What Is The Reading Response To Towards An Aesthetic Of Popular Music?

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

What is music? Denotatively speaking, music is sounds combined in such a way to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Music to me is something that I rely on to get me through everything, it is the thing that has shaped me into the person I am today. But, if I asked you how many symphonies Beethoven had written, could you tell me? To be blunt, probably not. Not only is this a problem with people today, it is a recurring problem with our youth. In Daniel Felsenfeld’s essay “Rebel Music,” he explains the fault in our youth when it comes to being musically cultured. Throughout his essay he acknowledges how he was a stereotypical teenager who just listened to whatever was on KROQ. However, he also talks about how he changed and cultured himself, unlike all of his peers. In his essay, Felsenfeld proves his message that younger generations are musically uncultured through his use of allusions, connotative diction, and critical tone.

In today’s society, music controls the way we live our lives. The influence that music has on society has broadened throughout the years and with social media being one of the world’s top priority, the fan base and spectrum for music in general has expanded significantly. Music is used to express feelings, moods, circumstances, experiences, knowledge, and so much more. With this being the case, the lyrics of any song can be interpreted differently by each and every listener. Many song lyrics give positive messages, promoting well-being, whiles others give negative messages, promoting violence, criminal behaviors, sexual contents, and disrespect towards others. With this being said, music reflects what the public demands, and in many cases the negative messages are often times what sells more than those music giving positive messages.

This article discusses the world’s need for classical music and why it will always be relevant. The author explores what makes certain things “art” and why certain other things are simply entertainment. He claims that classical music can never die because it is fundamentally different from many other types of popular music. It defines what makes art different from entertainment and answers the age old question of who gets to judge between them. In an age that dooms classical music to inevitable failure, this article offers a refreshing different perspective in a much more hopeful light.

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

Combining lyrics, sound and images, they construct this performance to reflect the cultural standard they identify themselves with (Macinois&Plummer, 2014). If observed from the uses and gratifications perspective, on the consumption side, the targeted audience responds positively, because they seek to meet diversion and personal identity needs, reinforcing their values by comparing their lifestyle to that of their idols and aiming to meet their standard as close as possible (Alexander,

"Modern music is people who can 't think signing artists who can 't write songs to make records for people who can 't hear." Frank Zappa

Friday night, lying in bed, eyes closed absorbing the legendary lyrics of The Kinks with the Pontefract cake-like disc rotating on the retro record player you bled your parents dry for. This is as close as the discerning music fan will get to real musical talent. Truth is, young people will never understand the sensation of music in the decades owned by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or The Searchers, instead the quality of modern popular music now has collapsed into a never ending and monotonous spiral of auto tuned sounds and sub-standard ‘talents’ who pale in comparison to the musical artists of last century.

It is said that everyone marches to the beat of a drum; it starts as a mere noise in the background but before you know it you are lost in the passionate lyrics of your favorite love song or the empty resonating chords of a depressing ode. I have been listening to music for as long as I can remember but it was not until two years ago when I developed a certain fascination for a particular genre that made me realize that what makes a song amazing is its lyrics and melody. Those two components of any “song” have the ability to convey feelings to a listener and persuade them into feeling the same way as an artist. It made me realize how influential the language used in lyrics is on the target audience. On a broader spectrum I thought of the extents

Music, “…one of the most widely used and appealing forms of communication…”, is universal and used for different purposes (Root, 2005, p. 7). Among the uses are “…play or entertainment, which humans of all ages engage in to stimulate feelings of joy, tension, and interaction, and enrich their experiences by adding mental complexity, counteracting boredom and lethargy” (Root, 2005, p. 7). In addition, music expresses “…emotions such as love, sentiment, or anger” (Root, 2005, p. 7). Ultimately, it communicates values showing the reality of society and culture. Anyone listening to “a few records [helps] enrich [their] feelings, extend [their] sense of love or despair, and feed [their] fantasies or fire some real relationship” (Cooper & Haverkos,

This essay will evaluate Adorno’s critical attack on popular music. The essay will briefly provide some context on Adorno. Adorno claims that “listeners are made not born”, thus listening is a cultural practice, in which modernity has transformed into a profit (Adorno, 2002:248). By this, the essay will begin by focusing on the broader idea of the culture industry, in terms of commodities and popular music as not being critical. Following on, particular focus will be given to three main areas which convey Adorno’s criticism of popular music. These being, the musical form under standardisation, pseudo-individualisation and regressive listening in terms of escapism. Standardisation will be evaluated in structural terms, and critiqued by Middleton (1990) and Witkin (2003). Adorno’s critique of popular music can only be understood in relation to his analysis of serious music, therefore, the essay will focus on both types of music. Adorno’s criticisms of popular music and critics of this criticism, will enable for a conclusion to be drawn on whether or not I agree with Adorno’s claims on popular music.

In the article, Predicting Music Appreciation with Past Emotional Responses to Music (2001) by Robert H. Woody and Kimberly J. Burns, describes the reason why many young people may not have a connection or gravitation towards “classical” music. Many young people simply jumble up “classical” music into such broad category because they do not understand the many different complex components to classical music. They assume that all music without lyrics is considered to be classical music. This makes it more difficult for young individuals to comprehend classical music because they are so accustomed to simply hearing music with lyrics in it, but never fully paying attention to the other components that make up the entirety of the piece. In order to prove the hypothesis that young people did not have an emotional connection with classical music, they preformed a case study to get a clearer conclusion.

Often music is consisted not only by sounds made from musical instruments, but also by voice and verbal messages. The structure of the voice, or as Roland Barthes describes it ‘the grain of voice’ is the element in a certain piece of music which is responsible for creating the emotions when listening. The grain and the lyrics make the signified and carry out the message. The vocal part of music is formed of words, text, which communicate and make the representation and expression of what it is sung - talked about. According to Barthes the emotive modes of the voice and the changes of the tones from low to high is what delivers the final message and makes us feel the music. (Barthes, R. 1977 [1972]).

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.

The influence of media on society in the 21st century is undeniable. Of all the types of media, music and books stand out as two of the main strands that influences people the most. They are both invaluable resources of knowledge and entertainment that can be accessed by all age groups. However, the most important aspect of music and books that has made them so prominent to the 21st century audience is that it offers a wide range of genres and styles. Consequently, Music and books have become the principal method of entertainment in the lives of many, as it bestows upon people the opportunity to free themselves from reality, and exist in their own fantasy worlds. By comparing and contrasting the impact of music and books, a superior