We all utter certain clichés about the music we don’t like. I hate rap, I listen to everything except country, or I listen to what I grew up with-that’s it. These statements suggest an active listener, as opposed to a casual or non-listener of music. The idea behind this is basic: people like certain forms of music, dislike or disprove of others.
But the question is: what makes someone like a certain piece of music? And why? The easiest approach to this is not by examining neurological theory or some psychological basis of music appreciation in humans (see This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin), or even by some drawn out evolutionary theory, but by examining the effect of context, environment, peer pressure and the human need to be part of a particular group in our current society.
Before we dive in, I am basing the following social situations based on my experience, and in no part am I falling back on stereotypes which may or may not exist. I am not a racist nor prejudiced in any manner, I only call them as I see them.
With that in mind, let’s look at environment first as a basis of intense influence on a person’s enjoyment, and even needfulness of a particular song or style of music.
THE CLUB (or more accurately…)
DA’ CLUB
This to me is the easiest environment to point out the connection between it and music enjoyment/need. Music is not heard at the club on a purely aesthetic level, but the type of music generally played at Da’ Club is more of a soundtrack to the intents and purposes of the patrons of such late night establishments.
Now let’s examine the music played here. I recently visited a popular spot in San Diego, known as On Broadway. It is the apex of the club scene in downtown, and houses probably thousands of people in its various large rooms and levels. On this adventure of mine, I noticed that a particular song from Britney Spears was played, much to crowds roaring delight. I may be dating the date here, since it was her recent hit, which of 9/22/09, had been a number of months ago.
I do not remember the song. I just know it happened. This is how I would also describe a number of “hits” from Beyonce, Justin Timberlake or any other number of popular artists who have “hits” and have these songs played at Da Club. After awhile, you just forget about these songs you met at Da Club.
I don’t remember the names of any Beyonce, or Justin, or even recent hits like Lady Gaga. That’s because I didn’t care, or wanted anything serious with any girl I would have hooked up with at a club. You don’t go to Da’ Club to find a wife, only for meaningless sex.
Huh? I’ll explain….
Speaking from a male point of view, (and judging from the way they dress and drink, some women too) people do not go to a club to find a soulmate. The majority of men are seeking for a fling, a one night stand, to hook up, to find something without meaning, something that is easy and hopefully stupid. Now, in order to find this qualities in a girl, you would expect the proper soundtrack to your intentions.
Enter “hit” music from Lady Gaga, or Beyonce, or whoever else is getting top play at Da’ Club. Popular hit music that gets played in the Da Club is written with the same intentions that accompany the individuals that listen to it in a particular environment. You wouldn’t play Miles Davis at the Da Club, or Mozart, or Public Enemy at the Da Club, because these musicians infuse their work with meaning, love and reflect the higher, more spiritual qualities of the human spirit. These are not the soundtrack of the environment someone goes in with the idea of looking for fast love, something that he or she won’t bother calling ever again. It would be detrimental to play something that can last multiple listens over a period of decades in the Da Club, because you just want to get laid, so you need something that reflects that, and I can insert a number of musicians or hit songs here but they would only reflect how quickly dated this article will be in a few months.
Another example: Your musical tastes are not yours, but belong to the Environment you grew up in.
This can be a bit risky and offensive, and I hate referring to Stereotypes because there are generally exceptions. But, it’s not too much of a stretch to point that people listen to the music everyone around them listen to in order to fit in to their social group. The environment in this case would be in entire culture and its various sub-groups. The music particular person listens to is the soundtrack to his or her attempts to fit in and feel like they belong to a member of a group. Peer pressure is very, very strong in this area. Notice how I said nothing on the enjoyment of the form of music on a pure level. Music is just a soundtrack for someone’s intentions, and is not really paid much attention to in itself. Let’s see an example of this, and I’ll try to make it fair because I am not prejudice or some racist prick.
People in urban areas listen to rap and hip-hop. This is because the artists themselves came from urban areas, and because the lyrics deal with issues that are of interest to people in these environments. These are violence, gangs, proclaiming your space and presence in the streets, cars, money, fast women, killing and dealing drugs. Now, if somebody from an urban area is involved in these activities, would they listen to John Coltrane or The Chemical Brothers? Probably not. The environment will dictate what this person will listen, and it will be songs that serve as a soundtrack, songs full of lyrical imagery of violence, gang warfare, police brutality or anti-police themes, drug use and women bashing. Rap and hip-hop deal with these issues, and it serves as a poignant soundtrack.
That there is a debate wither these musical forms are music at all proves how powerful the environment is to appreciating them. I think this debate over wither rap is really music comes from the inability from people who are not from urban areas or who do not involve themselves in such situations and activities to relate to. Just the fact that there is such a debate means that people do not listen to music they do not relate or, or that does not provide the fitting soundtrack to their intentions. Again, nothing here is said about listening to music purely by itself, without the needs or intentions of the individuals.
AN EXPERIMENT
In order to further enforce the point of this essay, I suggest an experiment, one which no one will do, and by not doing will prove my point. The thesis of my argument is that people basically and oddly enough don’t listen to music. They only listen to what they think serve as soundtracks to their lives. When you watch a movie, your not paying attention to the soundtrack, only the events of the film. I think people do this as well in their lives, and in their iPod and CD collections. While there are exceptions, I think they are very rare.
So, as an experiment, I challenge the world to do this: For two weeks, listen to music you “hate.”
It’s very simple, yet no one will do it, because it will shake and rattle the hold the ego has on constructing itself. It will only force an active listening experience. Listening to Lady Gaga or Pink at Da Club helps your enjoyment of their music, because it fits in with the environment and your intentions there, but sneak in your iPod and listen to Pink Floyd or Tony Bennett at Da Club. Your mind will kick and scream. If all you listen to is rap and hip-hop, spend two weeks listening to Japanese Pop and Indie. If all you listen to is Indie and Alternative, spend two weeks listening to hip-hop, rap and funk. If all you listen to is Britney, Beyonce and the other divas, spend a week listening to Metallica and Megadeth.
Though I think it would be fun for everyone to do this, no one will, because everyone thinks that their music is better than everyone else’s. So, we come full circle, the reason people like a certain music is because of an ego thing I would say, and because it fits as a soundtrack to their lives. People do not listen to music for itself, and for its own enjoyment. When an individual is confronted with a musical form that is unknown, they act in horror. “I didn’t grow up with rap” or “rap is for black people” are justifications I’ve heard people utter when refusing to listen to it. They never break it down intellectually why they do not enjoy rap. “I don’t like rock, its for white boys” is another comment I’ve heard.
There is nothing wrong with social groups influencing your tastes in music and the environment your are listening it to. But unfortunately, whatever you seem to like, or what you think you like, its actually all in illusion, because rap is not better than rock, jazz is not better that classical, and electronic is not better than Indie, etc, etc. An active listener would appreciate and be able to enjoy all forms, and if not, they would be able to give better, intellectual and logical arguments why a certain song or musical genre is poor. Music is an art form that is too innocent to be hijacked by the human ego of forming tribes and “us versus them” mentalities, and it is too precious to be treated like a one night stand. It is a waste of life to listen to a song once and never calling back again. “Hit” songs are just fads, and in actually, whatever is at the top of the charts reflects what the most awful music is, not the best.
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