The Impact of Musicians on the Society Essay Example

Duffy 126). Music is believed to have many negative impacts on the society, mainly in the area of hip-hop and rap music. However, in the different styles of music that are played nowadays, there is excess of music which contains lyrics which praise sex, drugs and violence. While research cannot give concrete evidence on the direct link of the behaviours associated with listening to this type of songs, which have a direct impact on these behaviours, many people can concur with the fact that it is indeed an encouraging factor.

There are types of music which can promote a spirit of lawlessness because they are considered some kind of play hence harmless. In spite of the innocent form, however, there are other kinds of music that can destabilize the social arrangement. Character and music are also connected intimately. Certain styles of music can expose an individual to insolence and other types of vices. On the same level, other styles, may suggest moderation, peacefulness and self control, and may expose an individual to a life of order and courage. Plato points an example that a man who has been raised up on harmonious type of music has a possibility of creating a harmonious soul (Wall and Duffy 110). This kind of person will be good at seeing life from a higher perspective and therefore a good chance of knowing what has been left out and what needs to be rectified.

Emotional impact

Philosophical literature across different ages has given credit on the ability of music to have several effects on the mind of an individual. Especially, the ability to create certain images and ideas which, in turn, are presumed

to result into varied emotions. Similarly, music in most cases is supposed to have an effect on the judgement and evaluation of an individual. Unfortunately, not many of these assumed effects have been validated experimentally. The most commonly studied musical effects on cognitive presentation have payed attention on memory. For instance, studies have indicated that the mood induction on the recollection of childhood memories had an effect on the quantity of memories that can be recalled during a happy mood (Thaut and Hoemberg 332). On the other hand, the experiment revealed that sad music does not have a significant effect on the provoking of a sad memory. In another experiment, it was revealed that music has an effect on the judgemental ability of an individual (Juslin and Sloboda 266). For instance, people who are depressed after listening to music that is sad perceive more rejection in their faces with unclear expressions and more sadness in their faces with clear expressions.

Music is also believed to have an effect on the psychological arousal of an individual. Scientists have revealed that, music brings a feeling of calmness and may reduce stress which aid in the control of hormones which restrain the immune system. This is because it is believed that music can have an influence on the peripheral nervous system in an exciting and calming manner. In a similar case, music can have an impact on the immune system of the body. Exploratory studies conclude that, certain types of music for example, classical music are known to provoke specific emotional conditions (Juslin and Västfjäll 15).

In another case, music is known to have an impact on behaviour and action

trends. From the prehistoric times, people have relied on the assumption that movement is a major element of the emotional response to music. Aristotle has expressed this point by saying that sound is a sensation that arouses feelings (Cochrane, Fantini and Schere 6). Besides, a melody that has no words has the ability to arouse feelings. However this case does not apply to either smell or taste. But a motion is felt after the hearing of sound and these motions eventually arouse action which is an indication of a feeling.

For the reason that people listen to modern-day music under conditions that are more ritualized like concert halls, in places which are more relaxed like a living room or even a car, or using earphone while tackling various tasks, reveals the fact that the whole time in life a lot of music has been composed containing some certain action trends in the mind. For instance, getting people to dance, fight, match, play and work together (Kartomi 227).The musicians usually attempt to entice the listeners in order to create the proper rhythmic body movements. People have actually reported that they have problems trying to suppress rhythmic body movements while listening to some certain kind of music like Strauss Waltz. This means that people will always find themselves dancing to certain kind of music.

Cultural impact

In the 20th century, musicians have had a greater cultural impact than any other type of artist. For instance, there have not been any other movie stars of filmmakers who have had a greater cultural influence than the Beatles. Michael Jackson on the other hand is an example of a musician who had a

great cultural impact in the American society (Cross 28). He made culture to be accepted by several individuals irrespective of race or colour using his music. As a founder in the culture of the blacks, Michael Jackson broke barriers by managing to appear on MTV, and by making very high sales records with his album Thriller. He had influence on a new black music artists like, Usher, Kanye West and Ne-Yo.

Musicians also have an influence on the fashion style of many people around the world. Today many people want to dress like music celebrities. The most famous pop-rockers, the Beatles, inspired many fashion trends (Simonelli 33). With their collarless suits, round-wired frame glasses, peacock hair style, ears covered with hair and being shaggy all over had a greater influence to the young people in the middle school (White and Walker 10). Another example is seen in Suzi Quatro who was the first female musician to make leather fashionable with leather jacket, belt, pants, boots, and even leather belts.

The lifestyle of rock and roll music has been highly associated with drugs and sex. Many of the early rock and roll music stars were known to be heavy drinkers and people who lived under hard conditions (White and Walker 44). A number of rock artists including Bob Dylan have accepted to be battling with substance abuse like heroin and cocaine. Although since the 1980s the rock and roll lifestyle has become popular and the use of alcohol, sex and drugs is linked to hardcore punks all through the years. It has also remained extremely popular among the youth today.

Conclusion

Since the disorderly times of the 70’s, many musicians

have been in the limelight. With the developing complex mass communication, music has become more enlightening through the television, radio and internet. Furthermore, the technology today is paving way for urban cultures which have their own musical styles, life philosophies and expression. Musicians still have an effect on today’s society and these influences come about in more diverse, complex and at many times subtle ways which are hard to define or measure. Musicians do not have a negative impact on the society, poor and defiant behaviour is as a result of improper upbringing. How music influences behaviour depends on the soul of an individual. Music does have an influence on the morals, culture and emotions of people in the society, but the impacts do not necessarily have to be negative. Young people may be influenced to wear certain types of clothes and behave in a certain manner but that does not mean that they should have violent or poor behaviour.

Work Cited

• Cochrane Tom, Bernardino Fantini, and Klaus R. Scherer. The Emotional Power of Music: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Musical Arousal, Expression, and Social Control. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.
• Cross, Ian. "Music, cognition, culture, and evolution." Annals of the New York Academy of sciences 930.1 (2001): 28-42.
• Hobson, Archie. The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words. New York, NY u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004. Print.
• Juslin, Patrik N., and Daniel Västfjäll. "Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms." Behavioral and brain sciences31.05 (2008): 559-575. (cite correctly these two references in the essay...differentiate which is which)
• Juslin, Patrik N., and John A. Sloboda. Music and emotion: Theory and research. Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Kartomi, Margaret J. "The processes and results
  

of musical culture contact: A discussion of terminology and concepts." Ethnomusicology 25.2 (1981): 227-249.