“Group C” Dr. Sherman
George Copenhaver EDP101(A)
Grant Roberts April 20, 2007
Michael Mukai
Vitaliy Muradov
Cory Rudibaugh
Tiffany Jones
Investigating the Correlation with Musical Preference and Social Cultural Identities
Every person listens to music for one reason or another. Musical preference tends to differ from person to person. In order to attain a better understanding for one’s preference of one genre over another, our group focused on what social cultural identities were associated with particular types of music. During this investigation, we found many aspects that can influence and shape a person’s listening habits. For instance, a person’s economical status may inhibit their ability to be inundated with the endless lists of songs available to someone who is wealthy.
Preferences are also influenced by a person’s physical appearance. Influential artists are often mimicked by their fans in order to further inundate oneself with similar, compatible people. Conformity seemed to be a very big issue within our investigation. As a person’s age progressed, their musical preferences also changed. Media becomes more available to listeners as they get older, and advertising tends to shape what music is popular.
Music is an international language capable of uniting people of different cultures. Music is able to facilitate a universal response among listeners. Clapping and tapping to the beat of musical rhythms is not specific to certain genres, but indeed is an available response to all types of music.
We felt that perhaps race played a role in what types of music one listens to. Race did not seem to be of great importance when it came to a listener’s tendency to associate with a particular genre. Present day listeners are not inhibited by their race but instead have a pre-wired tendency to associate with certain genres.
A person’s popularity within a particular group associated with a genre of music was not necessarily music oriented. Social abilities and open mind were of chief importance for a person to gain acceptance in a group. A person’s desire for conformity brought rise to the question why certain genres tend to be more popular than others. Popularity was influenced by desires of individual compatibility among other listeners, and people seem to feel most compatible with listeners of like genres. Popular music is simply an easy shortcut for people to inundate themselves with the most similar people as possible.
Economical status, physical appearance, race, and popularity all play a role in relation to what type of music people like. Music’s ability to bridge the gaps of social archetypes makes it a universal language that everyone can be involved.
"How does economical status influence one's tendency to listen to a particular type of music?"
There are many reasons why people listen to music. One that you might not think about is a person’s economical status. For many reasons, the way you are raised can be liked to how well off your family is. There is also a connection to the way a person chooses music and how well off they are.
If you look at the kind of music kids listen to today there may not be much difference from kid to kid. Pop, rap, and rock can be found all over the radio and in many cases they crossover and jump up the charts on genres. However, you can find some variations in what people listen to, especially when in relation to their economical status. If you look for example simply at what a person who is well off can do in the music community you can see more opportunities and variations in music. Say, for example, a family is very well off, a child of that family might be exposed at a young age to operas and shows which would shape that persons taste in music. Later on in life, when faced with what to listen to, that person might prefer a more classical or traditional style music. The opposite might also occur. The person might have distaste for traditional music and might choose a new form of expression such as rap or punk music. Money can effect what you are exposed to. By being well off you are more likely to be exposed to variety in music. There are more easily accessible opportunities to be immersed in different types of music. On the reverse side, if you are a family who is not well off you lack options in music. You are at the discretion of the radio, or the occasional CD you can buy. This means that unless you work to find a musical means of variety you are subject to disc jockeys and what is considered popular. Yes, there are other types of music on the radio but without the opportunity to see live shows and experience new things you are far more likely to get caught up in what is popular. Without the variations in the music you have less options and less to go on when making a decision in what you what to listen to.
This brings up the point of what music you would be drawn to if you were not as fortunate. In one case those who are not well off want to hear of people in similar situations or those who were but changed their lifestyle. I think this is why rap is so popular. Many people ranging multiple economic statuses can relate to wanting to better their life. Many people want to get out of the situation their in and be able to party and run around from club to club. For another example, look at those people who listen to country music. Most of them are not those who have lived in penthouse apartments in New York City their whole life. For the most part, they’re people who have lived in the country, the back woods, somewhere in the south. The reason they listen to the music is because they can relate. Money puts you in situations. Those situations shape you to who you are and music genres in many cases relate to those situations. This is why there seems to be pockets of areas in which genres are popular. I live in Louisville. If you look at the way places where music is popular you can tell who lives there. In the north side there is a very wealthy area in which pop, rock and rap are all popular. This is because those kids have access to all types of music. A little further north, country is very popular. This is the area in which horse farms and crops still rule the land. If you look at the east side of Louisville the music most popular seems to hip-hop or rap. This is due to the population that lives there. For the most part this is a predominantly black community. I’m not saying that just because who lives there they only listen to rap music. What I’m saying is that because of the economic status they have been raised in, the music that is popular is because that is what is available. If say opera were the only music, which the east side of Louisville could listen to, the music choices they would make would be vastly different.
The economic status a person is raised in greatly affects the music they listen to. In all cases there are exceptions to the rule. There are people who pride them self on being cultured and having a background in multiple genres of music. However for the most part the status you live in defines you, your neighbors and your surroundings. This has a great impact on what type of music you listen to.
“How can one's physical appearance be influenced and shaped by musical preferences?”
One of the biggest industries in today’s world is fashion. People rely on magazines, such as Rolling Stone, to see what celebrities and models are wearing and emulate them. Music is directly tied into this as well. Through music videos and live concerts, fans of artists often dress like them. Four main music categories that exemplify this are country, rap, punk rock, and classic rock.
Fans of country music are usually stereotyped by one word, “redneck.” People who listen to country music usually wear tight blue jeans, boots, flannels, and a cowboy hat. They are also usually seen as being white country folk. Looking at some of the more popular artists of country music, this is in fact what they wear also. But how did these clothes come to define fans of country music? Country music is exactly what its name implies. It originated in rural areas where cowboys roamed and the land was farmed. The music usually talks about traveling through the countryside, women, and love. Typically cowboys and farmers wore the clothing described above. Therefore, it is not surprising that the roots of country defined what the fans wear.
Fans of rap music are usually stereotyped by many words including “ghetto,” “thug,” etc. People who listen to rap music usually wear baggy clothes with labels like, “Sean John,” “FUBU,” etc. They are usually seen as inner city African Americans. Most rap songs talk about growing up on the streets of some large city, money, women, gangs, and violence. Rap’s stars are very flashy and have very expensive things such as houses, cars, and clothes. The rap fans also try to emulate their stars by wearing similar clothing.
Fans of punk rock music are usually stereotyped by words such as “skater,” and “emo.” Fans of punk rock wear clothes characterized by “tight jeans on males and females alike, long fringe (bangs) often brushed to one side of the face, dyed black, straightened hair, tight t-shirts which often bear the names of rock bands, studded belts, belt buckles, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, skate shoes, or other black shoes - often old and beaten up - and thick, black-rimmed glasses ( 2007).” The extreme athletes such as skateboarders and snowboarders are usually pictured listening to punk rock on their iPod to fire them up.
Fans of classic rock are usually stereotyped by the word “hippie.” People who listen to classic rock usually have an unkempt appearance with long shaggy hair. They are stereotyped as being drug users. Daniel Levitin talks about his desire to play the guitar when he was a younger boy. “My parents were still not enthusiastic about me studying the guitar, perhaps because of its association with hippies and drugs (Levitin, 2006, pp201).”
As seen above, people are stereotyped by what kind of clothes they wear. People do this all the time but don’t even realize it. If someone with long hair and a tight t-shirt walks by, most people automatically think they are “a fan of punk music.” This is called impression formation. “Impression formation is the process of developing an opinion about another person (Davis & Paladino, 2007, pp646).” “A feature that has been shown to influence impression formation is physical appearance.” (Davis & Paladino, 2007, pp648). Sadly, enough this proves that people usually judge a person by appearance before they even talk.
“Does aging play a significant role in changing and shaping musical preference?”
Even before birth, the fetus attains a liking to the music they hear in the womb. Robert Fantz created the “conditioned head-turning procedure” to determine which types of music a baby prefers. The results indicated that the infants enjoyed the music heard as a fetus instead of the new type. (Levitin, 2006, pp 217-218) When children are two years of age, they generally listen to easy predictable songs. Later, they grow tiresome of listening to these simplistic songs. Development of language is similar to the development of music. At first, morphemes are learned; it is followed by simple and then complex sentences. In music, imitation and practice also helps a person to learn and improve. It is not until the teen years that adolescents acquire genuine interest for preference the style of music. During this time, their minds realize the extensive possibilities the world has to offer. Experimentation with different styles and cultures of music are likely to happen as an adolescent. However, the type of music listened to by teens is highly influenced by their friends. Fitting in with a group usually accompanies having the same interests, music being one of them. By the age of twenty, most young adults have obtained a style of music that they prefer (Levitin, 2006, pp 224-226). Thus it becomes more and more unlikely for a person to seek out different music. This may not be the case for musicians, who are open to novel musical styles. (Musical development and development of musical preferences: Research Summary for parents)
The media plays an important role in influencing their target age groups on what is popular. MTV has successfully garnered teenage viewers. One of their shows is “Total Request Live” where the top 10 music videos of the day are aired. The genres of music picked for the top 10 are quite limited, consisting mostly of rap, punk rock and pop. If the teen culture says it is cool to like these genres, then many youths are likely to just go with the flow, potentially having no interest in what they pretend to like. American Idol is very popular nationwide. Although the winners are good vocalists, many can be affiliated with the pop genre. Rarely has a contestant gone far on the show by singing rock songs. It is not only our generation that has been influenced by the media. One is likely to find certain generations of people liking the same music; it is probably what they listened to when they were teenagers. The major problem that arises because the media gives too much attention to certain genres is that there are so many styles that many people have never heard. It is a loss to the consumers because they become too accustomed to a particular style. But while mainstream media fails in advertising a diverse selection of genres, digital programming and satellite channels make up for it. Each genre of music as well as music from around the world has a channel. Even with this being the case, teens are much more likely to stick with MTV because of its reputation. It is doubtful that mainstream media will take a risk and promote less popular genres since money is at stake.
"Can music be used as a tool to unite people of different cultures?"
“During the opening of the Philadelphia concert, Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie (outside Toronto) in a synchronized finger click. This was to represent the death of a child every three seconds, due to poverty (wikipedia.com, 2007).”
This finger click was the ignition of the largest musical collaboration in nearly twenty years. “Live 8,” as the collection of concerts was known, took place in July of 2005 and united people from all across the globe for a common cause: to rid the torn continent of Africa of it’s devastating poverty crisis. Millions of people across the globe were involved in raising awareness for a continent that has been riveted with poverty among other things. These millions were brought to together using a common, yet basic human interest: Music. Artists from all over the world played at venues in seven separate countries to unite the people of the world in order to reach their goal: to be the voice for the African people prior to and during the G8 conference, a meeting of international powerhouse countries to discuss the current status across the globe. If these people were brought together to fight for such a wonderful cause, wouldn’t one believe that music could be used to unite the people of the world in other instances as well?
The truth is, music can be seen almost as an international language. We’re all affected aesthetically by the coordinated sounds of music, whether it’s Beethoven’s symphony at work or Jay-Z innovating in the Hip Hop world. Everyone enjoys some type of music, although we as humans have distinct tastes, which we have acquired through our mental and physical development. The problem often lies where people are un-accepting to others’ views and perforations, much the same as in any other part of life. Some people are unwilling to accept any view but their own, and it is these views which have lead us through many of the tough historical times which we have encountered as a people. From social stubbornness comes discrimination, and from discrimination come stereotypes.
Stereotypes are a central issue in the music world. I know for a fact that with every selection of music one might randomly play, that person would have a vision of someone who they believe this music “belongs” to. We’ll spare the details, but it is not only the music that has the ability to divide people; the lyrics have a life of their own as well. As stated in a study preformed by collaborating professors from Universities such as Pittsburgh and the University of California- Los Angeles: “Sexual themes are commonin much of this musicand range from romantic and playful todegrading and hostile.” Much of this “degrading” material is directed towards females, and portrays them as inferior in some instances. These are the facts, and although music with the power of “a thousand words,” has shown its ability to divide and segregate a population into black and white or male and female, it remains the central commonality between people in all walks of life from Manhattan to Melbourne to Memphis to Madrid.