Media Influence On America

Music is often considered “the universal language.” Throughout, history it has symbolized love, brought people together, and has been the cornerstone of many lives. In the 1950s, a new form of music entered American mass culture that drastically changed the culture of the United States (U.S.): rock music. In the U.S., it began as Rock ‘n’ Roll, a originally “black” music genre that was then taken and promulgated by white Americans. Post WWII, many Americans—especially teenagers—struggled with the newfound societal conformity and normalcy, and rock provided them a form of retaliation. From its beginning, Rock united the younger generation of Americans, stirring up a sense of community amongst teenagers and troubling many adults by their actions—heightening

One of the most significant and controversial elements found within the study of music is the representation of culture. Although the definition of representation according to Merriam-Webster is “a person or group that speaks or acts for or in support of another person or group,” it is not as easily said than done. The true act of representing another is both incredibly complex and challenging as it contains many subjective variables. History, for example, has demonstrated the complexity of defining what is true representation through the presence of leaders and authoritative figures who have failed to truthfully represent the common man. As a result, the people who have no outlet for expression are represented unjustly by those who do. Similarly,

African American influence in music has been an ever present and controversial subject in American history. Stemming from many different cultures, religions and backgrounds, large portions of American music was introduced by, and credited to African Americans. Although in many cases, this music was used for entertainment by the masses or majority, contrary to popular belief, black music served a greater purpose than just recreation. Dating all the way back to the beginning of slavery in the U.S. during the 17th century, music has been used to make a statement and send a message. As African American music progressed over the years, there were common themes expressed as the genres evolved. It has been an open letter to the world, documenting and protesting the ongoing oppression faced by blacks in the United States, as well as an outlet for frustration. For many African Americans, the music gave them the only voice that couldn’t be silenced by their oppressors.

My grandfather was put in a unique position as a music teacher. Music according to him is a "universal language." Each generation and culture embraces music in reaction (and in

For as long as mankind has walked on this earth, music has been an important part of our culture and lifestyles. Each walk of life beats to a different drum. Different cultures use music for many aspects of their lives; for religious purposes, for celebrations, for comfort, for sorrow, for relaxation, for sports, for dances, for energy, for learning, for sleeping, and for sexual experiences. Everyone uses music for something. Music connects with people and reaches them in ways that words simply cannot. Music is a representation of what feelings sound like. It expresses emotion and brings that characteristic out from within us; it tells us a story. Every generation has its’ own sound and different music styles have emerged and become

Music is a very powerful expression of emotions that come together as a whole to morph your psychological feelings into a sub-reality vision. Over the many years, history has been able to capture the moments at which music has made an impact on human lives. We can start with Manu Chao the artist that sings about left-wing messages and portrays his concerts as “collective therapy”. Or Juan Gabriel the young man that rose out of poverty to become the world’s most beloved artist/songwriter and whose music carried a resonate flamboyant style. Music is a way of communication that is used in many realms such as entertainment, tradition religion and sporting events. So far this semester, Chic 316 has influenced me to seek a more coherent relationship

Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.

Music plays a significant role in societies all over the world. It allows people of all ethnicities and backgrounds to express themselves. Different music genres help to inspire other artists to create new music that they would not have thought of before. In various ways, Britain and America have influenced and inspired one another for many years. Music was, and still is, a huge connecting factor between the two countries. The Beatles and Bob Dylan, two of the most famous artists of all time, demonstrate how Britain and America had a profound influence on each country’s music culture.

Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.

Do you ever wonder what is the meaning behind what you so proudly sing whenever you hear it? Music is an art form of culture which organizes sound with times It first came around in prehistoric times, however, as times passes, music is drastically changing. As a result, in the last decades music has experienced drastic changes in the themes they are talking about. These changes are due to the generations and what they are living, political and social actions of the time. For example, the decade of the 80s was the rise of hip-hop and rap music from a local phenomenon to a worldwide known genre of music. Previously, a crack cocaine epidemic had stroke major cities in the USA and it coincided with the rise of hip-hop in black communities as these

The history of American music begins with a fundamental process of exchange through all different social lines, where diverse cultures meet, and mix. Music has and always will be defined as sounds that are arranged in a particular pattern that are played to be meaningful and pleasurable. The chronology of music began in the Medieval period, when chanting was introduced into the Church. Music has then moved its way through many stages: renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and leading up to 20th century American music. American 20th century music is made up of a diverse number of styles that are reflected by cultural traditions and the era’s of the past. Immigrants from Spain, France, England, Germany and Ireland all contributed and brought their own unique styles to the forefront, hence creating American music. African Americans created influential musical traditions that include rhythm and improvisation that were later combined with European traditions and other indigenous music.

Music plays a significant rule in our lives. It’s a melody and rhythm we live in. It plays a very essential rule in our day to day to life when it comes to expressing feelings, passing time and for other uses as well. Though we in general may not think about how music has changed so much in the past few decades we must acknowledge the fact todays music is the outcome of the various change in the past. Today’s majority of music we hear is what we define as more as a “westernized” music. Considering other cultures in the world, a huge impact of western music is seen within them. Westernization and modernization are two different words with different meanings and they have two different impacts on a society. Modernization is used to define the improvements and show a progressive transition from one stage to another. Westernization is the concept of being influenced by the customs and techniques of the western society and reflecting them in a non-western culture. This essay will discuss furtherly about the impact of the western society on music cultures of North India and Korea by looking from both the positive and negative point of this impact.

Music is a form of art. An art that has been around ever since the beginning of time. It is arguably considered to be the universal language of this world. Music is what connects the hearts and feelings of one another regardless of race, color, and religious backgrounds. Art is used to express oneself. It also has the power to motivate and influence others. Throughout the years, music has evolved and transformed in many ways. However, there are restrictions in today’s music, otherwise known as, censorships. There is a large crisis occurring regarding these censorships. This argument consists of two possible stances: one, supporting the continuation of the censorship of music, and two, eliminating the status quo of censorships in the music industry. There have been countless debates and arguments regarding the issues of censorship since 1927 when the U.S. Congress passed the Radio Act (The History). The time has come for the censored in today’s music to be disable. The government should release their grip on the censorship of music for the following reasons: censorship restricts an artist’s ability to convey his or her message toward the listeners, it limits an artist’s capacity for creativity, and it diminishes the audience’s appreciation of the content in the music.

One of the earliest instances of music censorship occurred betwen 469-399 B.C.E., when Plato and Socrates called for censorship of popular music. Thousands of years later, music censorship still affects democratic societies, like the United States. Popular music has been a driving force because of its role in shaping, critiquing, and celebrating American culture. It provides a platform that protests, calls for change and works as a strong emotional outlet. Additionally, popular music has long served as a common ground for racial divides in America, first with jazz and now with hip-hop (Humphreys, p. 6). However, ultimately, scholars recognize that popular music is really about “political and/or cultural domination” (Humphreys, p. 4) and this analysis seeks to determine the forces that undermine such domination.

Nowadays, with the development of the transportation and network, people can be easily exposed to different cultures from all over the world. It leads to a problem that how to set some criterions when different cultures has their own ways to measure. The culture also includes music culture. Michael B. Bakan states in his book that the term music is inescapably tied to Western culture and its assumptions. He also gives three possible solutions to westerners’ ethnocentrism that they want to impose their own culturally grounded perspective, biases and assumptions on practices and lifeways that are different from their own. The first solution is avoiding solving the problem, the second solution is converting other music into western music and the third solution is integrating and balancing western music culture and other music cultures. Among these three solutions, Bakan points out that the third one is the best (7). I agree with Bakan’s opinion. Since the music exists everywhere and belongs to all the people on the earth, the term music is related to all music cultures including western music culture. Although music styles from different cultures are distinguished, there is no need to impose one music culture to other music cultures. People all around the world should try to enjoy different music. The best way to define the term music is integrating different music cultures to