Thursday, 17 April 2008
Week7 Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?
I believe that there can be a politcal dimention with popular music and that the content of a song can reflect current political issuse and events, but i do not think that popular music can force political change. Popular music can definately infuence or encourage political change, rather than forcing it. Some songs are developed in order to take a politcal position and to make strong political statements. Examples of this can be seen with the artist Bob Marley and his song 'Get up, Stand up, which is a political song supporting the rastafari movement. There are also songs that are not allowed to be broadcasted because they may have a strong political effect on people, this shows how powerful music can be. To help political change there are special events that take place, such as Live Aid. These events use popular music to help raise awareness to political problems. Other examples can additionally be seen in football with national athems. But either way popular music can make a political statement and influence political change but it can not force it.
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I think you are probably right that the power of popular music is in its ability to inform and influence rather than directly force change. I think that the Bob Marley example is interesting as it is clearly a song with a political message. However, the Rastafari, anti-capitalist message had the effect of earning huge profits for a recording corporation, and many would argue that as such it is a prime example of the hegemonic nature of the music industry.
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