Music as a medium shaping social movements across ages

Music and Society

Music has a profound influence on society. As with other forms of art, music has the ability to communicate messages that are both complex and oblique -- the message need not be specific, but may convey an emotion or ethos, external to the lyrical content of the songs. Music gives a voice to generations by allowing those who have the ability to convey their thoughts and feelings through the form, and others to convey theirs through the consumption of the media. Thus, while music can have significant influence over a generation, and reflect its values, likewise the music to which that generation is drawn to reflects its values outward to the world, allowing some of the music (and other art) consumed by that generation to be understood by any society that chooses to consume that music. One cannot replicate the 60s just by listening to the Doors and Hendrix, but one can start to understand the decade better, and put some of its events into perspective. We can, therefore, learn a lot of about generations by examining the music consumed.

The 1960s

The early 1960s saw the waning of the jazz era and the dawn of the rock'n'roll era, effectively marking the coming of age for the baby boom generation, transitioning away from the Beat generation that was much more heavily jazz influenced. Rock'n'roll was a lively, celebratory music that capture the emotional roller coaster of that stage of youth. Because it was frowned upon by the older generations, it also became a sign of rebellion, which dovetailed with the other forms of rebellion that were emerging. Folk music brought a social consciousness to rock'n'roll, and the music became a voice for groups wishing to change the world in their image. This was a period of tremendous social upheaval, youthful energy and experimentation. The music reflected that, full of love and rebellion, but infusing global and social influences as well.

The 1970s

The transition to the 1970s was marked by two major shifts. One was a shift towards both the louder and more experimental sides of rock, with the advent of metal and popularization of prog rock, but also there was glam rock, a backlash against the earnest seriousness of the 1960s. There was a sense that much major social change had already been achieved, and maybe it was time to have more fun. Disco further embodied this. If the 1960s were about social change, there was something in the 1970s that suggested a loss of innocence -- the ongoing Vietnam War and Watergate in particular. While some responded by focusing on fun in the here and now, others rejected that approach, and we saw the rise of punk and hip hop as holistic countercultural movements, complete with fashion, entrance rituals and other modes of distinguishing the in-group from the out-group (Gordon, 2014).

The 1980s

Mainstream pop and rock music carried the fun spirit of the 1970s, all glam and glitter, with the arrival of MTV only enhancing the visual side of music. Socially, this was beginning of a faster form of media consumption -- music was not just about music in a sense, it was a full visual package. The punk movement would ultimately veer into post-punk and new wave, and hip hop would only begin to emerge from the underground at the end of the decade with its more violent forms dovetailing with the war of drugs that exacerbated urban violence, and a more widespread recognition of urban decay.

The 1990s

When the glam of the 70s and 80s finally collapsed, it was grunge that did it, and quickly. That movement rejected the fashions, the visual showiness and distilled rock back to its more primal state. The movement would not last, however. Record companies, burned when grunge came out of nowhere to make previously popular bands obsolete, saturated the airways with mediocre "alternative" music, gutting the movement before it could really be a strong social movement for Generation X. By the end of the 1990s, a digital revolution was taking place to transform music again. A further schism saw a much stronger emergence of country as a cultural phenomenon -- it's not much musically but it speaks directly to a certain cultural identity. Both country and hip hop today are ultimately good examples of how music, clothing, and overall image combine to mark someone as a member of a broad cultural group (not a niche like punks).

The 2000s

Initially digital music was a shock to the music industry. . Society found it could consume music for free, but without the nuisance of radio or TV. This ushered in an era of choice, and the number of musical styles and artists proliferated, even if record industry profits dropped. Exploring and sharing have proliferated (Edmonson, 2013) The pop music of the era still sold big, but became more finely targeted, and embraced fully its mainstream and disposable nature. All types of music flourished in the underground. Society faced a similar schism, between those with a high consciousness and willingness to explore (the active consumers) and those better characterized as passive consumers. The market has proven large enough for the both, the latter group still dominating the music industry. New distribution channels -- iTunes, Pandora, etc. -- also emphasized single song delivery, downgrading the importance of producing an entire album, for more or less the first time in music history. MTV hardly plays videos anymore, and but the Internet provides ample distribution for music videos, allowing them a venue as a promotional tool.