What Is Meaningful Music?
Introduction
Music is often a form of self-expression. Given its proven abilities to stimulate human emotions, music is also a medium for communication. Many musicians and music fans are of the opinion that music should always be meaningful. These proponents of meaningful music can be at loggerheads with the more liberal group of musicians and music fans who listen to music and don’t see it as a tool for meaning. Recent trends are indicating an increase in the number of liberal music lovers.
The growth of the music industry
Over the past decades, the music industry has grown considerably. This is in part due to the invention of the internet. Trends that have resulted from the invention of the internet such as globalization and digitization have provided music lovers with more variety and choice in the music they listen to. Music lovers are discovering new genres and styles that are exciting and interesting but not necessarily meaningful. Many music lovers view music as a form of escape and as a way to relax. Meaningful music is seen by some as being too serious or formal. For example during a party, revelers might prefer loud bass music to hymns or gospel songs. The loud music provides a good beat for dancing but offers no meaningful content for most of its listeners.
Popularity of meaningful music
Proponents of meaningful music have argued of the dangers posed by music that is not meaningful (Dillion, 2007). Some music genres, particularly hip-hop, have been criticized for lacking meaningful content and promoting negative behavior. Some proponents of meaningful music have gone to the extent of seeking legal action against music they consider being meaningless or negatively meaningful. These opinions on music have been seen by some as being too critical and a hindrance to artistic expression.
The music creators or marketers themselves have played a part in why fewer people are listening to meaningful music. Most of the popular music produced and marketed to listeners struggles to be classified as meaningful music.
Many musicians today write music that is focused on portraying flashy lifestyles centered on material wealth. This music is often accompanied by vivid, often sexual, music videos that provide additional visual stimulation. This approach has worked to draw many listeners away from meaningful music (Beach, 2010).
Improvements in technology have also contributed to the decline in meaningful music. People can now easily listen to music through smartphones and streaming services. This has empowered the young generation to express rebellion by listening to less meaningful music. Proponents of meaningful music are mostly members of the older generations who are seen as authority figures. This difference in demographics has worked against meaningful music.
Conclusion
Meaningful music has been declining in popularity. This can be attributed to globalization and digitization which have provided more variety for music listeners. The music industry has also played a part in less people choosing meaningful music by making less meaningful music more appealing. The young generation have also benefited from advances in technology by being able to access music easily and express their rebellion by listening to less meaningful music.
References
Dillon, S. (2007). Music, Meaning and Transformation:. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Nick Beach (Editor), Julie Evans (Editor), Gary Spruce (Editor) & 0 more. (n.d.). Making Music in the Primary School: Whole Class Instrumental and Vocal Teaching Hardcover – 14 Dec 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2017, from https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Music-Primary-School-Instrumental/dp/0415561299
More Ideas to Use in a Definition Essay about Music
- It is impossible to give one exhaustively precise definition of the phenomenon (or substance) called “music.” The material of music (from a physical point of view) is sound arising from the vibration of a string, a column of air (the principle of wind instruments), a membrane – leather, bubble, wood, metal. And from this point of view, sounds (as well as rhythms) are a phenomenon of nature itself: the singing of birds and the voices of animals and people, the murmur of water, etc. Thus, through the common sound natural environment, a connection is established with the sound nature of human speech, with the psyche, emotional world and physiology of a person (it is known that rhythmic pulsation is not limited to the work of the heart; each human organ has its own vibration frequency).
- Of course, sounds of natural origin are not typically perceived as musical art. The sounds, from which, like atoms, a musical composition is composed, must have such properties as a certain pitch (the sound of nature may not have one fundamental tone), duration, volume and timbre.
- The form of music is the organization of individual sounds, intonations (tones corresponding to each other – intervals) or musical themes in time. Music is a temporary art, unfolding in time, and rhythm is the basic principle of its temporal organization. The nature of intonations, motives and themes, their sequence, changes, less and more significant changes, transformations, contrasting comparisons (movement in time of musical structures) – constitute the dramaturgy of the musical process, giving it special artistic content and artistic integrity.
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