David AloDepartment of English and MediaAnglia Ruskin UniversityCambridge. UK. CB1 1PTdavidalo@yahoo.com22.12.2016

THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN SOCIAL CHANGE

Music is an important aspect of human life. Human is a social animal that thrives on

relationship between themselves and their environment. The bird sings and crows, the

wood fire, rivers and sea have their peculiar sounds and as man continuously learn to use

tools to enhance efficiency in production, he also learnt to make tools to make and play

music; not only to enhance his musical performances, but to effectively influence his

environment and audience.

Music has been criticized and debated by various authors and commentators in relation to

its social value and significance. According to Harper-Scott (2009, pp. 193-195) and Samson

(2009, pp. 193-195), the study of popular music is bound to be interdisciplinary in nature, as

it forms smaller part of a large number of the humanities disciplines. Shuker posited that

practically every aspect of the production and consumption of popular music involves

theoretical debates about the dynamics of economics, cultural and political power and

influence and the reproduction of social structures and individual subjectivity (Shuker, 2016,

pp. 187). He pointed out the challenge faced by social theorists being not only the need to

explain how cultures change, but also the need to identify the forms of social activity at

work in processes of social transformation.

The faculty of humans in terms of their ability to meditate, mediatize as well as craftiness in

the use of language, sound, symbols and tools continually play a vital role in the emergence

of music of different genres and its utilization. According to Shuker (2016, p. 188), this

cognitive ability of man is critical to the role music plays in influencing social change through

the interplay of other forces such as political, technological, demographical and economical

forces; to name a few. Hence, the relationship that music has on the wider society continues

to be a matter of great interest and study.

Although; music cannot be physically touched, it can be felt and seen, as it is felt in

vibrations and in dance movements. It therefore thrives in a social space. Music is diverse,

but can be categorized in the light of what neo-Marxists like Theodore Adorno (1903-69)

and others conceived culture to be. Adorno believed that mass culture kept the masses in a

place and that in creating a market for cultural goods by the capitalists, they manipulate

their consumers; ensnaring them in self-delusion (Frith, 1998, p. 13). He believed music is a

part of the culture industry and that the culture industry is central to the capitalist’s

domination and control over social life through the various processes of commodification of

culture, such as standardization, advertising and marketing. He suggests that these leads to

passivity on the part of those who consume the culture industry products (Longhurst, 1995,

p. 4). Also, in Branston and Stafford (2010, p. 383), Arnold referred to high culture as the

classics and as the best that has been thought and said. He felt that new urban popular

culture would lead to social decline.

For convenience in this essay, music is collectively referred to, based on the above

mentioned classification of culture as Classical and Popular Music. In defining more closely,

we also shall refer to classical music as evolving from high culture and popular music from

popular (or low) culture. The term ‘popular’ has been used to define a class of people of

lower echelon in the society different from the wealthy or educated class. So, popular music

in its early form has been referred to as music of lower value and hence, an expression or

culture of a lower or subordinate class; in sharp contrast with classical music (or culture)

that is seeing as the dominant or official culture of a society (Hartley, 2011, pp. 204-205).

Music identifies with all the different forms of social and political ideologies that humans

practice and as it does not exist in isolation, it thrives by co-mingling with other material

forces of the society. These material forces are described by Karl Max in Dillon (2014, pp.

38-39) as following a pendulum-like thesis-antithesis-synthesis form that makes human

social life contradictory in nature. He described capitalist class inequality as the thesis that

produces opposition in form of class revolt that causes antithesis, which in turn leads to a

new economic system (or class action) that can be described as the synthesis. When music

of high culture (serious music) becomes exclusive and inaccessible to lower classes of the

society, then the excluded class begins the process of demystifying that same high culture

by forming and promoting their own music (popular music) and this in turn leads to a new

culture (popular culture).

In an attempt to critically explain the role of music in social change, there has to be a sort of

negotiation and (in fact, carefulness) as per the extent to which a particular music (as a form

of text or code) or music (as a genre) is apportioned a cultural meaning or connotation. For

if music is accepted as a text; then according to Adorno, it is capable of either being in

standardized or unstandardized forms, which leads to a particular kind of reaction by the

audience (Storey, 2009, pp. 66-67). The audience (in this case the public) will then have to

negotiate a meaning for the music not only in relation to the events happening in their

environment, but based on their individual cultural background, understanding and

circumstances (Storey, 2009, p. 367).

According to Shuker (2013, pp. 161-162), popular music is a form of cultural capital from

which the audience derives pleasure from the consumption of its products in various

formats or forms such as music of different genres on media such as vinyl, CDs, Mp3 files,

turntable, I-pod etc. The impact that music has on the society before the internet was

already huge and even when viewed through the prism of today’s web 2.0 powered social

media world of almost two billion users, there is no doubt that music has found even a more

robust role in todays’ new public sphere.

Picture 1: Miniwats Marketing, 2016. Accessed 20.11.2016

Audience responds and interprets music differently in a complex way in which actions of

dominance, negotiation and oppositional responses comes into play in what Stuart Hall in

(Storey, 2009, pp. 515) refers to as ‘unstable elements that comes into play in cultural

struggles which has many forms‘. Therefore, a look at (not only music as a text), but other

factors such as the environment, technological changes, demographics etc. is necessary in

order to have a more objective view of how music plays a role in social change.

Businesses such as Sony Corporation and music marketing companies employ thousands of

people and entire community singer, music producer, hi-fi equipment manufacturers and

retailers, shop attendants, theater owners, food and drink sellers, government via direct and

indirect taxes do depend on them (Thompson, 1995, pp. 167-168). Communities such as the

Tin Pan Alley and the Hollywood in the United State of America, Soho in London, Alaba

Market in Lagos, Nigeria etc. evolve as a result of music activities and occupy a large space

with enormous social influence.

The commodification of music as a cultural artifact by the capitalist investors leads to

standardization of the products of the culture industry Longhurst (1995, p. 4), and as a

result leads to the convergence of producers and marketers in a negotiated or planned

space, thereby transforming the social landscape and life of a whole district, town or even

cities such as Las Vegas in the United States has been built solely on entertainment of which

music is an important aspect of life.

Although as earlier explained, music is influenced by other environmental factors such as

technology and marketing trends, whether there is need for specialized music shop in the

first place is still being debated. Adorno in Longhurst (1995, pp. 3-4), argued that modern

market for cultural goods are stimulated by capital gain and not actually the need for such

product.

Hence, the emergence of digital and internet technology which significantly changed the

way music is produced from the analogue to digital forms equally affected the way music

has been sold and promoted for years; thereby causing significant social change as reflected

on several high street music shops such as HMV that were forced to downsized or close

completely as a result of dwindling patronage, leaving a scare on the immediate community

they were located and the attendant loss of jobs (Pictures 2 and 3).

THE TELEGRAPH

Picture 2: HMV In The News (The Telegraph Archives, 2016) Accessed 21.11.2016

Picture 3: HMV Store Closing (Bing.com Pictures) Accessed 18.11.2016

Music has been effectively used by activists and artists in setting agenda for collective

actions in politics and social crusades. Music can be shared intimately and publicly in such a

way that it enriches people’s lives. When combined with dancing it has proved to be a

dynamic force in pulling people of different ideological and cultural divides together either

for a show of diversity or for common cause or good (Hesmondhaigh, 2013, pp. 1, 84).

Music was used in the civil rights protests of the ‘60s, Nuclear Armament and Nationalistic

Protests by John Lennon and others (Campbell, 2011., pp. 142-143). Musicians in the league

of Bob Dylan have performed songs to support social causes and crusades. Such songs such

as Bob Dylan’s ‘Only a pawn in their game’, ‘We shall overcome’ usually performed by Joan

Baez, ‘Get up, stand up’ by Bob Marley etc. are well known protest songs. It is worthy of

note that Bob Dylan went on to win the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature in what was

generally acclaimed as proof that his music (and in fact music generally ) has an impact on

the wider society (The Guardian Blog, 2016). Accessed 02.11.2016.

It is also a testimony to the sound writing of Frith (1998, pp. 176-177) wherein (Day) argued

that ‘’although Dylan’s lyrics are written to be sung, they nonetheless contain the ‘’poetic

richness of signification’’ and ‘’density of verbal meaning’’ that characterize modernism’’ -

Day being concerned primarily with ‘’the semantic properties of the words of the lyrics’’

rather than the ‘’performances of those lyrics’’.

Bruce Springsteen’s recording in the album titled ‘Wrecking Ball’ throws up questions that

probes into the question of the American dream and the current reality of the American

state and economy (Shuker,2013, p. 188) Bruce Springsteen said in an interview followed on

the YouTube that his work is ‘’always been about judging the distance between the

American reality and the American dream; how far is that at any given moment’’?.

(YouTube, 2016). In England, music has been used by non-white English artists such a

Ruthless Rap Assassins to raise questions about the state of the nation (Cloonan, 1997, p.

59) and music continues to be the focal point of cultural programme such as Music of Black

Origin (MOBO) and BBC Black History Month.

Music fosters a sense of community and promotes good causes all over the world.

According to Shuker (2013, p. 188), music is used to raise funds for social or political causes.

The 2005 Live Aid concert that held in Wembley Arena in the UK and JFK Stadium in

Philadelphia, USA. Sir Bod Geldof and Midge Ure co-organized the event that sought to

promote awareness about the famine in Ethiopia and raise money to alleviate the problem.

Music has been used in the corporate world to foster a sense of community and promote

internal communication as well as its use in propagating corporate ideology and good

practices among staff and customers (BBC Radio 4 Archives, 2016). Music such as ‘’My

Bathrooms’’ is a music that is meant to influence the perception of consumers about

bathroom as a product. (You Tube, 2016).

Music has impact on the environment. This is not only seen on the dedicated music shops

on the highstreets, but can be seen on towns and cities. For example, the five-day

Glastonbury Festival in Somerset that hosts various acts and dance shows attracts around

175,000 people from all over the world annually. The influence is such that a national

broadcaster like the BBC has a dedicated website and cast for the programme when it is on.

With the social media helping to further propagate the ethos of the festival, it has become

an instrument of immense social value and melting point of other sub-cultures; with the

attendant positive and negative environmental impact being increasingly called into

question.

Picture 4: Glastonbury’s Garbage. (Guardian, 2015). Accessed 20.12.2016

Music and politics do mix with varying consequences. Shuker (2013, p. 187) referred to Rock

music as being ‘’especially associated with political potential’’. He pointed out that there is

disagreement regarding ‘’the cultural significance and force of rock musicians’ political

statements and their role in various campaigns’’.

He emphasized that some critics do belief that the attraction to rock music is not just for its

radical political stand, but that the audience; particularly the youths derive pleasures and

emotional release from rock music without being aware or connected to the politics

message in such a song. It is not unusual to see youths who has never belonged to any

political party or voted in any election to sing and dance wildly to the rhythms of a protest

song. A song such as ‘Stand down Margaret’, a single released in 1980 however was a

popular anti-Thatcher political song performed in public.

The complex relationship between music and the ‘receiver’ plays out readily when it comes

to music and politics. In order for a particular music to be interpreted as intended by the

writer or singer; (in this case the encoder), the audience (receiver or public) must be able to

decode the text as intended by the encoder (Storey, 2009, pp. 366-367). Otherwise, the

protest music as sung by the musician may not be interpreted as such by the audience or

listener.

During the 2016 USA Presidential election, musicians (and their music) were thrown behind

the contestants in what went on to be a show of political patronage on both sides of the

Democratic and Republican parties. The role of music in the election in which Hillary Clinton

had more supports and endorsements from an array of various musicians and the eventual

outcome further put into light Shukers’ argument regarding musician’s ‘force’ and role in

political campaigns (Picture 5).

In Russia however, the Pussy Riot members got jailed as a result of their protest

performance in year 2012 at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour against the

Orthodox Church’s support for the re-election of President Vladimir Putin (Picture 6). Music

in these two examples is highly visible; engaging in the political change process of two

different countries and having different reactions from their receivers.

Picture 5: (BBC MUSIC, 2016). Musicians Performing At A US Election Rally. Accessed 13.12.2016

Picture 6: (Bing Images, 2016). The Pussy Riots. Accessed 12.12.2016

A close look into the society reveals more about how music is interconnected with human

lives. The idea that music is a form of text that can be treated or used as words that has

objective or subjective meaning or purpose was stressed by Frith (1998, pp. 158-159). He

outlined that words, rhetoric and voices are three things that are heard at once when

listening to the lyrics of a typical pop song.

Music is dynamic and malleable. It is full of different experiences of private and public

dimensions which may ‘’support or reinforces each other’’ (Hesmondhalgh, 2009, p. 2). It is

a unique cultural good to be exploited in the eyes of the capitalist, a valuable item of

intimacy for a parent singing or rocking a child to sleep, as well as an item of shared identity

for a person buying a concert ticket or attending a concert with others. In other words,

music has social values. Hesmondhalgh, (2009, p. 88) wrote regarding the concerns has

been raised about technology making music to be too individualistic due to the rise of the

Walkman and Mp3 players, thereby cutting themselves off from the world around them.

For example, despite people using personal headphone to access music, (muzak music) is

shared on the lift with other people, airports, train stations and at the stores etc. at the

same time (Shuker, 2012, p. 236). The fact that musicians do sign up with big businesses

such as Topshop, Starbucks to have their music played and sold at such venues reveal a kind

of collective sharing, public experience and subversiveness of the status quo that music can

bring.

Roger Scott in Katherine Ellis’s Sociology of Music (Harper-Scott and Samson, 2009, p. 48)

described how the operators of the Newcastle Metro responded to vandalism of its facilities

by playing Frederick Delius’s classical music instead of the popular music of local stars Sting

and Jimmy Nail. Within three weeks, the youth vandals moved away from the station, as

they could not stand the new sound of the classical music they are not accustomed to;

thereby securing the Tyneside Metro Station at Shiremoor from the vandals.

This is an example of a way in which a dominant class exercises power or subdue another

culture by the use of total social authority via a culture as described by Hebdige in (Baker,

Bennett and Taylor, 2013, p. 6). The NHS Hospitals are increasingly having radio music

played as a therapeutic form of music, while Universities, health clubs and wider public are

engaged in teaching and use of music as a form of therapy.

The extent of which Adorno and Horkheimer pointed out in (Durham and Kellner, 2012, p.

176); that ‘’cultural commodities possess an inherent contradiction which, as with the other

contradictions within the capitalist mode of production, may be profoundly subversive.

Whether it is or not depends upon a concrete analysis of a specific conjuncture ’’. So, while

the music shops are closing on the high street, they do migrate to other established shops,

on mobile ring tones or online where the consumers can be contacted; thereby further

cementing the social change that such establishments already bring into the social

landscape.

CONCLUSION:

Music remains a very important medium through which thoughts, ideas, beliefs or opinions

are expressed even in these days where the society is largely powered by the internet

technology and social media. Music identifies with all the different forms of social and

political ideologies that humans practice. Music celebrates the birth of a child; it celebrates

conjugal bliss, as well as departure of a life. Music will continue to play a critical role in the

life of humans and their society notwithstanding any change in the shape or form of human

ideology or habitation.

BIBILIOGRAPHY:

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https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/apr/08/five-songs-about-margaret-

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ABBREVIATIONS:

BBC. British Broadcasting Corporation

Etc. Et-cetera

MOBO. Music of Black Origin

NHS. National Health Services, UK.

UK. United Kingdom

USA. United States of America