reality is George Gershwin’s biggest hit, “Swanee” (Whitfield). The musician, George Gershwin, presented in his music, information about the Suwannee River as a reality, but this was a forged reality. This is because George Gershwin and his lyricist visited the Suwannee River, only after their song had become so famous in the nation. This means that the two had no first hand experience or practical information about the Suwannee River, but they fantasised the information they sang about the river (Whitfield). That is why, during their visit to the river, they found the location not as impressive as expected, and were shocked on knowing the reality. Whoever who listened to the song, thinking that the artists knew the reality about what they were singing forged whatever the identity that s/he expressed about who s/he is. Nora Bayes produced soothing and famous hits such as ‘Shine On and Harvest Moon, but her song’s composer, Harry Von Tilzer was not a husbandman (Whitfield). The songs were used by listeners as representations of their identity, but the musicians or artists were far from practising what they sang about. Therefore, listeners who expressed their identity, based on these songs, forged such identities because the musicians themselves sung about something that they did not practise or they were not. Still on the same note, music does not convey exactitude. It should be noted that even if the songs are brief, limiting the possibilities of complexity, they flatten the texture of life and the exactitude is rarely conveyed. Those who identified and expressed themselves with such music were definitely forging their identity. For instance, the aesthetic aim of Tin Pan Alley was not truth telling, but their musicals offered an entirely fanciful South, most of which was a fabrication (Whitfield). Songs did not portray the economic or social conditions of the families because the songwriters were not committed to achieve realism. Therefore, expressing identity with music done by such songwriters was forgery of identity. Immigrants who had fled to America found out that they were free to create standards that a desperate population would sing in unison. Therefore, after the Tin Pan Alley had become famous, it was argued that any American art form had to be based on the largely created Tin Pan Alley song, leading to syncopated rhythmic American popular music, which grew into a racially inclusive art, and it was the only racially inclusive art in America (Whitfield). The isolated races could express their identities through such music because it was inclusive. Music is not real. Therefore, it could not be used to express a person’s or a groups’ identity. For instance, in the Tin Pan Alley studios and in the popular imaginations, the South remained handy and a fantasy of a social order. This was far from reality, and listeners forged their identities by expressing them through this music. Examples of forgery of identity by musicians include the Harold Arien case. Harold Arlen had immersed so fully in the idioms of black that Truman Capote agreed to collaborate with him on a musical called House of Flowers, under the assumption that Arlen was black (Whitfield). A black listener could identify with this music, but this would amount to forgery because the musician himself is not black and cannot have full information about black people. The lyrics of Tin Pan Alley songs were ambiguous and supple such that nothing could betray or determine the race of the singer. This could not allow listeners to express their identity precisely, through such music because when the race of the singer is unknown, identity is also unknown. However, various listeners have expressed their own identify through Tin Pan Alley songs, and this amounts to forgery. Also, Tin Pan Alley songs were carefully constructed to be products of the head that might touch the heart but did not come directly from its chambers (Whitfield). Moreover, Jewish music asked its listeners to trust the tale. This means that those who expressed their identity after via Jewish music forged such identities because they could have trusted imaginary tales. Finally, rock and roll fans listened to it without realising that it had adolescent surliness and sexuality. It was also covert in the lyrics and overt in the beat, and was in the intense response in idols (Willis). Therefore, folk fans might have listened to rock music when they were teenagers and were not obliged to be serious. They also assumed that commercial exploitation had gutted music (Willis). Further, audience for white rock music concurred with the music because the white rock performers honed their lyrics and developed their instrumental chops in such way that it appeared quite different from contemporary black music (Willis). The listeners could express their identity with such music, without having to forge. Answer 2 The music industry has gone through several cycles of corporate consolidation and diversification since the late 19th century. Often these swings occurred in response to technological innovations or legal proceedings. There various moments of change that music has passed through, and such moments have had some effects on the sound of popular music. One such moment was the period when live performances lost their role in music. Initially, musicians performed their music live in clubs. The loss of the role of live performances in music led to led to the split of music genres. As a result, the use of discos where music was played in clubs became common. For instance, the Beatles made rock to be the most popular concert and album of their time (Wald). The making of rock the most popular concert and music of this time had a positive effect on the sound of popular music. There was more respect for popular music, as a result of this. It should also be noted that jazz music attained a widespread respectability as well, only after it had ceased to be a mainstream pop style. This is because he artists had capitalised on technological advancements to alter the beats of popular music. Later, due to technological advancements, rock music was separated from its rhythmic and cultural roots. As the Beatles separated rock from its rhythmic and cultural roots, American popular music was split into two (Wald). This led to the change of sound of popular music during this error because there ha to be two separate kinds of music. These kinds of music were supposed to have distinct beats, which means that the popular music that emerged thereafter was different from the initial popular music because of the differences in sound. This separation had an enormous effect because it could not be reconciled. This means that the impact on the sound of popular music could be permanent because there were no avenues for bringing the groups back together. In the past when live performances were significant aspects of rock music, such splits could be handled and popular music could continue maintaining its sound. Specifically, in the past when similar splits had happened, the demands of satisfying live audiences had made streams to come back together (Wald). Satisfaction of audiences was the main element that pushed music artists to go back together and maintain the sound of popular music. It should be noted that during this time when live performances had lost their defining role on the pop music scene, the Beatles and the movements they led marked the end rock and roll as it existed up to that time. People had a choice of listening to music fro the comfort of their homes. As a result of the split, the two groups adopted and adapted one another’s styles to shape a series of genres such as ragtime, jazz, swing, rock and roll. As a result, the peaks of these music genres could not be easily categorised by race. Initially, popular music was known to be rock music only. The spilt had an effect on the sound of popular music because the new genres that emerged as a result of the split such as jazz, ragtime and rock and roll had different sounds in order to be distinct (Wald). This obviously meant that jazz music and rock and roll music, the new genres of music that emerged after the split had to have slightly different sounds and beats as time moved on. Another period or moment of change in the many cycles that music went through, was the moment when radio and television were invented. Therefore, as shifts in recording technology occurred, the invention of radio, television, race relations, global politics and other factors led to the divide between rock and soul. First, music artists knew very well that the music that they were to play was not aimed at entertaining groups in a live performance, but was to attract the attention of listeners of radio or those who watched television. Therefore, they had to play music, based on the ability of their music to soothe or please the listener, whom they were not facing each other, face to face. This divide and emergence of new methods of recording had an effect on the sound of popular music in that beats had to change. The divide could not be mended in later years because of the emergence of disco and hip-hop. Bands could play or record in studios and listeners could choose which to listen to in clubs, homes and even their heads (Wald). During the time of psychedelic music such as folk rock, it was a catch all label. The music described a variety of products that were shaped by folk, British rock, Chicago blues, jazz, Indian. The lyrics were influenced by imagery and used the conventions of romantic pop song to express sexual and mystical rather than sentimental love, focusing on a flight trip just as folk music focussed on road trip (Wald). These developments were catalysed by technological changes and the purpose of music. Money had become the central point of music and as a result, every music artist aimed at attracting as many people as could be possible. As a result, the sound of popular music changed, and the message that musicians sought to pass across changed, as well (Wald). Later in the years, during the evolution of music, folk-rock was introduced, with the California psychedelic sound. This means that the initial sound of popular had been changed because the new folk-rock that was introduced was done with psychedelic sound. It should also be noted that as a result of seeking to add psychedelic sound, the music picked up on the Beatles’ experiments with Indian instrumentation (Wald). The use of Indian instrumentation was a change in the sound of popular music. As a result of technological changes, where disc jokes were common, the folk-rock music was banned by right thinking disc jockeys, but it had already impacted the sound of popular music. During this time, San Francisco emerged as the new centre of avant-garde pop, and superseded Britain (Wald). Groups in California wanted to make the term folk-rock have some message to pass across. Hip-hop culture became a folk culture. These developments where artists wanted their folk-rock music to pass a message across to listeners, had posed major impacts on popular music. Also, as a result of hi-hop emerging as a folk culture, there were significant changes in the sound of popular music. Artists tried to embody pop sensibility in a folk culture. Therefore, music has undergone various cycles in its evolution or development and these moments have had an impact in the sound of popular music. Works Cited Wald, Elijah. How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Whitfield, Stephen J. "Is It True What They Sing About Dixie?" Journal of Southern Cultures, 2002, pp. 9-37. Print. Willis, Ellen. Before the Floods: Dylan . 1968. Web. 5 December 2013. Read More