Music and Social Identity - Essay Example

Introduction "Music is what I am when I experience it". Thomas Clifton Shuker (2001) says that music is a form of expression and it varies from person to person. It's a phenomenon of social expression that projects social ideas. The different genre of the music stimulates people and they relate to it as it pleases their specific intellectual and emotional pattern. Music however is not entirely restricted to the expression of any one individual but the horizon stretches far beyond that. Music itself plays multiple roles in constructing and maintaining identities of individuals as well as nations. Music reflects the society the country and defines the cultures that a country has. It is a reflection of the different beliefs of the people and projects ideas and images which ultimately form what is called the social identity by which people identify themselves amongst their peers. Definition Social identity means the characteristic attributes of a person that belong to a certain group. The process of social identification is one through which we express or relate to along with other people. Like for example taking Christians and Muslims groups we find that in each member of the Christian group they would be sharing basic commonalities while being different to the Muslim group. There are many types of social identities like ethnic, religious, political, personal and stigmatized etc. Historical Background Shepherd, Horn, and Laing (2003) discuss that music has been a part of every society. It is present in each and every culture around the globe although the form varies from region to region and changes with time. As it can be traced back for as far as we can go hence the scientists are of view that it has existed for around 50,000 years. The roots of music sprung somewhere in Africa. From there onwards it has always been a very important inherent part of the human beings as it exists even today and has progressed a lot. How music cultivates depends upon a specific culture of a region, the social aspects the economic background and the technological advancements. The type and form that the music evolves into is dependent on the response from the people of that region, their beliefs and preferences. Climate too alters the very expression of music. One of the oldest song was written in cuneiform some 4,000 years ago. The prehistoric origins of music can also be traced from the Hindu scriptures. Persian King Jamshid is known to have created music and in history of Iran music can be traced to the Elamite Empire in 2,500-644 B.C). Social Identity and Music Korsyn (2004) discusses that the music provides us with the stimulus which directly affects us in associating an event place or something or even it brings to us memories of certain events and places. In this manner it bonds us with our thoughts and perceptions very strongly and is capable of evoking within us the same sort of feelings time and again. To all the different kinds of music a person always looks to find something to which he she relates to and in this regard their forms a personal identity which could be grouped to form the social identity. Social identities are the group identities which are formed by regional and national origin. The music picks different characteristics of a race, like religion, customs, traditions, beliefs, values etc and thus helps with the attainment of social identities. Music is the inherent factor which defines the social identities by providing the knowledge of certain culture and the circumstances of a certain region in the world. Music is also the cohesive bond that can even bring and unite nations in some common celebration. Further it translates the traditions and customs of a specific group of people to other people in this manner getting them to know of other cultures and traditions and forming appreciations and opinions about other cultures. Music is not only just how the society looks like but it could also be used as a reformative tool for the social identities as well. How music is interpreted by a typical race is what gives music meaning. The different classes of people identify with the different types of music genre. Like the symphony is mostly appreciated by the upper class. There is always something that defines a person or a society. Today music has progressed and fashioned in such a manner that it speaks of its own and gives meaning to those who for some reason or the other listen to it. Johnson (2008) says that people who migrate to other places from their homeland sometimes need to connect, when they need to feel the bondage that they had left years earlier. Such people are often affected by the issues of identities and it is music that brings to them the assurance of social identity. It is the music that brings to them their cultural heritage across the miles and their lost ethnicity. Whenever an individual who needs to get reestablished from their heritage has only to tune into his or her folk music and it takes them right back to their homeland in the cultures and traditions long forgotten. Music is a very powerful medium of expression and memory trigger. Traditional Russian Folk Music is another example of how one can learn about the people and the country of Russia by simply listening in to their traditional Folk Music. The songs reflect the moods of the Russian people reflecting the beliefs of both city and country people. It describes the landscape and brings to mind the mountains and valleys of Russia. The songs describe the Russian heroes and the important national events. Pop Music This type of music genre is the most popular in today's world and its avid listeners are the adolescents and the pre adolescents. These young individuals find meanings by which to define themselves and create their own social identities. Since its evolution it has been seen as creating negative influence on the young generation. It has been blamed time and gain for fanning the violent and erratic behaviors in the adolescents. Drugs, Rebellion and sex are portrayed and so are thought to bring negative influences on the lives of the individuals who get encouraged by such portrayal and relate to it. Jenkins (2004) says that the teen pop to be more specific is the type of music that the teenagers listen to and it is understood and acknowledged as a part of the pop music ( Denisoff 1975). In teen pop the language that the music contains is mostly about and around love and that too of obsessive nature. What this speaks about or rather tells about these adolescents is that they need a change from boredom and stress, loneliness and depression. It is this age when the music so overpowers the person that it almost becomes a prophecy and the listener listens to it to break through their dejection, loneliness or other depression (moods that are usually associated with this age group). As they are getting into new relationships they feel the words of the music as their own stories and express themselves with the music as it totally defines what they are feeling, the sensations and love, the loss and attainment. Another aspect of this generation is that they are more in a fantasy world where they have yet to learn a lot and as they are unaware of the other roles of society hence what they can understand and appreciate is found in this very genre of the music and so they find themselves involved with it more and more. As it is as careless as careless as they are. Even this single genre holds different meanings for this very young lot and the marketing tactics are employed differently to attract the boys and girls. For example the boy bands are formed keeping in view the choices of girls and their lyrics in sync to the fantasies that girls would appreciate more. This is to say that all that is provided in the music is the feminized version so that it becomes more appealing to the fairer sex. With the handling of boys the tactics are changed the females are used to catch the eye and maintain interest whereby the lyrics and the attitude provides the females with inspiration and so gaining popularity. Frith (2004) says that the first sociologist who delved in the affects of popular music on society was Theodor Adorno. It was his observation that the easy target of the pop music was the teenage girls who had restricted movement and hence found it the best way of easy entertainment with friends at home. They relished it as much as they relished any other fashionable item. The choices of the stars were made on the preference of belonging to specific peer groups and thus establishing their identities in society. Another factor that got the girls to get addicted to this music was the good looks the musicians of pop music maintained. This by itself ventilated their sexual frustrations and they found a platform through which they could identify themselves expressively. The pop music in short was what these girls fantasized about and was the pedestal of their hopes and thinking. Another reason of its being picked up by masses was because as marketing tactics catchy phrases were used and were just picked up by the people without any thought being associated to it. The melody and the repetition of lines got the individuals humming the music and in the real sense not actually relating to it but rather being obsessed by the music. Today the progress of the media is also responsible for the popularity of music of different genre. This then provides another opportunity for the marketing of cosmetics, books, drinks, clothes, drinks etc. Of the Pop genre some of the musicians are Britney spears, and backstreet boys. Teen pop is the one genre of music which alone has the highest commercial potential. Who listens to the music Costello (2005) says that in 1995 the teenagers were on the top in buying the music (Wright 1997). It is especially held meaningful to the teenagers as it provides them the pedestal from which they can make their identities. They deduce meaning from music to the point of applying it in their daily routines. It provides them with the opportunity of gaining an identity within a culture and thereby as belonging to a specific genre it automatically becomes a voice and identity for them.The marketing strategies and mechanisms for distribution of music revolve around the same principle and that is to aim for the public need. Here too marketing tactics involve the information on what the public demands and the trends are at the moment and produce such music that hits off with them as it is synchronous to their thinking. Cannon, and Dauncey (2003) have argued that the image of the groups and icons is so planned and formulated these days so as to target specific age groups and thus rendering them popular with time. This also enables specific market stratagem. The very example of this is Britney spears whose first outlook was of a pre teen and she gained much popularity with that particular age group. The image used to target the pre teen was of a school girl and it was a fresh change and so caught up pretty quickly. With time however the image had to be changed and so she was transformed into a sensual person and so started targeting another specific age group. Likewise there are other pop idols that have viewership with variance in audiences and so it is not that a teen would necessarily listen to all kinds of music by all kinds of musicians. How the stratagem works to target specific groups and maintain interest is seen specifically in all girls or all boys band. The strategy behind is to go out and identify with the different kind of people all at the same time and capture and retain their interest. Like for example a band consisting of 5 boys would have each character being different than the other, like one would be serious and sober, other funky and carefree, next would be easy going and funny, yet another could be the mysterious type and so on. All this is done for the sole purpose of identifying and reaching out to the market demands. Young people are always on the lookout for sources which provide them information and inspiration. As they are developing they need to relate to the emotional changes they are experiencing and a want to fit in the society. For all this they seek the music which provides them with the excellent resource to be inspired and interpret the phases of their lives thus providing them with the social identity. They find the meaning of life in music. Cannon and Dauncey (2003) discusses that the music in a manner provides them to identify first with themselves and then the society and with progress they learn to differentiate themselves amongst peers and then cultures and so it builds within them a sense of belonging and understanding of who they are. What music brings to them is not only just an understanding but also expression and this they display by either adopting the attire or the look of the music genre they relate themselves to. It becomes a part of their mannerism. (Zillman and Gan, 1987, 173). Beall, Anne and Sternberg, Robert (1995) argue about how people gain the social identities is stressed upon in the social cognition theory. According to this theory the characteristics of the people are such that they through music appreciate themselves and the people around them. It could be said that it is the individual interests and characteristics of different people which is reflected by the need to adopt different kinds of music. These individuals are recognized and identified by the type of music that they listen to. It is true that in the teenagers the moods are mostly revolving around love and leisure and it is this very thing that is mainly and mostly used in the pop music. So any individual who shows an interest in this type of music must have the leisure and love in his her life to associate with. Hence mostly the pop music is associated with the young individuals as their lives are full of the notions that are expressed in this type of music. Society and Music American Psychological Association (2002) says that the individuals of any age group or race have all used music to express themselves. The oldest artifacts that were ever discovered of musical instruments were from the region of Asia. Of all the diverse cultures we come across many different forms of music that is played with different instruments around the world. One thing is common in all the different music produced and that is that it is such a bonding thing that no matter what race or how remote a tribe is it binds people together creating harmony. As music happens to have such impact on human beings it is used in temples and churches and other religious ceremonies. It brings peace to an individual's mind and can give the feeling of serenity even in crowded places. With society music is intertwined so deeply that is hard to pluck apart its meshed strands and even to decipher whether its music that makes the society or society that has made music. Whatever the case be one thing which projects out is the fact that not just any one kind of music exists in society and all the variation we see today is because in a set society there are different classes and different cultured people whose mingling produces the varied types of music. Davis (1985) say that a society which has progressed from tribal living would have shed the tribal instruments as well thus becoming modernized and more advanced in terms of music and its appreciation. With the advancement in technology more pronounced appreciation of music is attained. People today have a wide variety of choice as far as music is concerned; media plays an important role with the widespread availability of music globally. In this modern time one can appreciate so many different types of music and not just be restricted to their own region and cultures and sometimes people get a lot more affected by regions music and so consequently get attracted to that culture. For example many of the Christians find Hindi classical music to be soothing to the nerves. Leeds, Jeff (2001) say that a society is affected by the music culture very deeply. This is true as in case of the folk music. What folk music brings about for example is the fact that it is sung and played by common people and so depicts a regions rich heritage. When there are any radical changes involved it directly affects the masses which are then reflected in the music. Music inspires people and often it moves them in a manner that no other force can do so. It has the power to mobilize people in a very subtle manner. Another aspect of the music is that where it benefits the society in so many ways, it also is held responsible when something negative occurs and this is especially true in case of hard rock and heavy metal. They are seen to depict and produce negative energies and a rebellious attitude especially in the teenagers. For example in 1999 Columbine High school shooting where many of the students and a teacher were fatally injured music was held responsible as those involved in injuring others were found to be fans of heavy metal and gothic. Affects of Music Grossberg, Lawrence (1986) say that the music affects each one of us around the world in some form or another and also not just any individual it has role in each and every organization, movement and so on. The role has been beneficial in the sense that it is a language an expression that unites people together; it brings smiles in place of gloom and is an elevator of moods to the extent that it is scientifically proved. Today music is being used to cure prolonged illnesses of some of the patients and in some it has radically brought positive changes. Music in different times and in different locations speaks a different language and imparts a different affect. When in times of war the patriotic songs are played it brings forth in the people a sense of patriotism and an urge to fight for their freedom and consequently a unified love for their country. Even when these kinds of songs are played without a war waging it still brings memories to some and evokes similar emotions. No matter what type of music used in such compositions the result is the same. However in today's time more and more freedom of expression has brought changes that are argued and not considered fruitful for the ears. This is because some of the compositions now contain words that are offensive and bring to mind negative emotions. Where music used to evoke emotions of the positive nature today it portrays negative emotions and it is argued that it is promoting use of drugs and sexual acts to become more and more common. Denisoff, Serge (1975) say that globally music is one platform where everybody is unified in a mysterious bond for everyone listens to music no matter what type or genre it is or how it is played yet the need for it is felt everywhere and in every act of life. Where there is a need for change or a need to stress upon something we turn to music as we find it the best source to convey our emotions. The emotion of love where one often feels confused is always aided with the help of music; it is something inside our souls that relate to it. Reformations have been possible with the presence of music wherever a cultural change has been in demand it has been the music that has played a role significantly. Government and Politics Politics and music have always shared a connection. These connections have led to the well known protest themes and the anti war songs. The national anthems and the patriotic songs are just another example not to mention the political campaigns where music is affectively used to gain enthusiasm and interest. Political music more or less has a unambiguous role and is often used for the sole reason of concerning politics and conveying some political meaning or message. Such music is prone to change with time as the political message conveyed was in accordance to the time it was made. Such music leaves historical significance and meaning forever and memories that for some are very much lasting. The example of a very such song is "We shall overcome" of folk music. Fiske, and Taylor (1991) say that the governments of different countries have different attitudes towards the music which is in their country. For example under the American copyright law musical works are covered under the intellectual property. Moreover the government grants funds to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities which provides funds to the musicians. The political scenario is also benefitting and using music as the medium to express and convey their values and beliefs. The music is used at the political parties and important functions even if it is as background music. In such occasions it has a separate expression of both sobriety and to lighten the atmosphere at the same time. What music does for the politics and the figures contesting is that it brings out enthusiasm and life in the participants. The use of theme songs was used in 1930's which later become iconic. However it depends from country to country and in some places it is a very popular and effective way of gripping the public and motivating them to come forward and vote. Sometimes the memories of a political scenario remain etched on the brains just because of the involvement of music. Conclusion Music has evolved with the evolution of culture. The behavior of people and their beliefs is the seed which has germinated into all the different genre of the music and this alone could have not been possible without the integration of brain or more simply the evolution of the biological system. Music has made a significant impact in the evolution of human intellect as well as forming social identities for it contributed in the development of societies which could identify each other differently. Music has become the manufacturer of trends and beliefs. It is responsible now for forming of cultures and identities. We need to appreciate some form of music in order to belong to have an understanding of ourselves. In case of the teen pop it can be said that the music industry is responsible for providing the trends but it is also the feedback from this young lot which moulds them to make songs that are readily taken up and cherished. References Beall, Anne and Sternberg, Robert (1995). "The Social Construction of Love". Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,12, (3), pp. 417-438. Davis, S. (1985). "Pop Lyrics: A Mirror and Molder of Society". Et Cetera, summer, pp. 167-169 Denisoff, Serge (1975). Solid Gold: The Popular Record Industry. New Brusnwick: Transaction. Fiske, S. T., and Taylor, S.E. (1991). Social Cognition, (2nd ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill. Grossberg, Lawrence (1986). "Is There Rock after Punk" Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 3, (1), pp. 111-123 International journal of psychology, 2002, 37 (5), 277-285 Leeds, Jeff (2001). "Kid-Generated Pop Turns into a Gold Mine". Chicago Tribune, January 6, p. 1. Bibliography American Psychological Association. (2002) Psychological Abstracts. American Psychological Association. Cannon, S., and Dauncey, H. (2003) Popular music in France from chanson to techno: culture, identity, and society. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Costello, K. (2005) The Composition of Culture: Popular Music and Social Identity in the Contemporary Hispanic Carribean Novel. University of Iowa. Frith, S. (2004) Popular Music: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Routledge. Jenkins, R. (2004) Social identity. Routledge. Johnson, T. (2008) Worship Styles, Music and Social Identity. Published by Cleveland State University. Korsyn, K. (2004) Decentering Music: A Critique of Contemporary Musical Research. Oxford University Press US. Shepherd, J., Horn, D., and Laing, D. (2003) Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world. Continuum International Publishing Group. Shuker, S. (2001) Understanding popular music. Routledge. Verkuyten, M. (2005) The Social Psychology of Ethnic Identity. Psychology Press. Read More