Slide 5: How Does The Music Relate Socially?-4

The Objective:

One of the main themes of the course is to make connections between music and culture. Now it is your turn to do this on your own. Remember that mules do not sing, humans sing. Hence, music is a human phenomena. Humans are social and join others in groups having similar interests, ideologies and so forth. Or people may divide themselves into groups based on gender, ethnicity, age, or occupation. Ask yourself how your artist or band reflects something about culture, such as a social message, an attitude about a topic (such as drugs, love or money), or even how that artist is involved in the economy of the music business (is the artist all about money or the love of music?).

What to include in the slide:

1. Identify the listening audience or fan base that your artist appeals to and why or how. Identify the social group, based on age, gender, socio-economic status, and so forth, that listens to the music.
   
   Avoid Outrageous Claims: "My artist appeals to everyone and all groups." No one does, so avoid such claims!
   
   Example: If you think the artist appeals to males in their twenties, explain what those listeners have in common and why that group relates to the artist.
   
   
2. Explain what the message is in the music of the artist. Believe it or not, all music carries some time of social or cultural message. For some good examples of music that carry certain messages visit the following site:
   
   http://www.sociologysource.org/sociologysounds/?currentPage=3
   
   Even Britney conveys a message. By examining the lyrics to her song, "Oops, I did It Again," it is evident that she treats love relationships as a "game," not something serious. Why? She appeals to an age group that is not ready for a serious relationship.
   
   Additional Comments and Examples: This is just one example. Rap represents certain attitudes among a specific age, perhaps racial (note that modern rap has in recent times broadened its audience to include white youths), and social groups living in the urban environment. Whereas, country music is about attitudes and living life in the country.
   
   What I am looking for here, is your ability to connect the music with the social and cultural in some way. This will require you to do some research, analyze lyrics and think about what is in the music that links to a broader social or cultural theme. If your artist is into heavy metal, you could talk about the artist's stage presence, language, and style of dress as symbols of anarchy (which perhaps is more punk than heavy metal) or at least non conformity to mainstream expectations. To illustrate this, you can include photos of the band onstage, while pointing out certain features of their dress that might support your opinion about the message. Compare that with the Dixie Chicks who combine country with Hollywood style glamor. Obviously, they are trying to reach out to a larger, perhaps crossover audience (crossover refers to an artist who crosses over from one style--such as country--into another--such as pop). How does the theme of crossing over reflect in their dress, lyrics, choice of songs, style of musical performance, etc? This is the challenge.

IMPORTANT: If you say something like, "This artist's music appeals to people between the ages of 18 and 35," make sure you explain why it does. What do people in this age group share in common that perhaps attracts them to your artist or allows them to relate well to that artist? Give examples to clarify and illustrate that connection between age and musical preference.

Analyzing Lyrics

Note that lyrics are always good windows into what the artist thinks about life or certain situations. If you choose to analyze lyrics, choose a specific line, mention the song it comes from, and then explain why the line is significant. Do not include all the lyrics to a song. There is no reason to do that. Worse yet, do not include all the lyrics to a song and not explain anything about them.