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Book Excerpt: How Music Fans Built the Internet

There weren’t a lot of people online in the early 1990s. Mark Kelly, keyboard player for the English band Marillion, early internet adopter and self-titled "co-inventor of crowdfunding," was an exception. One night after a concert someone handed him a stack of papers—printouts from an email list of Marillion fans. Kelly went home, cranked up his modem, and subscribed. What he found surprised him. The list, founded by a Dutch fan, had about a thousand fans. And though the band's primary market was the United Kingdom, the list was multinational. Most subscribers were in the United States. Marillion had never even toured the United States.

Kelly spent the first couple of years reading without posting, watching the discussion in secret. But the internet is the internet, and finally, someone said something so wrong that Kelly couldn’t stop himself from jumping in to correct him. His cover was blown.

Immediately North Americans asked why they didn’t tour in America.

"We don’t have a record deal in the States," he told them, "and every time we toured in the past it's always been with money from the record company."

"Oh, well," a Canadian fan wrote,"why don’t we raise the money for you to come and tour?" Others quickly agreed that this was a good plan.

"Well I think you're a bit crazy," Kelly told them. This was, after all, nearly two decades before Kickstarter popularized crowdfunding. "But if you want to do it. I mean, obviously we can’t have anything to do with it, but if you guys want to go ahead and organize it. We're not taking the money."

Kelly told them they needed about $50,000 to make it happen. Someone set up an escrow account. Within a few weeks they had raised $20,000. Before long it reached $60,000. It seemed so improbable, Kelly hadn’t even told the rest of the band.

Marillion did the tour in 1997. The fans who had fronted the money also bought tickets. Being fan-funded generated publicity. “Each gig that we were playing, there'd be a little local newspaper that would run the story about the tour fund and how the American fans had raised the money for us to tour." It was exciting, a moment of transition, and a master class in "the power of the internet, and how rabid fans can change things, make things happen."

In many ways, the industrial production of music worked well for music listeners. They gained more access to high-quality music of different types, in different forms, at the varied and often private times they chose to hear it than at any point in history. At the same time, the shift to industrialized, centralized music production disempowered the people who became audiences, reducing them to "consumers" in which their "only power is that of consumers in general, to buy or not to buy." "Audience" is itself a "fictional construct" used to abstractly pull together distinct individuals having varied concrete experiences. Audience members speak with many voices, use music and other cultural materials in many ways, and have different levels of attachment to the objects of their attention. Industrial market logic views these people as atomized, perhaps with demographic characteristics by which they can be grouped and counted, but rarely as immersed in relationships with one another. But what really happened when people were carved off from what had historically been social co-participation in musical rituals was not that audiences became isolated. It was that listeners turned—as they always had—to one another.

Where musicologists see mass media as thwarting audiences' capacity for participation, audience researchers have spent decades documenting and analyzing how productive and creative audiences became in their wake. Just as industrialization and digital media changed the work of being a musician, they changed experiences and opportunities for audiences. While musicians dealt with the challenges of building and maintaining careers in the face of the new realities of their field, audiences developed new histories of participating with one another on their own terms. Now, even as musicians struggle to find their ways in an internet-mediated music world, audiences flourish. The internet has pushed their "hitherto marginal (and marginalized) tendencies into the very mainstream of media use." No sooner did the first nodes of what became the internet make their first connection than fans began using it to build stable and persistent group infrastructures for their fandom. They wove fan practices into the internet’s core, helping to shape contemporary media and shifting the balance of power between audiences and professionals. Practices hidden in private spaces for decades became visible and accessible, amplifying their impact. What Jay Rosen famously called "the people formerly known as the audience" can no longer be treated only as abstract numbers in a spreadsheet. "We need to radically rethink how media audiences are positioned in our new media ecosystems," Tim Anderson argues. What used to be an audience is now "an altogether new actor that is explicitly positioned as an essential part of the design and architecture behind the production, distribution, and exhibition of information that circulates throughout new media ecosystems." Audiences distribute and exhibit others' works. They also make their own creative works—remixes, stories, covers, art, videos, designs—that can at times become more popular than official works. They create museum-worthy archives of musical information on websites and wikis. They write blogs. They share information (both accurate and wrong), recordings, and photographs. They create spaces and networks where they build and share supportive resources, identities, relationships, and practices. They are the ones who spread the word, who watch the gates of popular culture, and who set the norms for how it will transpire. They are the ones who "make things happen."

With few exceptions, it took musicians years to realize that networked media could be used to communicate with fans. When musicians now come to the internet to "connect," as they are often told to do, they find people who are already immersed in communities of their own around popular culture and, for many like those with whom I spoke, around them. The last pair of chapters looked at music, tracing musicians' paths as music became a commercial product while still serving its timeless social functions of managing feelings and relationships. This chapter turns to fans, asking how they spent the twentieth century, and how it is that they find themselves now in such an unprecedented position to set the terms for interactions around music, including those between themselves and musicians. I focus on fans, especially fans who are active and vocal online, because they are the most visible and influential of audiences, but they are by no means the only audiences musicians encounter online. Most listeners are not "fans," and most fans are pretty low-key in their fandom, more apt to lurk than perform. Those that do perform may not be fans. In the chapters to come, we see musicians deal with "anti-fans" actively invested in disliking them, casual fans, and entirely different sorts of audiences such as family, friends, potential collaborators, business people, and random antagonists.

The kind of fandom musicians encounter online developed over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, beginning even before mass communication technologies. When opera companies and other performers began doing national tours in the 1850s, they created a novel opportunity for young people to center their musical experiences around public, commercial events such as concerts and theatrical performances. Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt are said to have had early fandoms (as did poets such as Lord Byron), but certainly the most spectacular early music fandom formed around the "Swedish songbird" Jenny Lind. P. T. Barnum, the man who set the standard for marketers everywhere, gave her that descriptor and then brought her to the United States for a legendary mid-nineteenth-century tour. Barnum was masterful at creating "a sense of anticipation and desire through his use of publicity." Adoring throngs waited outside theater doors, went to the wharf to watch her boat arrive, stood outside her hotel room, and lined the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of her carriage. Lind's tour dominated everyday conversations, much to the consternation of nonfans. A Boston satirist complained in the weeks leading up to her 1850 appearance that wherever he went, "all the cry was, Jenny Lind and Barnum, Barnum and Jenny Lind!" Even his friend, a seemingly responsible adult, was "so full of madness and music that he rushed through the streets with the fearful velocity of an escaped locomotive," he too calling out their names.

The definition of "fan" remains unsettled, but fan scholars and fans alike generally agree that what differentiates "fans" from other listeners is the level of feeling invested in the object of their fandom and the kinds of practices in which they engage. Fans feel for feeling's own sake. They make meanings beyond what seems to be on offer. They build identities and experiences, and make artistic creations of their own to share with others. A person can be an individual fan, feeling an "idealized connection with a star, strong feelings of memory and nostalgia," and engaging in activities like "collecting to develop a sense of self." But, more often, individual experiences are embedded in social contexts where other people with shared attachments socialize around the object of their affections. Much of the pleasure of fandom comes from being connected to other fans. In their diaries, Bostonians of the 1800s described being part of the crowds at concerts as part of the pleasure of attendance. A compelling argument can be made that what fans love is less the object of their fandom than the attachments to (and differentiations from) one another that those affections afford. Carrie Brownstein of legendary Riot Grrrl band Sleater-Kinney (and later cult television show Portlandia ), begins her autobiography, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl , like this: "My story starts with me as a fan. And to be a fan is to know that loving trumps being beloved. All the affection I poured into bands, into films, into actors and musicians, was about me and my friends."

Reece Rogers

David Kushner

David Gilbert

Emily Mullin

The term "fan" wasn’t used until the late 1800s, when a journalist abbreviated "fanatic” to describe baseball spectators. By the 1930s, it was a "widely accepted American colloquialism, used in reference to sports, film, theater, and even politics." In the intervening years, many fans had organized themselves into clubs. From the start, these groups were both productive and self-reflexive. They created their own media, exchanging letters and publishing and circulating newsletters. They also built archives to document and preserve their communities. Among the most well known were the elite male-dominated science fiction and Sherlock Holmes literary fandoms. Others focused on dance, sports, and, of course, music.

Throughout the 20th century, as mass media developed, fan groups grew increasingly common and complex. As travel got cheaper and communication technologies tightened connections between nations, fans began making pilgrimages to significant sites and to meet one another, particularly after World War II. Fans appropriated new technologies as they developed to make their own creative works, often before other groups. Among the new media these "audiences" used in their productions were "photographic setups, telephones, film cameras, tape recorders, mimeograph machines, home movie cameras, industrial staplers, and other innovations."

Television fandoms that developed in the second half of the 20th century took fan creativity to new heights. They also had different gender dynamics. Women, "excluded from the male-only club science fiction fandom had largely become," found in television fandom a way to "develop their skills and hone their talents." By the time distant computers made their first connections in 1969, fans, especially women, were "remixing television footage to create their own fanvids, writing and editing their own zines, creating elaborate costumes, singing original folk songs, and painting images, all inspired by their favorite television series."

Just as musicians have tried hard to be good capitalists (as we saw in the second chapter), while not wanting their work reduced to capitalist values (as we saw in the first), fans too are caught in the tensions between the social values music offers and the capitalist environment in which it is produced and circulates. In many ways, fans operate and are defined by their unwillingness to adhere to the norms of capitalism. Not content to merely purchase and use, fans insist on feeling and relationship. Where commercial markets call for anonymity and limited, ephemeral involvement, fans form deep attachments. Fans "creatively imbue their participation in musical life with a lasting personal connection and depth of culture." They "organize themselves and make and distribute their own creative transformations of the media they love." They act more like communities or publics than like audiences, focused on their connections to one another and the group rather than to what is so blandly called "content."

Yet even as they push back against it, fans embrace their consumerism. This began in many ways with Barnum, who gave "a commodity focus to the artist/fan relationship, allowing the experience of fandom to be prolonged and intensified through personal investment in a set of fetishized objects" peripheral to the music. Lind fans could buy Jenny Lind dolls, gloves, scarves, and handkerchiefs. I sleep in a "Jenny Lind" bed, a 19th-century American furniture style so popular it was the cheapest decent antique bedframe I could afford on a graduate student stipend. From early on, fandom has thus fostered collecting. Many become completists, buying every version of every release they can. Fans also create new economic value; the feeling and meaning they invest can make even items with no inherent value, like an autograph, expensive. Fans in contemporary capitalism deploy "both media texts and brand messages as carriers of cultural meaning and as resources for everyday life" even as companies profit from their practices. "Economic imperatives and 'authenticity' are thus expressed and experienced simultaneously."

Fans are often aware of the tensions their dialectical status as (anti)capitalists creates between themselves and media producers. They see how "industry attempts to incorporate the tastes of the fans, and the fans to 'excorporate' the products of the industry." They know that corporate interests are always essential to, yet working against, their own. Their modes of participation “may benefit, run counter to, or be entirely irrelevant to the interests of producers and marketers, whether such activities are authorized or not." Bound together in fandoms, audience members engage in "a collective strategy, a communal effort to form interpretive communities" that challenges the power of popular media. As we will return to in the next chapter, for artists and others in the music industries, the ability of fans to interpret, create, and distribute media among themselves is a mixed blessing, depending on what they are doing and on each artist’s individual willingness to cede control. The inevitable friction between those who create mass media and the fans who remake it becomes increasingly palpable when those who own intellectual property routinely co-opt fans and their practices for the added value they bring to their products, while simultaneously demanding that fans should "not divert from principles of capitalist exchange and recognize industries' legal ownership of the object of fandom."

The Norwegian death-punk band Turbonegro has a fandom that demonstrates both how bands provide grounds for participatory communal experiences that transcend them and how inseparable those communal experiences are from commercial markets. Cocky and ironic, Turbonegro are aggressively not radio friendly. Their look suggests flamboyant sailors. Their album and single titles are often raunchy or absurd ("Ass Cobra," "I Got Erection," "Fuck the World (F.T.W.)," "Hot for Nietzsche"). Without radio to promote them, they need their fans. Just as KISS had their army, Turbonegro relies on their "navy," Turbojugend (German for "Turboyouth," a name riffing on Hitler Youth, reflecting the same dubiously appropriate jokes of the band’s song titles).

Clad in matching denim jackets embroidered with a sailor hat, and often sporting white sailor hats like the band's, these fans provide both word of mouth and an instantly recognizable visual brand. Their denim jacket, lovingly called the Kutte, is a symbol of the fans' transnational unity and local identity. Made by Levis, then outfitted with specialized embroidering, the jacket is sold through a central hub in New Jersey via the fan club's website. "Noncommittal" fans can pay $100 for a version with an embroidered Turbonegro logo and cap. Serious fans join one of the 2,300 worldwide chapters (or start their own) and pay $135 for their local chapter's version, available only by application. These Kutte say "Turbojugend" instead of “Turbonegro” and identify the local chapter to which its wearer belongs. Turbonegro’s bass player, Happy Tom, describes the Kutte’s significance like this: "You see another person wearing the jacket and basically it's like meeting somebody you've known for a while. All these people it's like they're made out of the same ilk. I think a lot of the guys in the band are from that same ilk."

As "ilks," fan communities have strong ideas about what constitutes appropriate fan behavior and are not shy about policing one another for adherence online or off. There are power struggles. Groups of fans oust one another. Turbojugend, for example, have rules, many rules, most of which are tongue in cheek, and many of which concern the Kutte. Having, let alone wearing, a jacket from a chapter that isn't yours is a borderline criminal offense. Local identity is to be respected. But adorning your Kutte with patches and pins from other chapters represents a willingness to travel to meet with distant brethren and thus appropriately displays commitment to the community of the whole. Wearing the Kutte is required on certain holidays. July 27, Happy Tom's birthday, is compulsory. The Kutte is expected attire at concerts, wherever you may be publicly recognized, and at fan club meetings, whether local, regional, or the annual international Turbojugend convention at a beer hall in Hamburg. Through the music, the Kutte, the chapter structure, the gatherings, and the internet, Turbojugend foster an opposition to mainstream music consumption, much like the Jimmy Buffet fans John Mihelich and John Papineau describe as "oppositional in a broader cultural sense, keeping alive a particular version of an alternative world." In the case of the "Margaritaville" ideal of Buffet fans, their alternative vision fosters "a more general cultural premise, a traditional sense, of leisure, rest, and celebration." Turbojugend celebrate beer rather than margaritas, but they too use the fandom to establish "an alternative basis for obtaining meaning, in contrast to the basis offered through market capitalism or materialism."

For all the humor, Turbojugend, a fan club whose very name references fascism, leads the "rules" section of its site with a "manifesto" that's quite serious: "By joining our association we expect that you do not tolerate fascist or racist behavior in your Turbojugend chapter and you won't tolerate members with such tendencies. Our utmost concern is to have fun together. But it is also evident for us that everyone wearing a Turbojugend jacket is aware about this serious topic. You represent a community and should not ruin our image by thinking a jacket gives you a free ride to act stupid or run amok." Wearing a jacket is a moral commitment about the kinds of relationships true fans are expected to build with one another. They expand on this in the "Turbojugend values" that follow: "Turbojugend has always been and will always be something like a family. It’s got to do with family values, with friendship, with loyalty, with respect. Treat your brothers and sisters like brothers and sisters. And keep an eye on each other—it's the old thing: United we stand, divided we fall."

Much like Billy Bragg's fan who no longer liked his music but still went to his concerts because that’s what she and her friends do, the camaraderie among Turbojugend is more important than their appreciation of the band. Happy Tom is flattered to have such a loyal following, but he knows that nearly everyone voted against the band when Turbojugend did a survey asking whether, if forced, members would choose them or the fan club. "So it's just bigger than the band is. It's like the German guy said"—he fakes a German accent—"You have created the Frankenstein monster, and now it’s out of your control."

Commercial markets are integral to Turbojugend’s participatory community. Fans buy Turbonegro music, tickets, hats, and jackets. They buy Kuttes, which don’t make much money for Turbonegro directly, but helped associate them with denim to the point where Levis launched a Nordic advertising campaign featuring the band. In a nod to their antiestablishment stance, the website rules command them never to wash the Kutte ("Kuttenwaschverbot" it yells in bold font), yet they endorse Proctor and Gamble's Febreeze air freshener as an acceptable alternative and provide a link to the brand's website in case their other suggestion, going for a swim while wearing the Kutte, doesn’t solve the problem.

Turbojugend exemplify the idea of music fandoms as organized groups that cohere around a particular band or artist. We can also understand fandom as a context for and means of self-discovery, affirmation, and friendship that moves from object to object as identities and circumstances change across the lifespan. I was no Turbojugend, but my own youth as a music fan illustrates some of these other key dynamics of fandom and some of the significant differences between fandom before and after the internet, which we'll return to at the chapter’s end. I grew up in an American college town, firmly positioned in the middle class, with spare money, time, and the freedom to indulge in fandom that brought. One of the most significant gifts of my childhood was a small white AM transistor radio my best friend bought for my birthday in 1974. I lay awake nights listening to WLS, Chicago's Top 40 radio station. My friend and I discussed the songs endlessly. We knew nothing about who made the music, but knew they must be alluring. And probably sexy. Whatever that meant. Soon we were caught up in preteen girl culture, subscribing to Tiger Beat magazine and projecting our emerging sexual and romantic identities onto the heartthrobs seductively pictured in the magazines' centerfolds. We never questioned that our bedrooms should be covered with pictures of Shaun Cassidy and Andy Gibb (she preferred Leif Garrett). Nor did it occur to us that, like the girls before us who turned the Beatles into sex objects, we were upsetting gender rules about who was supposed to pursue whom. I started hanging out at the local independent record store in Campustown, a neighborhood in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where I lived, talking to the guys behind the counter. I wanted to know everything I could about the music I liked, and I didn’t want to miss any music I thought I should know.

I lacked the language to call it "sexism" or "ageism" at the time, but the more I read music criticism and interviews with musicians, the more it stung to hear how blithely they used the trope of "13-year-old girls" as prima facie evidence that whatever music we liked was bad. They still do and it still stings, though at last 13-year-old girls have an idol willing to sing their praises in Harry Styles. "Who's to say that young girls who like pop music—short for popular, right?—have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy?" Styles told a Rolling Stone reporter who asked if he worried about proving his credibility to older audiences. "That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going."

The age stigma disappeared, at least until it returned in my 40s. The gender stigma remains, although for a time working in a record store brought me some measure of legitimacy as a person who may actually know something about music. Never mind that the music industry has marketed musicians as sex symbols for years, that they so often perform songs about being desperately in love with "you," or that some musicians are, in fact, pretty hot, women who notice that a serious musician like "David Byrne is an anatomically correct male are misguided at best." I learned quickly that "to admit, in mixed company, to having a crush on a rock star is to overstep the bounds of proper feminine behavior." By the end of my teen years I understood the difference between having a crush on the musician I imagined versus the real human being, but I've never stopped having occasional crushes. How could I— why would I—when a musician's songs are designed to evoke such strong feelings of love and longing?

My development as a teenage fan was fueled by mass media and by other people. The music press—American magazines like Creem , Trouser Press , and Rolling Stone and British papers like New Music Express and Melody Maker became required reading. "College radio," especially Jon Ginoli’s punk and new wave show Going Underground that aired late Friday nights on WPGU, became essential listening. Most days I hung out after school with my closest friend, Jennie. We played records for each other, bonding over our love of the Buzzcocks and Split Enz and distinguishing ourselves from each other by whether we found the first Clash album or the first Generation X album more compelling. I have an autographed copy of that Clash album displayed at home, but at the time I sided with the latter for validating every angsty teenage feeling I had. Musicians still seemed far away and fabulous, but, in keeping with our adolescent quest for identity, music was now about finding ourselves, together. With the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and other British punk and new wave bands playing on the turntable and radio in my bedroom, I cut off my long hair (by myself, of course), dyed it unnatural colors, and pierced my ears with safety pins. My high school graduating class voted me "boldest" and "best hair." I owe both to music fandom.

Jennie and I bought bootlegs on vinyl at the other local record store, the one willing to risk the illegality (they were eventually busted, though they remain in business today, unlike the one where I hung out). It felt a little seedy. Where did they come from? Who was getting the money and was that really OK? But bootlegs helped us in our quest to piece together more of an artist’s career and showed ourselves and each other our commitment. Eventually, Jennie and I found ways to start going along with our record store friends to see local bands and touring acts live. I still have the concert log I kept throughout the 1980s. I still have the ticket stubs and flyers.

Between the record store and the concerts, by our senior year of high school we had befriended much of the local music scene that Holly Kruse describes in her book Site and Sound . There were parties and after-parties where the cool kids 10 years older took us under wing and brought us up to speed on essential 1970s acts like David Bowie, Roxy Music, and Sparks. Before MTV launched, one local musician (still a professional drummer) and his wife dominated the party scene after they bought the crowd's first Betamax player. The videos they played for us late into the night, like Bowie’s sexy, gender-bending "Boys Keep Swinging," left a powerful impression that shaped my emerging self-understanding and self-presentation. Local musicians became friends, but they never felt like equals. Not only were they older, there was a clear implicit hierarchy. Fans nearer to musicians were nearer to the top than other fans, but unless they were romantically partnered or working with them, they'd never be as cool. With no interest in performing (years of piano lessons had revealed deficits in both talent and caring), I decided I'd like to manage bands when I grew up.

When I got to the University of Wisconsin as an undergraduate in 1982, I sought out friends who shared and could expand my taste and who wanted to see live music with me. With my two best friends in those years, Helen and Lisa, I took advantage of free time, no job, and spare cash to road-trip across the Midwest, seeing our favorite bands any place we could drive to and from without missing too much school. Helen and I had met through a mutual friend, Jamie, who had lived there longer and was more immersed in the Madison music scene. I met Lisa when a friend set us up to drive together to Summerfest in Milwaukee where Sparks, whom I loved, and R.E.M., whom she loved, were playing the same night. I had seen R.E.M. at a bar in Madison a few months earlier, and met their guitarist at a party after the show. My roommate was playing them on repeat. They got under my skin. By fall of 1983 all three of us—Lisa, Helen and me—were in love with R.E.M.

At the time R.E.M., who didn't even dress up to perform, seemed so different from the other bands around. Where others were all angles and image, R.E.M. were soft and ambiguous. Was "R.E.M." a reference to dreaming or not? Was it one syllable or three? The music was murky and layered. You couldn't understand a word. They seemed to do everything a band shouldn't do and they were beating the system anyhow. The lesson I took, at the formative age of 18, was that any artifice I’d spent the last several years refining wasn't necessary. I felt like my real self was surfacing.

We saw R.E.M. dozens of times, seeking the precious peak moments when something clicked during the concert and it became spiritually transcendent. I thought about my life in segments divided by R.E.M. albums and tours. They put us on the guest list as we followed them around the Midwest. We met bands they toured with, their crews, their friends, their business representatives. We felt at the center of an exciting, affirming, and creative participatory culture that touched us at every level, showing us ourselves and binding us to others. Yet the experience also alienated me from the industry in which I’d imagined I might work. In Denise Sullivan's oral history of the band, Talk About the Passion , there's a brief segment where R.E.M.'s first label representative mentions us. "In the Midwest there were three girls, one black and two white, and they were everywhere," he was quoted as saying. He listed the kinds of the places we'd appear before concluding, "I think they slept with some of those girls, but they handled it really well." I decided that a field where that was even a question, let alone the default assumption, wasn't for me. All praise to the women who persisted nevertheless.

The local scenes of my high school years gave way to a network of local scenes, connected through touring bands and the people who moved along with them. My fellow fans, these musicians, people they worked with, and I traded resources in webs of gift exchange guided by friendship, obligation, and prestige alongside money, maintaining social ties, and building community as we did. We offered our homes to touring musicians and their crews and stayed at other fans' places when we traveled. We told one another our stories. We played music for one another and traded music recommendations. In high school I'd bought bootlegs, but once in R.E.M. fandom someone gave me a live recording on cassette and introduced me to tape trading networks. Refined early on by Grateful Dead fans, these networks forbid monetary exchange. As Condry notes in an article about Japanese hip-hop fans, music fans feel a moral obligation to share music they love with one another. To sell would be to violate that basic value.

My big break as a trader came when a member of the North Carolina band the dB's, who'd taken a liking to me, told me to write to his friend and tell him he'd sent me. I did and received the gift of what was then the most exclusive R.E.M. live recording of them all, their first taped performance, in Athens, Georgia. As my quest for live recordings expanded, Helen and I began showing up at local venues with a boom box and a large microphone to make our own recordings, always asking permission, and always getting it except from the one band that seemed too drugged to notice us asking. I spent hours typing up my tape list (first on a typewriter and later a KayPro PC with a dot-matrix printer), and literally cutting and pasting it over a collage I’d made from photocopies of old gears and watch works.

I parlayed my meager initial selection into an extensive collection of difficult-to-acquire live recordings. It garnered me tremendous personal pleasure. I listened to them endlessly. It also garnered me a lot of cool within my local and national music communities. As I worked my way from adolescence into my graduate school years, I continued to climb in the "social hierarchy where fans share a common interest while also competing over fan knowledge, access to the object of fandom, and status." I'd acquired qualities of an elite fan. I'd seen hundreds of live concerts. I had deep expertise. I had immaculately complete collections of official releases, and my collection of live recordings was the envy of my peers. I had an impressive collection of posters and other ephemera (I still do). Most of all, I'd gotten to know musicians personally.

Having access to these musicians, especially R.E.M.'s charismatic and enigmatic front man, Michael Stipe, showed me aspects of fandom that had been less apparent and, in retrospect, planted seeds that became this book. I saw whole restaurants or coffee shops fall silent and turn toward him when he walked into the room. Most kept their distance, but I watched fan after fan approach him everywhere he went, focused on their own excitement, eager for a moment they could take away and keep. It seemed exhausting. I heard him use the phrase "psychic vampires," and saw him make instant judgments about whether the stranger in front of him might consume too much of his energy. I'm sure he enjoyed my company, but I saw also that my public female companionship before and after shows sometimes served as useful protection.

The friendships I had with musicians also complicated my relationships with other fans. I didn't like turning a connection with a real person like Stipe into a chit in a competition I couldn’t decline. If I mentioned that I knew R.E.M., I was boasting. If I didn't and people found out anyway, they told me I was arrogant. There were awkward encounters. A fan in a concert-hall bathroom, curious how I got the laminated all-access backstage pass Stipe had loaned me, accused me of lying when I told her the truth. So did a co-worker. A fan outside a venue, having seen me with Stipe, approached me, shaking, and asked breathlessly, "what ARE you to him?" I saw the absurdity of the power fans can grant people who don't deserve it. When musicians and audiences really do connect, I learned, sometimes fans get pretty weird.

If, in the 1980s, I'd known half as much about computing as I knew about R.E.M. and their ilk, I'd have seen that even as I was co-creating these participatory fandoms through travel, cassettes, pen, paper, envelope, and typewriter, other fans were augmenting their music fandoms through the new, nascent computer networks that evolved into the internet we know today. Computer-mediated communication networks first emerged at the start of the 1970s, more than a decade before personal computers were available for home purchase. These early networks included ARPAnet, the US government-sponsored network that became the backbone of the internet; other early geographically dispersed computer networks such as PLATO at the University of Illinois; and a host of local systems accessible on public computer terminals, internal networks, and dial-up Bulletin Board Systems. These early proto-internets were quite different from the world of ubiquitous access so many of us now carry in our pockets. They were text-based, and, in the case of the growing internet, which was funded by the US National Science Foundation until 1994, a commerce-free zone. National and international commercial dial-up services, including America Online, Genie, Prodigy, and CompuServe did not connect with the noncommercial internet until 1994.

From the start, there was an unusual synergy between fans, including music fans, and the developing world of networked computing. Wherever there was networked computing, there were music fan communities leading the way, long before the masses, most musicians, or those in the music industries caught on. My elementary school classroom in the mid-1970s was outfitted with an early computer networked called PLATO. PLATO ran a system called "Group Notes" where people shared "public notes files for subjects like books, movies, religion, music, and science fiction." The first public computer-based bulletin board, Community Memory, launched in 1973, put music fans at the center of the community whose memory it sought. Its first, and for a time only, terminal was located in a record store, Leopold's Records in Berkeley, California. The terminal sat beside a traditional bulletin board where musicians and others posted "cards, flyers, and papers promoting performances, classified ads, efforts to organize, and general humor and philosophies." Community Memory's users left one another electronic messages about these same topics. A directory of the music postings was printed weekly and left by the terminal for people to skim. The system's popularity soon spread to other communities in the Bay Area, providing "groups of people who had never used computers with new levels of access to technology and information-sharing" and a new way to discuss a wide range of topics.

The Bay Area was also the home of the Grateful Dead, who were themselves interested in both technology and the fandom emerging around them. Among their local fans were computer scientists at key sites of the internet's development, such as the University of California–Berkeley and Stanford. Some of the first email mailing lists, launched soon after email was invented and available only to those working in the computer science labs where the technology was under development, were for music fans. Paul Martin of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab began dead.dis@SAIL, for Dead fans in their lab. A fan himself, Martin and another at SAIL also collaborated to create a giant electronic repository of Grateful Dead lyrics, a collection that eventually made its way to the Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow, who was reportedly so impressed he jumped headlong into digital culture, where he remained an influential presence.

Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, people also launched hundreds, perhaps thousands, of local dial-in computer bulletin board systems (BBSs), reached through modems connected to telephone wires. Some were devoted to or named after the Grateful Dead, among them the Mars Hotel BBS in Roachdale, Indiana, and Terrapin Station in Darien, Connecticut. The most influential BBS was the WELL, based (of course) in the Bay Area and frequented by the likes of Barlow and Howard Rheingold. In his history of BBSs, Kevin Driscoll describes the WELL's founders as consciously designing "a community-oriented system" by pulling together locals who were already connected, including "a large population of tech-savvy Grateful Dead fans." It was their income that supported the more "experimental, niche areas of The WELL." Known now for its centrality to early cyberculture, in Driscoll’s telling, the WELL was "primarily an interest-driven BBS for fans of the Grateful Dead that occasionally featured salon-style conferences hosted by well-known thinkers on the transformative potential of social computing. But by the 1980s, followers of the Dead were no longer the countercultural vanguard they once might have been, and a Deadhead BBS was hardly headline material." One of the WELL's luminaries, Howard Rheingold, describes in his early classic The Virtual Community how the Deadheads brought their affective investment in Dead fandom to the WELL. They bought the technology and spent the time to learn the system’s software "solely in order to trade audiotapes or argue about the meaning of lyrics." Not all the Dead fans circulated outside the WELL's Dead forums, but those who did "ended up having strong influence on the WELL at large." The WELL hosted seven Dead forums, including one for tapes, one for tickets, and one for tours. There were also two private Dead mailing lists. Other public conferences that likely attracted fans had names like the Beatles, Jazz, MIDI, Radio, Songwriters, Zines/Fanzine Scene, Music, Audio-videophilia, and CDs.

As ARPAnet grew into the internet, spreading to universities, government, and research sites throughout the 1980s and 1990s, music fans continued to create groups devoted to "every style of music and to most major (and many not-so-major) artists." Some of these, like the (since renamed) Springsteen mailing list Backstreets Digest became crucial communal sites for debating song meanings, following an artist's location and activities, discussing how to get tickets, sharing concert reviews and set lists, and maintaining a sense of community, especially for the fans who didn't have other fans they could befriend locally. Among the artists with fan-created mailing lists popular in my scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s were Kate Bush, Jazz Butcher, Robyn Hitchcock, Tori Amos, the record label 4AD, the "tweenet announcement" list that came out of that 4AD list, and an ambient music list. There were hundreds, if not thousands of others. The list I followed most closely was murmurs, for fans of R.E.M.

Against the grain of the liberatory rhetoric of equality surrounding the internet at that time, early online fandoms were eager to replicate dynamics of offline fandoms, creating hierarchies, boundaries, and norms for acceptable in-group behaviors. As fan mailing lists, such as Phish.net for Phish fans, grew, fights developed between new and old members. It’s hard to maintain a sense of participatory unity when there are tens of thousands of people posting. Similar dynamics around tolerable and intolerable behaviors played out across this early internet as fan groups, ever more accessible and visible, worked to "monitor the boundaries of a specific form of subcultural performance" on USENET forums such as alt.gothic.culture and alt.gothic.music. The R.E.M. mailing list dealt with this by disbanding and becoming one of the hundreds of music-oriented USENET newsgroups, which anyone could read or post to through a "newsreader" rather than having to subscribe and receive messages in your inbox. Once moved from mailing list to USENET, the quality of conversation on murmurs quickly deteriorated into endless queries as to whether or not Michael Stipe was gay, each launching a long thread chiding the poster for posing a question the group had long ago decided was off-limits. In response, a small group of fans from the original list created a secret invitation-only mailing list.

In 1994 these decentralized, text-based forums were joined by the new hypertextual World Wide Web. At the time, only 14 percent of Americans used the internet. Mostly male, affluent, and well educated, that 14 percent, along with the smaller numbers of internet users outside the United States, included a lot of music fans. They immediately started creating websites. The Goth fandoms about which Whitaker wrote created websites like www.darkwave.org.uk, to lay out rules of etiquette such as whether or not it was appropriate to discuss feelings about Marilyn Manson (no) or what exactly distinguished Darkwave from Nu-Metal (you tell me). One of the most successful of the early fan sites eventually led to the demise of the secret R.E.M. mailing list. Ethan Kaplan, then 16 years old, built Murmurs.com, a site Lucy Bennett has discussed in depth. Just as my own R.E.M. fandom began to wane, Murmurs.com became the central place for R.E.M. fans to congregate. In contrast, the band's website, like almost all official websites of the time, was pathetic. The industry and musicians had taken very little notice of what fans were doing online. While they ignored the internet, fans gained the power to overtake official online efforts. R.E.M.'s label, Warner Bros., hired Kaplan and put him in charge of creating web presences for all their artists.

While audiences were building persistent and interconnected communities that attracted more attention than official sites, musicians and industry representatives viewed the internet primarily as a means of promotion rather than audience connection. In 1994, around when Kelly outed himself on the Marillion fan list and just before Kaplan launched Murmurs.com, the New York Times declared the internet "the biggest promotional tool for the music industry since the invention of the press release," reporting that "nearly every major record label and many independent ones have staked out space online, where they supply fans with information (and dispel rumors) about bands and offer pop musicians for live chat sessions." The comparison to a press release was apt. Just as Marillion found that their story of a fan-funded tour generated news in local papers everyplace they played, with some notable exceptions, mainstream artists and their representatives understood the value of the internet at that time in terms of its ability to generate publicity in more traditional media. "With only a fraction of the world's record buyers plugged into the internet," the New York Times article continued, "what can be more valuable for a band is the publicity that comes with breaking new ground."

Some bands sought big media coups with online firsts. In 1994, both Aerosmith and David Bowie claimed to release the first songs online. But they didn’t. "A service called the Internet Underground Music Archive had already made some 75 songs available only on the internet." More ambitious were the Rolling Stones, who broadcast a performance at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in November 1994 live on the internet, "becoming the first major rock band to do so on that network of millions of computers." The Stones too got scooped. An amateur band who just happened to work at Xerox PARC, one of the premiere computer science labs of its time, knew more about computer networks. The Stones’ "moment in the limelight was tarnished by a little-known band called Severe Tire Damage. Knowing that the channel carrying the Stones was open to anyone, and wanting to take advantage of the worldwide audience the Stones would attract, the group broadcast an impromptu performance from the Xerox PARC offices in Palo Alto, Calif., directly before and after the Stones concert."

Widely lauded digital innovators like Prince released an entire album, Crystal Ball , online with liner notes in the form of web pages in 1997. A year later Bowie launched Bowienet, a website that also offered its subscribers internet service and an email address. People like Prince and Bowie were certainly early innovators. But, for the first time since mass media put them in positions of power, they were following the fans.

One of the most memorable gifts of my midlife was when my husband gave me the first iPod in 2001. About the same size as my childhood transistor radio, and also white, it re-awoke the music fandom that had lain dormant as I built my career and family in a new city without connections to the local music scene. With gigabytes of space to fill, I began ripping every CD I had. Eventually, I got bored listening only to music I already knew. I went hunting for new music to love. When I was younger, I’d been immersed in social worlds where people I saw in daily life would play or tell me about new music and where it was easy to see shows and discover new music that way. Now there was no record store down the street where they knew my taste. There were no Jennies, Lisas, or Helens. If I wanted to see a show, I needed to find a babysitter and stay up way past my bedtime. Fortunately, there was Parasol Records, an independent store and small family of tiny labels based in Urbana, Illinois, owned by Geoff, an old high school friend. Parasol had a web shop where you could stream or download songs they recommended. Sitting in my home in Kansas, I gorged, downloading and buying with a passion that I hadn't had in years.

One of the guys who worked at this record store was into independent music from Scandinavian countries. He'd tapped into a vein of music I'd never known that fit my sensibilities perfectly. For the first time since I'd worked in the record store I started discovering plentiful new bands to love. I devoured music by independent alternative bands from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They rarely had label deals in the United States, although sites like Parasol were helping to distribute them there. They almost never toured North America. My tumble into this fandom was abetted by a widely distributed network of fans of Scandinavian music. As I’ve described elsewhere, these fans, both inside and outside Nordic countries, wrote mp3 blogs highlighting music they liked, posted videos, ran music news sites, created archives, and otherwise made it possible for people thousands of miles away like me to find them. Among the most important of these sites was It’s a Trap!, run by Avi Roig, a fan (and computing professional) in Olympia, Washington. For 10 years Roig posted daily tidbits of news, interviews, and links to mp3s. With some help from random other volunteers (like me), he also published record reviews. A blogger in Chicago ran SwedesPlease, where he posted brief articles about bands or songs with a link to an mp3 so we could hear (and own) it for ourselves. A blogger in Paris ran (still does as of this writing) AbsolutNoise, which, like SwedesPlease, posted daily recommendations of Swedish bands. Hello!Surprise! was a web archive constructed by a fan that cataloged more than four hundred Swedish bands, each with a description and links to any mp3s known to be available.

In 2005, I clicked on a Parasol stream and first heard Madrugada, a Norwegian band with a Portuguese name who sang in English. I fell in love from the first note. I loved them as much as I'd loved R.E.M. In my office, I look up to see a gift from a Norwegian Ph.D. student, a framed photograph her father took of their singer Sivert Høyem, looking suspiciously holy as a spotlight radiates white light from behind his bald head. Madrugada had released five albums in Norway and other parts of Europe by the time I found them, but only their first was available in the United States. They had never toured in America. Challenge accepted.

The internet was generous or, more accurately, the Madrugada fans I found there were. I made daily visits to a website run by Reidar Eik, a Norwegian fan living in Germany. One of the site’s pages was a collaboratively constructed discography of everything they had ever recorded, no matter how obscure. I checked it regularly as I amassed my collection. Another offered a chronology of every show they had ever played, including whether there were any known recordings. There was a forum where fans talked, mostly about their live shows, posted links to interviews, and where they shared links to uploads of concert recordings. In the forum I met a fan in Paris, Cédric, who took pity on an American, cut off from all other Madrugada fans, and sent me, snail mail, a CD-ROM with more than 20 live recordings he had collected. I scoured the torrent sites, eventually finding every song they had recorded in the studio and nearly every live recording fans had circulated.

It had taken me years of making the right connections to get into 1980s tape trading networks, let alone build my collection. I was able to build a huge Madrugada collection in a few short months. No status required. As a fan, I reveled in my newfound ability to use peer-to-peer networks to amass these recordings, even as I mourned the material experience and status implications we old fans had lost to this more egalitarian means of distributing information and recordings. Fans' gift culture was different online. Once posted, the resources shared were available to everyone. The internet had altered the flows of our subcultural capital, bringing "anyone with a few hours up to speed" on things that only a dedicated fan would once have taken the time to learn. It had also taken any powers musicians and the recording industry had to control the circulation of the materials they produce.

Most of the sites that fostered my music fandom in the first decade of the 2000s are already gone, lost to the effort it took unpaid amateurs to continue producing them and the shift away from mp3 sharing to streaming services like Spotify. The growth of social networks, organized around individuals rather than topics, further diffused the intensity of these online fandoms, absorbing them and recasting them as items like any other in a feed alongside status updates, selfies, shared news articles, and quizzes to determine which 1980s rockstar you are. Interaction around music has increasingly shifted to official profiles and social networks, where audiences expect musicians themselves to participate. The Madrugada board is gone. Høyem's Facebook page is buzzing, but not with the participatory culture of sharing information and recordings that fans had built on the fan site. Certainly intense music fandoms persist on social networks and in dedicated fan forums, but like the careers of so many musicians they are precarious, vulnerable to competing work demands and shifting technologies.

The long path of industrialization and commodification that pulled musicians from participatory culture and away from audiences brought those audiences together. Mass-mediated pop culture became raw materials for fans to build their own social worlds. Instead of losing participatory consciousness, fans remade it, appropriating what could have been taken from them to do so. By 2008, more than 5 million bands, even those that had broken up, were "friending" fans on MySpace. They were late to the show. Music fans had been making friends with other fans on the internet longer than many of those musicians had been alive, recreating and amplifying the participatory skills and practices they had honed over more than a century and setting the stage for today's more participatory environment. Musicians, even when they were online, were rarely participants in these fan communities, except sometimes as fans of other bands. Those who went online looking not just to gain publicity but to build meaningful connections with their audiences before the 2002 launch of MySpace were exceptions. When it came time to "connect," participatory audiences had long since set the terms for how online music culture was going to work.

Fans will buy, though not all of them, but among themselves they insist on gift culture, with its ambivalent relationship to commerce, its preference for the free flow of information and intellectual property, and its celebration of fans' "vernacular creativity." Fans relate to and understand one another in part as communities, with all of their internal norms and hierarchy. They expect music and its discussion to be a ubiquitous, always available, a component of their daily lives. Online, fandom became an everyday practice. Fans cultivated "a kind of fluctuating, quotidian rhythm" that was "not so much spectacular but banal." Musicians, once the powerful, elusive rock stars who dropped from the sky every four years and let you listen to their album if you were lucky, land now in a realm where the audience is deep in relations with one another and their own participatory practices of meaning making. For artists, fans' online gift cultures raise dialectic tensions between participatory desires for communication and connection and personal, economic, and artistic desires to control their work and image. As we see in the next chapter, any position a musician assumes toward fans’ participatory practices sends relational messages about the appropriate distances, roles, and boundaries between them.

Reprinted with permission from Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences, and the Intimate Work of Connection by Nancy Baym, published by NYU Press. © 2018 NYU Press. All rights reserved.

Jason Parham

Jennifer M. Wood

Angela Watercutter

Justin Ling

Debating Communities and Networks XII

This is the official conference site for the debating communities and networks 12 conference 2021, the rise to fame: the power of music fandom communities using social network sites to promote musicians..

The abilities of the internet have allowed independent music artists to take the distribution and production of their music into their own hands, but they need the fandom communities to publicise their music. The goal of most musicians is to achieve success, which often involves sales and interest from a record label.  The fandom communities will use a variety of Social Network Sites (SNSs) to communicate and generate buzz in their choice of music or artist. While streaming services may serve to deliver curated music content to a listener, fandom communities focus on SNS to share their passion for the content.

Introduction

The use of Social Network Sites (SNSs) and streaming services has changed how music is produced and distributed, and how fans share their music. Access to SNSs and streaming services has allowed independent and celebrity musicians to have more control over the production and distribution of their music. The convergence of social media platforms and the networking of music fandom communities allows musicians to rapidly spread their music and increase the potential for their song to go viral. At the core of the success to a musician is their fans. A large fan base online can generate interest in an independent artist to be signed by a record label. Despite the hype of musicians being discovered online, most musicians still need to be backed by a record label to generate true celebrity status. Therefore, using the right online services could make or break a musician; using the wrong online services or not diversifying could result in their music being left undiscovered or not reaching the right fandom community. I argue that SNSs are essential for supporting a music fandom community to communicate and publicise their passion resulting in generating sales and record label interest for the music artist; but that streaming services are inconsequential for the music fandom community.

Production and Distribution

One of the hardest achievements for a musician is having their music heard. According to Crupnick (2018) 9 out of 10 people who extensively use social media also partake in music or artist related activity (para. 1). Digital recording technology has provided the independent musician with the means to produce music, and access to social network platforms and services has allowed for the distribution of this music (Arditi, 2014). The ability to produce and distribute music online combined with the networking on social media by music fans opens the potential for musicians to have their music exposed to a wide audience quickly; to receive real-time feedback on the music; by-pass the middleman; engage directly with fans to generate interest to build income; and with little over-head involved (Haynes & Marshall, 2018). This also allows for a potential increase in public exposure compared to the pre-internet days of sending out demo’s that may not be given ‘airtime’, which was how the music industry operated over 10 years ago (Nevue, 2003 as cited in Haynes & Marshall, 2018). It is the sharing within individual communities networked across various SNSs with a reach outside of the traditional music industry that creates a power of awareness for the music that transcends what would be possible by an independent music artist acting on their own. In turn the social media platforms are benefiting from the music artists. The music generates connections and conversations (Crupnick, 2018) on the platforms that keeps users engaged and coming back to the platform.

Fandom Communities and SNSs

The best place for an independent musician to be noticed is through the networking of music fandom communities engaging over converging SNSs. Today, people want to connect on social media with others in their networks by showing what they are interested in. This pervasive awareness allows a person to keep others in their networks updated on their interests and hobbies, providing a shallow contact with these networks (Hampton, 2016). Sharing music is one of the ways to reach out and connect with others and results in expanding the potential audience for the music (Cole, 2019).  People experience music on a personal level, and it becomes a representation of who they are or how they are feeling in that moment and sharing it reflects a side of themselves to their network. SNSs are developed to encourage people to highlight interests such as music when constructing their online identity (Baym, 2007) and allows people to identify common interests. Music fandom communities are then generated from a “collective of people” brought together through a shared interest in a music artist or group (Baym, 2007, para. 6). These collectives “develop a sense of shared identity” (Baym, 2007, para. 7) through connecting on SNSs and through continual contact and shared interests they develop a sense of community that can be just as strong and have more in common than a geographical based community (Baym, 2007). This collective of people consists of different groups contained within different social media platforms that are loosely connected to one another through acquaintances or shared interests. Baym (2007) sees these loose connections as “networked collectivism” (Baym, 2007, para. 60) which builds on from “networked individualism” (Hampton & Wellman, 2018, p. 643). The transition from networked individualism to networked collectivism brings strength to the relationship and with it a sense of community and belonging rather than a network of individuals. Some of these online connections contained within the networked collectivism then develop from online community into real world relationships whereby they engage with each other in person, such as attending concerts together (Baym, 2007).

Generating Awareness and Sales

Despite the increased public exposure social media can provide, it can be difficult to generate online fandom into paying fans in the form of gigs and music sales (Haynes & Marshall, 2018). In these instances, it may be preferential to have an intermediary who is experienced. There are success stories of what seem to be instant celebrity of an independent artist being discovered through a social media platform; Justin Bieber and The Weeknd on YouTube, Shawn Mendes on Vine and Adele on MySpace, but these were not instantaneous successes. Justin Bieber was only signed to a music label once his view count grew, The Weeknd leveraged off Justin Bieber by singing one of his songs to garner notice, Shawn Medes had to wait in a spike of ‘likes’ to have success on iTunes, Adele was signed by a record label after succeeding online (Daystage, 2017). These examples show how important the online fandom community is in generating interest in musicians. According to Baym and Burnett (2009) “fans are gatekeepers, filters, and influencers on a scale they never were before the internet. They are needed by both industry and other fans” (Baym & Burnett, 2009 as cited in Lundkvist, 2017, p.3). Record labels take note of these communities before signing on a musician artist and still play a pivotal role in turning a musician into a celebrity. The competition remains fierce for independent musicians, competing with other independent artists and record labels, therefore the support of a record label can be beneficial to a musician from a marketing perspective (Lundkvist, 2017) but first they must be noticed.

SNSs and Convergence

An artist’s music is introduced through various social media platforms and streaming services before the music garners a following from the fandom communities who publicise the music through their extensive social media networks. The ability of the internet to give fans and musicians a chance to interact and share media across multiple platforms is called convergence culture, coined by Henry Jenkins (Arditi, 2014, p.411). It is through the convergence of these platforms’ musicians can leverage off these “overlapping connections” (Papacharissi, 2011, p. 305) produced by fans and rapidly spread public awareness of their music. Whether it be using Twitter to follow or get updates on music artists, Instagram to view music artists updates and posts or Snapchat to send photos and videos from concerts, “music underpins the conversation on social platforms” (Crupnick, 2018, para. 2). The capacity for communities to network across varying platforms also opens the potential for sharing the music globally to reach diasporic communities (Haynes & Marshall, 2018).  So that a Latin singer could reach popularity at home and abroad without the backing of a record label (Forde, 2017) or that a singer not located within a large regional centre could potentially reach an audience as easily as a musician located in a city centre (Haynes & Marshall, 2018).  

Streaming Services and Artificial Intelligence

By comparison, a streaming service such as Spotify does not encourage the networking or communication that SNSs do. Almost 60 percent of social media users are visiting streaming services to listen to music after they see an update, tweet, or post (Cole, 2019, para. 30; Crupnick, 2018, para. 5). Therefore, they are getting their communication regarding what to listen to from their interaction on SNSs before they engage with a streaming service. Streaming services personalise the user experience by using machine learning and algorithms to identify the user’s preferred music genre and curate playlists (Cole, 2019).  This means that an independent artist can be at the mercy of artificial intelligence (AI) as well as what the listeners are interested in. Remixes and multi-formats are becoming common to satisfy the algorithms for varying playlists to reach the greatest audience, speeding up the networking and exposure of a song between social communities. Coined “playlist carpet-bombing” (Forde, 2017, para. 9) the goal is to be on as many playlists as possible to reach the widest audience. Alternative variations of the music can also be “drip fed” (Forde, 2017, para. 9) over time to keep the song fresh and relevant to playlists (Forde, 2017).  If the music is hitting the right note, then the AI within streaming services can help push little known artists into the public spotlight, generating instant large-scale visibility (Cole, 2019; Forde, 2017). Credit is then generally given to the platform that launches an independent artist’s career. A streaming service such as Spotify “can catapult an act from obscurity to the top of the worldwide charts” (Forde, 2017, para. 2) but this not done without the networking of communities outside of the streaming service generating interest. In fact, “streaming services such as Spotify offer catalogues of over 30 million tracks, while SoundCloud users upload approximately 12 hours of music every minute” (Walker, 2015 as cited in Haynes & Marshall, 2018, p. 1984). Therefore, there is a relationship between a platform and the community that is attracted to the music it displays, and “it’s this combination of music being released in strategic ways on online streaming platforms, combined with how fans consume it which helps to exemplify how much of an impact tech and social are having on music” (Cole, 2019, para. 26).

Streaming Services and Passive Listening

How fans are encouraged to consume music on streaming services, such as using playlists, does little to encourage the engagement of fandom communities.  Streaming services introduce music to a listener which in turn leads to generated interested and the building of fandom. However, streaming services can also fail to encourage inquisitive exploration as playlists feed music to a listener turning them into a “passive listener rather than an intentional one” (Donaldson, 2019, para. 11) resulting in the creation of an echo-chamber for the same type of music, discouraging the exploration outside of the algorithm’s control. Instead, what you hear on a streaming service is due to its popularity. If the song is not popular it gets dropped (Forde, 2017). This leads to lack of exposure to a song even though it is your kind of music because it does not satisfy an algorithm or popularity contest. In addition, streaming services make music less special by the music always being available, reducing it being sought after and anticipated to listen to, reducing fandom, reducing obsession, and reducing revenue (Donaldson, 2019). This dissuasion from exploration and communication on streaming services results in the engagement of fandom communities occurring elsewhere, such as SNSs, where they can connect with each other and possibly with the musician and generate real conversation and interest in the music.

The internet has allowed for the independent music artist to get a jump on populating interest in their music by producing and distributing their music online. However, it is the fans through fandom communities that generate passion and inflame interest in an artist’s music which in turn leads to sales and possible record label interest. Real celebrity status through media publicity and tours still tends to require the backing of a record label and these record labels are paying attention to the interest a music artist gains online before offering that opportunity. Therefore, the fandom community and interest they generate are essential to an independent artist.  Music fans will choose to engage on SNSs that best allow them to communicate. Therefore, while a streaming service like Spotify provides the potential for a musician to have their music listened to, depending on the whims of an algorithm, streaming services do not support or encourage the communication and generation of passion required by a fandom community and are therefore inconsequential to the music fandom community. Instead, it is the underlying structure of a SNS which encourages communication and the sharing of interests that will be an independent artist’s ticket to success through the publicity the fandom community will provide for that artist that will in turn potentially result in revenue and record label interest.     

References:

Arditi, D. (2014). iTunes: Breaking barriers and building walls. Popular Music and Society, 37 (4), 408-424. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2013.810849

Baym, N. K. (2007). The new shape of online community: The example of Swedish independent music fandom. First Monday, 12 (8), no page numbers. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/download/1978/1853

Cole, S. (2019, 9 Sept). The impact of technology and social media on the music industry. https://econsultancy.com/the-impact-of-technology-and-social-media-on-the-music-industry/

Crupnick, R. (2018, 6 Aug). Music scores a gold record on the social media charts. https://www.musicwatchinc.com/blog/music-scores-a-gold-record-on-the-social-media-charts/

Daystage. (2017, 18 Nov). 5 famous musicians who were discovered online [Blog]. https://blog.daystage.com/5-famous-musicians-who-were-discovered-online/

Donaldson, M. (2019, 28 May). Fandom in the age of music streaming. https://medium.com/@qburns/fandom-in-the-age-of-music-streaming-3fa9e38d8f6

Forde, E. (2017, 17 Aug). ‘They could destroy the album’: how Spotify’s playlists have changed music for ever. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/17/they-could-destroy-the-album-how-spotify-playlists-have-changed-music-for-ever

Hampton, K.N. (2016). Persistent and pervasive community: New communication technologies and the future of community. American Behaviorial Scientist, 60 (1), 101-124. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764215601714

Hampton, K.N., & Wellman, B. (2018).  Lost and saved . . . again: The moral panic about the loss of community takes hold of social media [Essay]. Contemporary Sociology, 47 (6), 643-651. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0094306118805415

Haynes, J., & Marshall, L. (2018). Beats and tweets: Social media in the careers of independent musicians. New Media and Society, 20 (5), 1973-1993.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444817711404

Lunkvist, B. (2017). The effect of social media on the numbers of streams of unsigned aArtists’ music [Thesis]. Kth Royal Institute of Technology School of Computer Science and Communication, Sweden.

Papacharissi, Z. (2011). Conclusion: A networked self (Chapter 15). In Z. Papacharissi (ed.)  A networked self: Identity, community and culture on Social Network Sites.  New York: Routledge.

This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

10 thoughts on “ The rise to fame: The power of music fandom communities using Social Network Sites to promote musicians. ”

Hi Carolyn,

I enjoyed reading your paper, you chose a really interesting topic to write on. It was really interesting to learn about the music industry and the importance of fandom communities using Social Networking Sites to promote musicians. I didn’t realise that 60% of social media users will visit streaming services after seeing that song appear online – that’s a lot more traffic coming from SNS than I originally would have thought. I agree with your argument that SNS are essential for supporting a music fandom community in order to publicise their passion and increase sales and interest for the artist. For example, the virality of TikTok has benefitted a number of musicians I follow over the years now. Local artists/bands from around Perth were showing up on my ‘For You’ page regularly and gaining a significant number of likes/shares. Bigger artists like Olivia Rodrigo went viral for her song Drivers License due to the nature of platforms such as TikTok. Do you think TikTok would be best focused on by artists? Or should they also try utilise social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter?

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Congratulations on a very interesting and insightful paper; I really enjoyed reading it. I found your paper through a link in your comments on another, and was surprised I hadn’t come across it before. I think those of us who posted earlier may have been a little lost in the crowd, sadly!

I’m curious if you have any thoughts on the recent controversy around the Tramp Stamps? (see: https://slate.com/culture/2021/04/tramp-stamps-tiktok-controversy-pop-punk-feminist-queer.html ). I’ve been following this story really closely as I find it fascinating how this group seems to have viewed Tik Tok as a kind of free pass to an instant fandom, as long as they hit upon various popular gen z buzzwords and took part in Tik Tok trends. It really blew up in their face because, as so many commentators have pointed out, authenticity is very important to gen z. It’s a great example of how fandom communities are so important to the success of an artist, as you point out.

Hi Carolyn, Excellent paper, and an extremely relevant topic.

Artists now rely on SNS to promote their music and generate fandom and promote interaction. Due to streaming services, the internet and the antiquated act of purchasing a CD, artists do not generate the same revenue as they did in the pre-digital times. Artists have to spend more time engaging with their fans, nourishing their community, providing digital and spreadable content for their fans to edit/share/remix/remediate.

One has to factor in that, in pre-digital times, the purchase of music was reserved for those who had access, meaning that people who could not afford to purchase – meaning a musician only had a select audience – people relied on radio also, and radio relied on those musicians who could afford to be played. Musicians also had potential audiences living in societies that could not access them for censorship reasons, cultural or religious boundaries.

These boundaries are lessened now – a musician’s art is available to anyone who can source a cellular connection. Musicians have the ability to reach audiences they never could before, and potentially, connect on a scale unimagined prior.

I love the Baym and Burnett source you cite that pitches fans as the gatekeepers of the music and art produced by musicians (2009, as cited in Lunkvist, 2017). When musicians connect to their fans on a seemingly personal level through social networking sites, the fans feel they have access to the artist, and in performing their fandom protect the musician and their media.

Musicians have had to set aside the riches of record sales, but through social networking sites and online patronship have solidified fandom and connection that is possibly stronger than that which existed prior.

Again, great paper. I enjoyed it. Tim

Tim, Thanks for your reply. I had previously replied to Maddison what success might look like to a musician. As you point out, digital access has meant that music is much more available to people. This has opened the potential audience for musicians who before needed to be on the radio to be heard, and this was a difficult feat without record label backing and some success before hitting the radio waves. I have noticed a common theme through reading various papers that mention fandom communities in that fandom communities have become the gatekeepers to those they support with their interest. If used wisely, this can benefit the artist in gathering support for their music. Maddison made a great point with how Taylor Swift engages with her fandom community to generate a special connection, resulting in hype and good publicity for her and her music. Again, thanks for your reply, glad you enjoyed the paper.

I really enjoyed reading your paper – the strange relationship between fans, musicians and streaming platforms is a really interesting one to look into!

When I reflect on the research I did for my own paper, I see a lot of analogous situations. For example, BTS having a strong fan community has made for great international fame and significant streaming numbers, but the lack of international support from Western labels and radio stations has meant that they haven’t necessarily reached the same critical success as some Western artists. That demonstrates to me that all three components are vital. With that in mind, I’d love to get your thoughts on what success actually is in this instance? Is it a strong fan community, is it measured by industry backing, or perhaps revenue? Can an artist be ‘successful’ with only one or two of the three components.

The line: According to Baym and Burnett (2009) “fans are gatekeepers, filters, and influencers on a scale they never were before the internet. They are needed by both industry and other fans” (Baym & Burnett, 2009 as cited in Lundkvist, 2017, p.3). really resonated with me. Even though she developed her career in a more traditional context, I think Taylor Swift is a really interesting example of managing a fan community and using them as both gatekeepers and filters, and she does it in a very purposeful way. I’ve linked an article below that references how she has her team examine social media to find engaged, prolific fans who then get invited to ‘secret sessions’ that allows select fans to listen to new songs before their release.

I think it’s incredibly interesting how fan communities are learning to ‘game’ the system – the example of Harry Styles’ fans using VPNS to stream a song in the US in the hopes of making it reach #1, or of BTS fans building strategic playlists to make every stream ‘count’. Success in music has definitely taken on a completely definition.

https://www.cnet.com/news/how-taylor-swift-flipped-online-fandom-on-its-head-for-the-better/ https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/5/15533760/harry-styles-streaming-data-billboard-tumblr-fan-effort

Thanks for your comments. In response to your first question: I guess we’d have to decide on what success looks like to an artist. For most I would think it would require all three with the goal of having a strong fan community who generates revenue through buying songs, attending concerts, and participating in free labour through their promoting of the music and artist; and the industry backing which adds on from this fan promotion to facilitate further industry promotion and branding with the goal of achieving ‘global’ reach. But for some artists this may not be their goal, they may only want true fans to appreciate their music and to stay away from the global hype. This may mean less advertising, backing and revenue but it also gives them flexibility, control of their music and freedom to create and be true to their story rather than what has been governed by a record label. We’ve seen many examples in the media of music artists who have struggled to present their true self after a record label has signed them on such as Taylor Swift, Keisha and Brittney Spears.

Taylor Swift is a great example of learning how to manage corporate expectation and has really taken control over how she is publicised, including how she engages with fans. This is a very smart strategy by managing her fan community through reaching out and engaging with them on a personal level, giving them a sense of being special with the selective sessions and using their free labour through their online engagement to promote her music. As “Taylor always goes the extra mile for her fans” (Collins, 2018) so too do her fans then return the favour with their adoration of her online. Thanks for including the article.

Lastly, you’re absolutely right regarding the strategies that an artist needs to go to to obtain global reach or to avoid being shut down by an algorithm. Maximum exposure has always been key to success and whilst it may have once only been the goal to get on the radio, now with fans using streaming services to obtain their music it’s techniques like tweaking a song through multi-formatting and remixes to fit into a number of different streaming service playlists (Forde, 2017) or using a VPN to circumvent being locked out of listening to music due to living in a different country to where the music was released (Tiffany, 2017). You are right, success in music does look different with today’s digital landscape.

Thanks for reading my paper.

References: Collins, K. (2018). How Taylor Swift flipped online fandom on its head for the better. https://www.cnet.com/news/how-taylor-swift-flipped-online-fandom-on-its-head-for-the-better/

Forde, E. (2017). ‘They could destroy the album’: how Spotifys’ playlists have changed music forever. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/17/they-could-destroy-the-album-how-spotify-playlists-have-changed-music-for-ever

Tiffany, K. (2017). Harry Style fans are trying to beat the Billboard charts with VPNs and mass coordination. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/5/15533760/harry-styles-streaming-data-billboard-tumblr-fan-effort

Really interesting paper about a topic I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about in the past.

I’ve been amazed at the power TikTok has had on a number of smaller musicians I have followed for a number of years. I think it’s shown the ability of TikTok’s virality to change musicians career paths simply from a trend emerging from the platform. I’ve had smaller artists I follow get a billion views to their music written 5 years ago by a TikTok dance going viral. This opened up several more mainstream channels for this artists music to flow and has probably changed their life in some ways. This same artist is one of the many who had not seen much success from Spotify, rather small virtual communities like Reddit and Twitter circulating his music through these channels.

Do you think its more important for smaller artists to have their music on Spotify, or have a strong SNS presence and grow a virtual community while utilising other music sharing plaforms?

Thanks for the read. Cheers,

Declan, Thanks for your comments. I think it is a two-fold issue for musicians. I think that the fandom community obtains access to music through streaming services such as Spotify and that these are important in garnering new fans through their awareness of the music. But as I explain in my paper, there is almost a science to it with the algorithms controlling what is pushed out to listeners depending on their interest in the music which can quickly result in some songs not ‘seeing the light of day’ as they are slow to build in popularity. I know of songs that I heard on the radio the first few times I did not like. However, they grew on me and grew to be songs I am now passionate about. Therefore, I think streaming services such as Spotify can be difficult for a smaller artist to negotiate and reach success. Generally, I think an artist has some notability before reaching success on Spotify. Therefore, I think it is important for an independent artist to diversify. They should try out the streaming services that may garner interest in the music, but realise that the success of generating interest lies in the engagement of the fandom communities through SNS and other music sharing platforms where they can share their passion and raise interest in the music and artist. The fans are an artists’ best publicity tool, particularly when starting, generating that virtual community is key to building recognition and success within the industry.

Hi Carolyn, I found your paper quite interesting as many of the ideas you covered I was familar with but not within the context of the music industry. In particular the quote “fans are gatekeepers, filters, and influencers on a scale they never were before the internet. They are needed by both industry and other fans” (Baym & Burnett, 2009 as cited in Lundkvist, 2017, p.3) caught my attention as I was familar with this in the context of influencers on platforms such as ‘Twitch’, ‘Youtube’, and ‘Instagram’ but had never considered fans having a similar empowerment within the music industry.

With this specific quote and idea in mind I have two questions:

What platform/s are the most utilised by fan communities?

Are there servere negative impacts to this fan ‘gatekeeping’ similar to those seen in influencer culture?

Brodie, Thanks for reading my essay.

While the negative impacts of fandom gatekeeping were not a topic covered in my essay, I would say that with every positive aspect to using social media there would be negative aspects. As I note in my essay record labels take note of the fans interest in an artist before signing them and what fans like and listen to is monitored by algorithms which could potentially make or break an independent artist with the amount of exposure they receive as a result. As a fandom community consists of individuals who have invested themselves into the music and artist, I am sure it could get quite heated with conflicts of opinion or proprietary feelings toward the music or artist. For these music fans the music is embedded much more into their life than the average recreational listener, they go to concerts, they discuss their opinions with others and maybe even with the artist and get to know the music, the lyrics, and the history. Duffet (2013) identifies fans as a commodity rather than just consumers as “some fans are networkers, collectors, tourists, archivists, curators, producers, and more” (Duffet 2013, p. 21) and provide unpaid labour to promoting the artist and their music.

Regarding what platforms are used by music fan communities, if it is a platform that supports participation through engagement, you will likely find a music fandom community on it. Twitter and Facebook are big. I have a friend who engages frequently to a Queen Facebook group and now travels with some of these people to view cover concerts and engage in other supportive activities. I just read an essay on a Korean pop group who has a very strong global fan community on Twitter ( https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/26/joining-the-army-community-friendship-and-intimacy-on-k-pop-twitter/ ). A musician can even build their own platform to build and engage with their fans ( https://www.fancircles.com/ ). The primary aspect to the platform is that it needs to enable fans to at least communicate with each other, if not also the musician and to be to share the music.

Reference: Duffett, M. (2013). Understanding fandom: An introduction to the study of media fan culture. Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Music Role in Personal and Social Identities Essay

Introduction, the concept of identity and identity formation, music as a symbol of personal and social identity formation, the nature of the identity construction process associated with music, the nature of personal and social identity formed through music, consequences of personal and social identities formed through music.

Among other cultural elements, music has long provided an important vehicle through which individuals reimagine their identities and how they interact with other people or groups in the world around them. Music is an important aspect of any community as it provides people with an opportunity to enact some dramatic versions of alternative social and personal identities. More important, music also provides individuals in a society with the materials needed to perform these alternatives in their world using songs as well as characters and attitudes projected by these songs.

Therefore, the formation of identity, whether personal or social, is driven by music, among other social elements. However, the question of how music contributes to personal and social identities is important in examining the impact of musical culture in any society (Eyerman & Jamison, 1995). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to answer the question ‘How does music contribute to personal and social identities?’ In answering this question, the paper will develop a comprehensive analysis of a number of issues such as the types of identities involved, their nature, the construction process, the consequences of these identities and the relationship between music consumption and identity.

Currently, the concept of identity is perceived as a dynamic process, which means that it is no longer seen as a static phenomenon. Leming (1987) argues that identity is a construction. According to this concept, personal identity is not an outside representation, but rather, it is constructed from within. Identity arises from the process of “self-narrativization” and partly lives in the imagination. It involves creating an image of “the self” as well as modifying the self that is assuming the created image. The question of identity is not the affirmation of the identity that is pre-given.

The concept of personal identity

A number of scholars have attempted to describe how identity is formed or created. Several scholars have shown that there is an important concept of “other” in the process of creation of an identity. The presence of an “other” is needed for an individual to construct “self”. Identity is constructed through personal relation to the “other”. It is the relation to “what it lacks” and to “what is not” or what is called the “constitutive outside”. Therefore, the process of constructing an identity requires an outreach towards an external factor or object. For an identity to exist, an individual must develop some significant relationship with another person, object or factor.

The concept of social or collective identity

Contrary to the observation that identity is constructed through a personal line, it is worth noting that identification exists at the collective site, where a group of individuals seeks similarities between oneself and the “other selves” (Leming, 1987). Thus, the sense of “we” is involved. It emphasizes a set of similarities between individuals in a group. Like personal identity, social identity is construction as well as a social artifact..

Scholars have shown that symbolic interaction has a significant role in the process of formation of identities. Within the society or group, members tend to attach some meaning to some behaviours and people (symbols). These meanings are then transferred, shared and distributed through social interactions. Music is an example of the objects that act as symbols in the formation of identities. Popular music is the best example of music that has been involved in the creation of identities in the modern context. Leming (1987) asserts that music is a symbol that offers a sense of “self” as well as “others” of both subjective and collective nature. Moreover, it has been shown that music is a form of experience that elicits some emotions in groups and individuals. In addition, the music draws individuals into emotional alliances with the individuals who play and perform music as well as their fans.

Thus, cultural activities like music contribute to the formation of groups associated or associate themselves with the music itself or its performers and fans. In this way, both social and personal identities are formed through music. It allows individuals in a given society to know or consider themselves as part of a given group and different from other groups that align themselves to other music or form of music. It has been shown that music plays an important role in any society by providing an opportunity through which people make sense of themselves and the world around them.

Since the 1950s, various musicals and associated cultures and subcultures have emerged while others decline. For instance, the formation of Teddy Boys, The Mods and The Rockers in the 1960s was a major aspect of the western culture, especially among the young people. It is evident that the type of music they listened to, played, or like Leming (1987) inspired these groups, which started in Britain and quickly spread to other western countries. For instance, the Mod subculture preferred and associated themselves with rhythm and blues, beat and soul music. The Rockers were aligned to Rock and Roll music. For example, the Rockers’ identity was created through rock and roll music and symbolized by a number of behaviours like wearing protective clothing such as black jackets made of strong leather and boots or creeper shoes (Ramirez, 2012).

This identity was mainly achieved through inspiration from the performers of rock and roll music as well as their fans. Individuals who became part of the group were inspired through listening, participating or watching performers of rock and roll music. Since the performers of rock and roll were known for wearing protective clothing and riding motorcycles since the 1950s, their fans assumed this culture. Each individual wanted to be associated with the performers (Tanner, Asbridge & Wortley, 2008). Thus, for one, achieve this identity, it was necessary to behave in the same manner, especially by through the style of clothing.

First, personal identity was created when an individual listened, watched or participated in the roll and rock music. It was necessary to be associated with the music and its performers. To achieve this, individuals felt the need to behave in a similar manner. To ensure that other people are aware, an individual would behave in the same way as the performers. Thus, personal identity as a Rocker would be formed. Secondly, as individuals create personal identities, social or collective identities emerged. For instance, rockers found that individuals of their kind behaved in a certain way, especially by emulating the performers of rock and roll. Within their neighbourhoods, the individuals who assumed the subculture often felt fitting when in the company of individuals with the same behaviour. To separate themselves from other individuals or groups in society, the rockers formed groups comprised of individuals with the same behaviour and perceptions.

In the modern world, music is a highly dynamic element in most cultures. Although music was rigid in terms of style, performance, wording, meaning and purpose in most traditional societies, the nature of modern music has changed significantly. The modern music has to change themes, styles and other aspects (Denisoff & Levine, 1970). Similarly, the identities created through music are dynamic in nature. Individuals who assume these personal and social identities tend to change behaviours with time. In particular, the change of music itself affects the stability of these identities. Since music tends to change in themes, meanings, purposes, tunes and rhythms, the associated culture and identities also tend to change with the changing music. Identities created by a music culture or subculture tend to change or decline within a few years as shown by historical evidence.

For instance, the formation of the Mod culture, which was based on Jazz Music in the 1950s and early 1960s, is an important example of the first dynamic cultures that adopted various behaviours within a short time. The Mod culture was highly dynamic due to commercialization of the behaviour and style. According to this assertion, the Mod culture started with a few groups of individuals associated with Jazz Music. Jazz Music was highly dynamic and modernized. Individual performers attempted to create additional aspects into the style, theme, tunes and other features in order to attract more fans and outdo their competitors.

In fact, Jazz was highly commercialized and stylized to the point of changing in various aspects within a short period. Similarly, the associated personal and collective identities changed with time, especially among young people. As fans watched or listened to the changing music style, they felt the need to update their behaviour and perceptions towards music and associated aspects. Thus, the musical culture and the associated personal and collective identities kept changing with time.

Noteworthy, there was heavy commercialization, artificialization and stylization to the point that the style, especially clothing, was created by corporations that eyed the economic opportunities brought by the Mod subculture. Individuals felt that their identities were being interfered with, especially when a large number of people clothed in a similar or closely similar manner. Thus, several individuals felt the need to change some or overall behaviour, which saw the emergence of new or related subcultures.

Secondly, the dynamic drift from one musical form to another plays a significant role in the dynamic nature of the identities associated with music. For instance, modern society changes in musical preferences within a short time, often due to the emergence of styles and forms that are perceived as more modernized or personalized than the previous one. For example, the emergence of psychedelic rock and the hippie music forms and styles in the 1960s and 1970s greatly affected the personal and collective identities associated with the Mod and Rock and Roll culture in the early 1960s (Allooh, Rummell & Levant, 2013). Most individual identities shifted from Mod to the new subcultures. For instance, performers such as The Small Faces and The Who changed their music styles from mod to the more modernized hippie style. In this way, their public identities changed as they were no longer considered mods. Similarly, their fans and listeners in the public arena changed their identities. Individuals felt that the Mod culture was no longer special or important, which forced them to change their clothing and other behaviour styles.

A number of consequences are associated with the assumption of identities associated with music. Some of the best examples have been observed in Britain and North America. Noteworthy, at any one time, more than one form of identity exists in a given society. While some are formed through music, others are formed through other aspects of the society, including religion, sports and other activities. In most cases, assuming an individual or collective identity has some impact on a person or group. One of the major consequences is the achievement of a sense of belonging. For instance, individuals who assume identities as Hippies by behaving in the Hippie manner often felt that they belonged to the group (Leming, 1987). According to some studies, this sense of belonging provides individuals with some pleasure by feeling that other people note and recognize the assumed identity (Eyerman & Jamison, 1995).

Secondly, a major consequent is a conflict of ideas, perceptions and behaviour with other members of the society or other subcultures created by music or other aspects of the society. For instance, individuals who assumed the Mod or rock and roll culture were often in conflict with each other, the law and the media (Carsch, 1968). For example, the physical conflicts between the groups associated with the Mod and Rock and Rolls in 1964, which took place mostly in Margate, Brighton and Broadstairs, provide evidence of the degree of conflict of ideas and styles between individual and groups assuming collective identities (Mullaney, 2012).

Thirdly, devitalization of youth music is a major consequence of the identities to the individuals and their society. For instance, after the Mods and Rocks were involved in physical and ideological conflicts in Europe and America, the media exaggerated their coverage, often depicting the individuals as violent, lawbreaking and deviant. The media often reported various incidents of youth deviance in Britain and North America, especially the use of amphetamines and knife violence, accusing the members of these groups of involvement in these activities.

Allooh, N. N. , Rummell, C. M. , & Levant, R. F. (2013). ‘Emo’ culture and gender norms in late adolescents and young adults. THYMOS: Journal of Boyhood Studies, 7 (1), 21-42. Web.

Carsch, H. (1968). The Protestant ethic and the popular idol in America. Social Compass, 15 (1), 45-69. Web.

Denisoff, R. J. , & Levine, M. H. (1970). Generations and counterculture: A study in the ideology of music. Youth & Society, 2 , 33-58. Web.

Eyerman, R., & Jamison, A. (1995). Social movements and cultural transformation: Popular music in the 1960s. Media, culture & society, 17 (3), 449-468. Web.

Leming, J. S. (1987). Rock Music and the socialization of moral values in early adolescent. Youth & Society, 18, 363-383. Web.

Mullaney, J. L. (2012). All in time: Age and the temporality of authenticity in the Straight-Edge music scence. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 41 (6), 611-635. Web.

Ramirez, M. (2012). Performing gender by performing music: Constructions of masculinity in a college music scene. Journal of Men’s Studies, 20 (2), 108-124. Web.

Tanner, J. , Asbridge, M. , & Wortley, S. (2008). Our favourite melodies: Musical consumption and teenage lifestyles. British Journal of Sociology, 59 (1), 117-144. Web.

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‘BTS taught me that I am worthy’: readers on why they love the K-pop superstars

Guardian readers from Scandinavia, the Philippines, Morocco and beyond explain their fandom, which has helped rejuvenate them, heal racial trauma and understand their identity

K -pop boy band BTS swept the American Music Awards last month, making history as the first Asian act to win artist of the year; they were also nominated for a Grammy for best pop duo/group performance for their single Butter.

The seven-member band has a huge global following and their fans, known as Army, are known for their passion and loyalty. Here Guardian readers, who are BTS fans, speak about why the band means so much to them.

‘After reading their lyrics, a weight seemed to lift’

I was struggling with adjusting to life with a toddler and a newborn; exhausted and feeling insecure. Finding BTS gave me energy on sleepless nights, comfort during isolation, and confidence when I felt like I wasn’t good enough. During a cycle of depression and anxiety, I felt like I was wasting my life. One day, while I was using a free moment of nap time to scrub the kitchen, I started to panic. Paradise began playing from a BTS playlist and the melody and tone of the song touched me instantly. I stopped in my tracks to find the lyrics, and the words to that song were exactly what I needed to hear that day. “It’s alright to stop / There’s no need to run without even knowing the reason / It’s alright to not have a dream / If you have moments where you feel happiness for a while.” After reading those lyrics, a weight seemed to lift from my heart.

I didn’t need to exhaust myself trying to prove my worth. I didn’t need to find a corporate ladder to climb or build a brand in order to feel happy. All I really wanted was a simple, comfortable life so my kids have a solid foundation. BTS taught me that I am enough; that I am worthy just by being myself.

I think what sets BTS apart from other artists is their friendship. They are the definition of friendship goals. Their love and respect for each other is at the core of everything they do and it shows fans what genuine love and friendship looks like. During this pandemic, I’ve found comfort in watching the members comfort each other. Ashley Briggs, 36, full-time parent and podcast producer/writer, Tucson, Arizona, US

‘BTS inspire me to love myself without feeling ashamed’

What sets BTS apart from other bands is their pride in being Korean. As an Asian, I find this inspiring. I was born in Sweden to two Vietnamese immigrants so the insecurities over my heritage have always been lingering in the back of my head. I adapted a western name because I didn’t want to be the odd one out. But BTS have normalised hard to pronounce names.

They proudly speak Korean during important award speeches (like their UN speech), wear hanbok (traditional Korean dress) and promote Korean culture. BTS represents those of us who had awkward lunch boxes at school, those of us who didn’t want to speak our parents language in public.

BTS made me realise that my failures do not define who I am. I’ve never been vocal about my emotions so for me to have seven people who sing exactly what I feel truly helps me understand myself and find new ways to evolve. BTS inspires me to love myself without feeling ashamed. Stephanie Le, 28, paralegal, Stockholm, Sweden

‘BTS helped with my perception of myself as an invisible older woman’

When I was at my lowest last year, staring at my own mortality after a heart attack, they came to the rescue. The message of loving yourself that pervades most of their music was what I needed to hear. To believe that despite my small, nothing-special accomplishments in life, I was still a worthy person – that was a revelation to me. They helped with my perception of myself as an invisible older woman. It seems minor, but my style has changed. I’m more confident in choosing a youthful style instead of safe, neutral clothes, and wearing makeup more often. They make me feel young.

Their humility and respect for all people, the politeness they always show was a lesson as well. It’s too easy at my age to think you’ve seen it all and have all the answers but nothing could be more wrong. I’m more open and accepting than I used to be but still have a long way to go.

Critical care nurses often say that dying patients rarely talk about the money or possessions they had but wish they had given more of their time to experiences, like falling in love, the birth of a child, travelling, escapades with their friends, etc. I know the BTS concert on 1 December will be one of the top experiences I’ll be reviewing on my deathbed. Sharman, 68, retired, Canada

‘I had the impression that all K-pop sounded the same – I was gladly proven wrong’

There’s a saying within Army that “you find BTS when you need them most”. Although I started hearing about them in 2016, I had never played their music because I had this impression that all K-pop music sounded the same: noisy EDM sounds, unstructured rap etc. I was gladly proven wrong when the Love Yourself album was released. At that time in my life, I had many new thoughts, emotions, and feelings that scared me because I couldn’t define them. I was unable to share my thoughts or feelings with anyone because I was unable to describe them or to find the words. BTS did that for me. Anonymous, 25, Agadir, Morocco

‘People often think I’m a metal head but I love K-pop so much’

I’m particularly fond of rap music and once my wife introduced me to BTS and I heard Cypher 4, I was won over. Their rapping and storytelling is next level. I’m a big dude with a beard and tattoos and people often think I’m a metal head. Whilst that is true, I love K-pop so much. The shows are a whole vibe, the music, the dancing, the theatrics and the fan engagement. It has everything that I feel Western music and artists lack. I think the reason BTS stands out to me so much is because of their genre-bending music. So much goes into their instrumentals that it’s easy for anyone to find something they like. Lyrically, their messages of self-love are very powerful and genuine. You can tell they’re not just singing them for the sake of it, you know? Rob, 27, works in insurance, Liverpool, Australia

‘We all love an underdog story that ends well’

I became a fan when I heard their song Dynamite on a Spotify 2010s playlist in June this year. I was demotivated with work and felt isolated during the pandemic. Dynamite sounded like pure happiness encapsulated in a song. I was searching for non-English songs or other new upbeat songs to add to my work from home playlist. It was my first time hearing BTS or K-pop; I was surprised that Dynamite was in English and sounded like a Bruno Mars song. I ended up going on a five-hour BTS deep dive right after that.

I love that they are Korean and fellow Asians; it’s relevant that they’re not from the West. Not only are they super talented and professional, they obviously love what they do, love being around each other, and they’re loyal to their fans.

Despite their global success, they continue to be as hardworking, genuine, grounded, humble, and hilarious as when they started. They’ve been closely involved in the songwriting and production of their records from the start, and explore compelling themes in their songs. Also, we all love an underdog story that ends well, and BTS is one such story. Bernice Roldan, 42, gender consultant for a multilateral development bank, Manila, Philippines

‘I became a fan to heal my relationship with my cultural identity’

When the Atlanta shootings made headlines earlier this year, I realised that as an adult, I still had a lot of unresolved racial trauma. As a Korean-American who grew up in a predominantly white suburb of Chicago, I was always embarrassed about being different. I became a fan of BTS with the intention of acknowledging the shame I used to carry and to heal my broken relationship with my cultural identity. I love their music, performances, and personalities, but BTS’ breakthrough into mainstream media means so much more to me – it helps me believe that voices like mine matter and deserve to be heard. Ashley Cho, 30, school counselor, Seattle, Washington, US

‘BTS gave me the opportunity to say my final goodbye to my friend’

I had a childhood friend who passed away when I was in middle school, and I could never come to terms with the situation. I had my emotions bottled up. After hearing BTS’s Spring Day, I broke down and cried hard for a long time and realised that I missed them more than I imagined. The lyrics, “bogo sipda” (I miss you) being repeated over and over again drew out these emotions that I kept hidden for a long time. So, I’m grateful BTS gave me the opportunity to say my final goodbye. Theresa Frimpong, 21, medical student, Ghana

‘BTS probably have the most diverse fan base in the world’

The first time I came across BTS was in 2018, when they were on the Graham Norton Show. The turning point for me was when I heard them talk for the first time in the United Nations in 2018. The Love Yourself, Speak Yourself campaign really resonated with me, as did their Map of the Soul era that delved deeper to our personas. Their music and messaging gave me hope to fight my own inner demons and love myself.

I’m a 31-year-old straight male who’s engaged. To some people, I’m not your typical fan of BTS. Everyone expects that boy bands only have screaming teenage girls as their fans but that is simply not true. I just wish that everyone understood that BTS actually has probably the most diverse fan base in the world. Eero Aleinikov, 31, Finland

‘I have made countless friends being part of the Army community’

As a young Asian American, I was lucky growing up in an inclusive suburb, where although known to be predominantly Caucasian, all blends of cultures and ethnicities were embodied in the school populations. That said, the “K-wave” had not reached the depths of Naperville yet, and I remember K-pop lovers being perceived as outcasts all over the States.

As the pandemic hit and schools went on a break, I took a considerable amount of time, reflecting on my stressors, and learning how to value and love myself. This is when I became a BTS fan. I realised how the Army community carries a similar message as the members they stan. The countless friends I made and folks that reached out to send content, fangirl with, and later support my news account were so heartwarming, especially at a time where I needed the laughs and comfort. Zee S, 19, pre-med student, Naperville Illinois, US

‘What makes BTS stand out is their willingness to be vulnerable’

BTS gave my daughter and I a commonality that made it easier to navigate through that mother-teen daughter relationship. Now she is the founding member of our high school’s K-pop club and I’m the advisor. We’ve created a safe space that is so diverse but eclectic. There is a dance committee, a committee that focuses on the arts, and even one for conversations about cultural appropriation.

Their music was so powerful and uplifting and real. These seven young men are speaking to the world in a universal language that came right on time. How could I not appreciate that? What makes BTS stand out is their willingness to be vulnerable. Yes, they work hard but they also aren’t afraid to mess up and own up to it. They let the world know when they need a break from it all and come back stronger. You can always find a BTS song that explains how you feel even when you can’t figure it out. NaShonda, 46, educator, Raleigh, North Carolina, US

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Essay on Music for Students and Children

500+ words essay on music.

Music is a vital part of different moments of human life. It spreads happiness and joy in a person’s life. Music is the soul of life and gives immense peace to us. In the words of William Shakespeare, “If music is the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.” Thus, Music helps us in connecting with our souls or real self.

What is Music?

Music is a pleasant sound which is a combination of melodies and harmony and which soothes you. Music may also refer to the art of composing such pleasant sounds with the help of the various musical instruments. A person who knows music is a Musician.

The music consists of Sargam, Ragas, Taals, etc. Music is not only what is composed of men but also which exists in nature. Have you ever heard the sound of a waterfall or a flowing river ? Could you hear music there? Thus, everything in harmony has music. Here, I would like to quote a line by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest musicians, “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”

Importance of Music:

Music has great qualities of healing a person emotionally and mentally. Music is a form of meditation. While composing or listening music ones tends to forget all his worries, sorrows and pains. But, in order to appreciate good music, we need to cultivate our musical taste. It can be cited that in the Dwapar Yug, the Gopis would get mesmerized with the music that flowed from Lord Krishna’s flute. They would surrender themselves to Him. Also, the research has proved that the plants which hear the Music grow at a faster rate in comparison to the others.

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Magical Powers of Music:

It has the power to cure diseases such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. The power of Music can be testified by the legends about Tansen of his bringing the rains by singing Raag Megh Malhar and lighting lamps by Raga Deepak. It also helps in improving the concentration and is thus of great help to the students.

Conclusion:

Music is the essence of life. Everything that has rhythm has music. Our breathing also has a rhythm. Thus, we can say that there is music in every human being or a living creature. Music has the ability to convey all sorts of emotions to people. Music is also a very powerful means to connect with God. We can conclude that Music is the purest form of worship of God and to connect with our soul.

FAQs on Essay on Music:

Q.1. Why is Music known as the Universal Language?

Ans.1. Music is known as the Universal language because it knows no boundaries. It flows freely beyond the barriers of language, religion, country, etc. Anybody can enjoy music irrespective of his age.

Q.2. What are the various styles of Music in India?

Ans.2. India is a country of diversities. Thus, it has numerous styles of music. Some of them are Classical, Pop, Ghazals, Bhajans, Carnatic, Folk, Khyal, Thumri, Qawwali, Bhangra, Drupad, Dadra, Dhamar, Bandish, Baithak Gana, Sufi, Indo Jazz, Odissi, Tarana, Sugama Sangeet, Bhavageet, etc.

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Beyoncé Is Boldly Defying Country’s Stereotypes

E very Black woman has been called a Jezebel. The term, which originates from the Bible, is one of the oldest examples of misogyny in the world. Instead of being heralded for her reign as Queen, the Phoenician princess (after whom the term was named) was slut-shamed and subjected to whorephobia. To this day, her name conjures up images of promiscuity. 

For those raised in the church, young women and girls are encouraged to not have a “jezebel spirit” because a church girl can never be a whore. But for many Black women and girls, there is not an option to cast out or distance oneself from the Jezebel spirit, because according to America, we’ve been whores since 1619 . Although the hypersexualization of Black women did not come from the Bible, the ideal of a modern, chaste woman did. When the Bible found itself stateside, those ideals and beliefs began to disseminate throughout the 13 original colonies; any woman who was not white and shapely was a Jezebel . A woman meant to be feared. A woman meant to be isolated. A woman not meant to be seen. Because if this woman was seen, perceived, and respected, it would certainly be a sign of hell on Earth.

Black women have been raising hell on Earth, particularly in the South, for generations. Rissi Palmer, Holly G of Black Opry, and Kamara Thomas of Country Soul Songbook have been leading the charge through their activism to create better conditions for Black women not just in the South, but in country music. And with the release of Cowboy Carter , the second album in the Renaissance trilogy, Beyoncé has become the latest artist to challenge these norms.

Read More: Beyoncé Has Always Been Country

When Beyoncé arrived at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, a visible change had occurred. Although the general public did not know at the time that she was officially making her foray back into country, she was leading the charge with her fashion. No longer was she adorned in the glistening silver chrome looks of Renaissance , Beyoncé, in her white shirt, Stetson hat, and oversized Black leather jacket and skirt, had become an outlaw. And country music loves an outlaw . 

The problem is that country music only loves an outlaw when they are white. The outlaw movement , which started as a staunch rebuke against the red tape of Nashville, allowed white men in country music, such as Willie Nelson, to be seen as rebellious—but in a way that was not anti-Nashville. From Johnny Cash to George Jones to Merle Haggard , these hell raisers have not only been warmly embraced in country music but championed. And the way these artists would often display this defiant spirit was through their dress.

Historian and scholar Dr. Francesca Royster writes about country’s outlaw movement in Black Country Music : Listening for Revolutions : “As the Man in Black, Johnny Cash could stand up for injustices against incarcerated folks and other outsiders, his Black shirt, hat, and jeans trademarks for his heroically critical stance.” Royster continues, “Blackness’s association in mainstream white culture with danger, illegality, and outsiderhood was put to use in Cash’s career to lend an element of authenticity. These moments reveal how, for these white male outlaws, proximity to Blackness—particularly metaphorical Blackness—is the ultimate expression of outsiderhood.``

Yet it is Beyoncé’s Blackness that country took issue with in the first place. The most telling part of her Grammy outfit was not her choice to wear Pharrell Willliams’ Western-inspired menswear collection for Louis Vuttion, but the red manicure that accompanied it. The manicure, featured on the singer’s Instagram post from the night, was most noticeable when she gave her red nails a bite. Fashion and costume historian Shelby Ivey Christie equates Beyoncé’s red nails to setting off a flare, making everyone in Nashville aware about her re-entry into country music. 

“There’s a Shakespearean saying about biting your thumb at someone, and that's to make fun of them,’” says Christie. “I feel that imagery is kind of that. She's biting her thumb at you. She's teasing you.”

It’s a tease that continued when Beyonce appeared at Super Bowl LVIII with Dolly Parton-esque hair and a Texas bombshell-inspired outfit . Compared to the Grammys, where the singer donned a straightforward western look, this felt more sultry, more seductive—almost as if the singer was invoking the spirit of the Jezebel.

The Jezebel has been known by many names, one of them being Jolene. In the country music lexicon, Jolene was immortalized by Parton as a beautiful red-headed woman with emerald green eyes and ivory skin who has the ability to take Parton’s man away from her. Similar to how the Jezebel Root has been historically used in Hoodoo practices to attract men of wealth and high status, Jolene became known as the woman to avoid unless you want the destruction of your household. 

“Women in country can be seen as more bombshell glam,” says Christie. “I think [the Super Bowl] was kind of [Beyonce’s] moment to give us that and to show us that the country genre wasn’t something that was on her. It’s in her.” But compared to her first foray into country music where Beyoncé wore what culture journalist Victoria M. Massie noted was a “ voluminous Antebellum-style dress cut from African wax print ” in the visuals for “Daddy Lessons,” her second attempt into country is being done the Renaissance way. 

The visuals for Cowboy Carter tell a story between the two, seamless acts. In act i, Beyoncé slyly introduced the country outlaw aesthetic by donning herself in a black fringed leather jacket for the album’s teaser trailer . At this year’s Gold Party , Beyoncé and Jay Z’s annual Oscars party, she fronted a more masculine aesthetic in a black Givenchy structured blazer and flared trousers. Both outfits were accompanied by a black cowboy hat—a playful homage to her Texas roots, which then took center stage in her album cover for Cowboy Carter . In a red, white, and blue latex outfit, a nod to her American and Texas roots, the singer’s posture feels reminiscent of painter Kehinde Wiley’s majestic compositions. (Wiley’s approach to painting, similarly to Beyoncé’s approach to country, is to bridge the gap between the past and present through the creative arts.) From her usage of Americana aesthetics to her platinum blonde locks, Beyoncé is giving the public an insight into her “ un-American life .”

The one thing that stands out most in Beyoncé's country era is her bleach blonde hair. Taking note from Parton, to be a blonde in Southern culture, in particular, has always been regarded as tacky and not tasteful. But as Parton famously said: “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” and with her new locks, Beyoncé is turning that stereotype on its head, too.

In the South, the societal norms that police women’s bodies, especially Black women’s bodies, stem from Christianity . And in country music, women are expected to present themselves in a particular way that adheres to those rules, despite not receiving adequate resources from their record labels. Even more-so, the sexual violence inflicted onto  Black women’s bodies because they are curvier or more voluptuous are thought to be justified. As a result of these societal, cultural, and political forces, Black women are socialized to keep their distance from anything that could perceive them as Jezebel-like. 

“Instead of men controlling themselves, respecting women's bodies, and having boundaries, it is the woman's responsibility to do that, by covering herself, by contorting herself into whatever boundary or rules are created to make them more palatable around men and to make them more palatable to the women peers around them,” says Christie. “That extends to color.”

There is a reason why Beyoncé decided to use the color red for “ Can’t B Broken ,” her Super Bowl commercial with Verizon. She wanted to be seen. She wanted to be heard. She wanted to tell Nashville that she is doing country her way, all the while honoring the legion of Black women in country music who came before her. 

In the official visualizer for “ Texas Hold ‘Em ,” Beyoncé in a mixture of black and silver walks onto the screen in a beehive, side ponytail and bang, a clear homage to Linda Martell , the first Black female country star. The style, which was immortalized in the May 1970 issue of Ebony, shows Martell on a press tour at WSM Radio alongside fellow country music legend Jeannie C. Riley on the heels of Martell’s  first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. With this performance, Martell made history as the first Black female artist to perform on the highly esteemed music show.

But despite Martell’s legendary career, she experienced intense mistreatment and harassment by the country music industry. While at Plantation Records, the record label that she was signed to, Martell expressed discomfort with the label’s name because of its racist history. In addition to racial discomfort, she fell victim to a predatory contract. When she left Plantation Records, Shelby Singleton, the label founder, blacklisted Martell from any opportunities in the country music industry.

Read More: How Beyoncé Fits Into the Storied Legacy of Black Country

When Beyonce sweeps up her hair into an illustrious beehive and side swept bangs, it is a homage to Martell. Without saying a word, she is honoring the pioneering efforts of Martell and the Black women country artists of that time, while also sounding an alarm to the country music genre:that she expects to be treated with respect. For the entire world has their eyes on Beyoncé as she enters the country music industry for the second time. But it is not Beyoncé who should be in fear—it is Nashville. 

In a celebratory dinner with her husband Jay Z to commemorate Valentine’s Day, Beyonce appeared in mourning dress . Her Black Southern Gothic look drew inspiration from the post-Civil war period where widows wore a mourning veil for an alloted period of time. The question is: whose death is she calling into existence? The death of the country genre? The death of the barriers that restrict Black women from achieving success in country? Or has she become death itself? An omen of what’s to come.  

If Jezebel has to be one to kill the country genre, so be it. It is time for the church girl and the Jezebel to be seen as one in the same. It is time for the structures that govern and police Black women’s bodies to die. And it’s time we bury the old ways country music has been governed by into the ground.

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So what exactly makes taylor swift so great.

Taylor Swift performs during the “Eras” tour.

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Christina Pazzanese

Harvard Staff Writer

Experts weigh in on her fanbase loyalty, skills as songwriter, businesswoman as her albums, tours break financial, popularity records

Whether you’re a fan of Taylor Swift or not, it’s hard to deny the cultural and financial juggernaut the pop superstar has become this year. Her album “Midnights,” released in late 2022, was the year’s top-seller at 1.8 million copies, twice that of the second-biggest by Harry Styles. Her latest, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” debuted in July at No. 1, giving Swift her 12th in the top spot, surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums by a woman artist.

Swift’s 131-date “Eras” world tour, currently packing stadiums across the U.S., is on track to be the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, at $1.4 billion, when it ends next year. Analysts estimate the tour will also have a total economic impact from tour-related spending of $5 billion on host cities. Even the Federal Reserve noted the effect her tour is having on regional economies.

To better understand the Swift phenomenon, the Gazette asked some Harvard and Berklee College of Music faculty to assess her artistry, fan base, the tour’s economic impact, and her place in the industry. Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

‘Very few people have her songwriting talent’ Stephanie Burt, poet and Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English

Gazette: How good is Swift as a songwriter?

Burt: She has a terrific ear in terms of how words fit together. She has a sense both of writing songs that convey a feeling that can make you imagine this is the songwriter’s own feelings, like in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and a way of telling stories and creating characters. She can write songs that take place at one moment, and she can write songs where the successive verses give you a series of events, like in “Betty” or “Fifteen.”

She has a lot of different gifts as a songwriter, both at the macro level, how the song tells a story or presents an attitude, and at the micro level, how the vowels and consonants fit together, and she’s able to exercise that range, along with quite a lot of melodic gifts, and in a way that does not make her seem highbrow or alienate potential audience members. I would not be surprised to discover that her body of songwriting altogether had a larger number of words than any body of comparable hit songs by a comparable songwriter, except for someone like Bob Dylan.

One of the things that’s really remarkable for me about her is that harmonically, she’s not usually that interesting. It’s pretty normal pop chord progressions and pretty standard varieties of pop arrangement. Her great genius and her innovations and her brilliance as a songwriter is melodic and verbal. And, of course, she’s also very good at singing, which is not to be sneezed at. But she’s able to do that within the fairly tight constraints of existing, easily recognizable chord progressions and rhythmic setups.

She’s able to create verbal hooks, “I’m only 17. I don’t know anything, but I know I miss you.” They stick in your mind, and you spin stories out from them. That’s just being a good writer. She’s a celebrity with a complicated personal life that has been lived in the public eye for quite some time, and so, people speculate about the meanings of her songs, both because they are complex and meaningful works of art, and because some of them do speak to public facts about her life outside the songs.

“Fifteen,” which is a terrific song, gains resonance if you know that it’s about a real person and they’re still friends. But no one would care if it weren’t a brilliantly constructed song. Take something from “Speak Now”: It’s nice to know that “Dear John” is about John Mayer, who really had no business dating a 19-year-old, but it’s also a song about a pattern [of behavior], and it works in itself.

There’s all kinds of celebrity gossip about pop stars who maybe have her level of vocal talent and performing talent but happen not to have her level of songwriting talent. Very few people have her songwriting talent.

Gazette: Which songs would you count among your very favorites?

Burt: There’s so many good songs. I find the ones that speak to me the most are the ones whose topics are closest to my own life. I’m a queer lady. She writes wonderful songs about falling in love or falling out of love with various guys. Those are not, by and large, my favorites even though they’re some of her biggest hits. “Fifteen,” “Betty,” “seven,” “It’s Nice to Have a Friend.”

I actually really like “The Last Great American Dynasty.” The two indie folk albums [“Folklore” and “Evermore”], almost everything on them is amazing. It’s so hard to sustain that level of success artistically while changing that much. Few can do it. “Nothing New” is amazing. “Anti-Hero,” which is the big hit from “Midnights,” is an absolutely fantastic and extraordinarily self-conscious song about being the kind of celebrity that she’s become.

4 albums in Billboard top 10

Taylor Swift is the only living artist to have four albums in the Billboard top 10 at the same time since Herb Alpert in 1966. Following his death in 2016, Prince had five albums in the top 10. (Swift is the only woman with four albums in the top 10 at the same time since the Billboard 200 was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing list in August of 1963.)

Source: Billboard

‘Strong social and emotional bond that people feel with her’ Alexandra Gold , clinical fellow in psychology at MGH and Harvard Medical School

Gazette: Swift appears to have a devoted fan base who feel intensely connected to her and her music. Why is that?

GOLD: There is a strong social and emotional bond that people feel with her. And in general, when people become super fans or part of the fandom, it’s often because there’s something about the object of that fandom, the public figure or celebrity, that does connect back to their identity in some way. That’s often the link.

In the case of Taylor, there’s a couple of things going on. The first piece is relatability. Even though there’s aspects of her that maybe don’t feel very relatable — she’s a celebrity and lives a very different life from her fans — what she is singing about — the lyrical content as well as the emotions that underlie the lyrical content — are very relatable to a lot of people. There’s something that is very common to the human experience.

Another piece is a lot of Millennials, as well as Gen Z now, are fans of Taylor Swift. With the Millennials, a lot of people grew up alongside her. When they were having some of these first experiences, maybe with relationships or entering adulthood, she was doing that at the same time and singing about that. Her life story mapped onto their life story, in some way.

For Gen Z, during the pandemic, there was a lot of TikTok content about her, she was putting out many albums, so a new generation discovered her, and they’re also having similar experiences. Overall, she’s been really important for identity development and growth for a lot of people.

@taylorswift That’s my whole world 💕 #tstheerastour #swifttok ♬ So it goes x Miss Americana – 🪩

A third piece is aspirational. She is a role model. She is a great example of someone who sticks to their values and shows their fan base that they can reach their goals, whatever those might be. For instance, she’s claiming ownership of her work and has been successful in putting out re-recordings [of her older albums] and doing that despite barriers or obstacles that might be in the way. Seeing someone do something like that could be inspiring for a lot of young people.

And then, lastly, the fan community is a big part of this. People often form their identity around relationships not just with a celebrity, but also with other fans. The fan community that Taylor has around her, people meet their friends through it and people become part of something bigger than themselves. That is really important for them as they grow up and as they go through life.

Gazette: Swift has had to tell some fans to stop harassing people she once dated. Where’s the line between fan and fanatic?

GOLD: I think fandoms are, overall, very positive. That is an important message, that being a fan is a very positive thing. It’s important to be aware of when it’s interfering in other aspects of one’s life — not engaging in other areas that might be important, other relationships, whether time spent online is causing anxiety or stress or negative feelings for people. Trying to defend Taylor against other celebrities, for instance, that’s when it maybe goes into a category of “OK, let’s take a step back and think about what we can do to bring this back to a place where it feels more positive.” Recognize while this is a relationship that’s important to you, it’s not a friendship. And so, if someone starts to feel like there’s a two-way relationship when there’s no evidence that’s happening, that’s also something to be aware of.

‘The kinds of gains you see in an event like a Super Bowl’ Matthew Andrews , Edward S. Mason Senior Lecturer in International Development at Harvard Kennedy School

GAZETTE: You and some colleagues examined the effects on cities and regions hosting mega events. The total economic impact to host cities of Swift concerts on her current tour is expected to hit $5 billion. Does that sound plausible?

ANDREWS: Those numbers, I think, are completely accurate. I would be in agreement with those numbers because those are the kinds of gains you see in an event like a Super Bowl. The thing that is so amazing about the Taylor Swift concert, in particular, is that it goes from city to city, and you see the same kind of impact in city after city. You do see it with some other musicians, as well. But this is something that’s on a scale and a consistency that we haven’t really seen before.

Swift’s 131-date “Eras” world tour, currently packing stadiums across the U.S., is on track to be the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Pictured is a June show at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

Gazette: Which industries typically benefit when a major concert tour or sporting event takes place?

ANDREWS: The main beneficiaries in the private sector are people involved in tourism and the support network around the entertainment industry, so it is going to be hotels, restaurants, tourism agencies. It’s going to be anything to do with transportation hubs. They are going to be the primary beneficiaries.

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The costs to the public sector can be quite significant. And the cost for people in these areas who are not directly benefiting can be quite significant in terms of congestion, use of roads, just wear and tear, in terms of policing. This is a really important one — the cost of public order. Unless the government really thinks this through and charges for this as part of its permitting process, the government can end up on the short end after these kinds of events.

The other thing about these events that is increasingly attracting attention, from a public policy perspective, are climate change concerns. You have many, many people transporting themselves to a small area and a lot [are] coming through the air and through vehicles. This is something we worry about a lot more with prolonged mega events like a World Cup than with something like a Taylor Swift concert, but you do need to think about what those costs are.

‘Standing up for … rights and doing good business’ Ralph Jaccodine , assistant professor of music business/management, Berklee College of Music

GAZETTE: What are the factors that make Swift a successful performer from an industry perspective?

Jaccodine: First of all, if you’re going to talk about Taylor Swift, you’ve got to talk about the power of great songs. It all starts with the power of great songs. That’s why we’re still listening to The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, and Frank Sinatra. And like Bowie and Gaga and Dylan, she’s not afraid to stretch. She’s not afraid to bring her audience for a ride. We’ve seen her grow up in real life, from a young girl to a woman with power, and she’s owning it.

Number two, and this is really important: You’ve got to be great live. My students come to me and say, “We have 53 likes on this video, and we’re not selling tickets.” They don’t understand the power of going in front of people and blowing them away. In my business, as a manager, 80 percent of the income comes from live performances, so I want them to change lives live. I’m a massive Springsteen fan. I’m going to be seeing Springsteen at Gillette. I’ve seen him 12 times. I don’t need to see Bruce anymore. I’m an old guy, but I’m still going to rock concerts for artists to change my life. Taylor Swift’s songs, combined with how great she is live, is a powerful combination.

She’s always had a good team around her, smart people around her, good publicists, and good management. When you’re that good, you have the best in the industry. Her team is great: They build anticipation; they create a buzz about things. She’s imprinted her fans in such a way that they want everything about her. The day before a big stadium show, the T-shirt stand is open and there’s thousands of people in line. They hang on to every word of her social media posting, look at all the pictures. They share it; they talk about it; they have groups. That’s really hard to pull off.

GAZETTE: Has her advocacy for better artist compensation from streaming platforms and record labels and her fight to reclaim control of her back catalog made a difference?

Jaccodine:   Absolutely. First, in the awareness of these topics. The general music fan isn’t aware of streaming revenues or master rights or re-recording rights. They don’t know or really care, but she shines a light on all these things. She shines a light on management contracts and what labels are or what labels aren’t. The whole master recordings topic has been spotlighted by Taylor. She had the budget and the resources and the talent to re-record things. The whole exercise was done in public; the whole exercise was reported on. So now, students are studying that, and they’re questioning that for the first time.

I do know she’s empowered and imprinted serious numbers of people that are fans of music or musicians themselves because of her influence. I look at Rihanna; I look at Beyoncé; I look at Taylor Swift. These are the biggest artists on the planet. They’re all women that are empowering girls and standing up for their rights and doing good business. I love it; I love it.

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267 Music Essay Topics + Writing Guide [2024 Update]

Your mood leaves a lot to be desired. Everything around you is getting on your nerves. But still, there’s one thing that may save you: music. Just think of all the times you turned on your favorite song, and it lifted your spirits!

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

So, why not write about it in a music essay? In this article, you’ll find all the information necessary for this type of assignment:

• 267 brilliant music essay topics,
• a sample paper,
• a step-by-step guide and writing tips.

And don’t forget to bookmark  custom-writing.org  where you can find helpful essay tips in articles like this one.

🔝 Music Essay Topics: Top 10

• 🎵 Music Essay Definition
• 🎼 Essay Topics
• ✍️ How to Write
• 📑 Essay Sample

🔗 References

• Compare different recording formats.
• The purpose of music.
• Ternary and rondo: compare and contrast.
• Music as a lifestyle.
• The benefits of singing.
• Ethnomusicology as a career.
• Evolution of the radio.
• The importance of school musicals.
• Music as a tool for meditation.
• Music in sports.

🎵 Essays about Music: What Are They?

A music essay describes or analyzes a piece of music, its context, or one’s personal attitude towards it. This type of assignment requires a compelling primary argument and a clear structure.

To write well about music, you don’t have to be a professional musician. All you need is to be able to listen, understand, and evaluate it. You should also provide your interpretation and opinion on it.

Writing about Music: Assignment Types

An essay on music is a popular assignment in high school and college. However, many students find it hard to describe sounds in a written form. In this article, we will give you some tips on writing about music.

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Here are the typical tasks that you might receive:

• Concert report. It requires describing the music you’ve heard using as many details and terms as you can.
• Historical analysis of a piece. Your aim is to describe the historical context of a piece or its relation to the historical setting. For this type of assignment, you may need to do some research.
• Song analysis. In this type of essay, you explore song lyrics’ meaning and show how they work together with the melody.
• Performance or media comparison. Here you need to compare several interpretations or performances of one piece of music.

All of these assignments require a different approach and topic. You will find topics for these types of tasks below.

How to Choose a Music Essay Topic

First things first, you need to find a suitable music essay topic. To accomplish this task, you might want to take the following steps:

• Analyze your relationship with music . What role does it play in your life? Your topic choice will be different if you are a musician or merely a listener.
• Think about how music influences your everyday life . For instance, you can study how listening to music affects our mental health. Impressing your readers with some historical facts from the world of music is also a great idea.
• Try reflecting on the role of different music genres in your life . Whether you prefer rap or classical music, exploring a genre is an excellent topic idea. Topics related to musical instruments are also worth attention.
• Narrow your topic down. Otherwise, it will be too difficult to focus your essay on just one idea.

🎼 Music Essay Topics List

The first thing you need to do is to choose your topic. We have prepared a variety of music topics perfect for research papers and short essays. You can also use them for speeches or college application essays.

Argumentative Essay about Music: Topics & Ideas

Argumentative essays about music are usually concerned with a specific music-related issue you choose to address. Just like with any other argumentative essay, you should present both sides of the topic. Also, reliable facts are a must for this type of essay.

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• The influence of modern technologies on the music industry. Technologies allow artists to create and promote their songs independently. Because of this, record labels are less critical to musicians than before. However, the emergence of new technologies also gave rise to piracy . Do the positives outweigh the negatives?
• What’s the effect of pop music on the modern generation? Today’s pop songs are usually commercial . Because of this, some people say that pop has ruined the current generations’ perception of music. Others argue that contemporary pop music expanded the possibilities of the genre.
• Rock music makes people more aggressive . Some consider rock music merely an arrangement of aggressive tunes that foster violence. On the counter side, science has proven that people who prefer rock to other genres are calmer and more concentrated. Which position do you agree with?
• Can people with hearing impairments become famous musicians ? Many believe that access to fame and fortune is limited for disabled people. The deaf may seem especially unsuited for the music business . Yet, the examples of Beethoven, Neil Young, and Chris Martin show that hearing problems don’t have to be an issue.
• Will streaming completely substitute physical copies? Digitalization is on its way to replacing LPs and CDs. For most people, it’s simply more convenient. But their opponents claim that an MP3 file can never sound as good as a physical copy.
• Some music genres can be a catalyst for violence. While their beats may be calm, hip-hop and rap’s lyrics are often aggressive and brutal. Does it have adverse effects on a listener?
• Can a person become addicted to music ?
• Censorship on the radio: why stations shouldn’t bleep out obscenities.
• Is mandatory musical education in high schools practical?
• The impact of Mozart’s music on toddlers.
• Should a musician’s personal life affect people’s perception of their art?
• How susceptible are teenagers to political messages in songs?
• Music influences one’s mental and physical capabilities .
• Are children who listen to music more intelligent than others?
• Music genres are inherently dependent on musical instruments .
• Is music as an art form more popular than cinema ?
• Debate whether rap musicians promote a frivolous and careless lifestyle .
• Many musicians became famous only because they’ve had connections.
• Music festivals are the best form of entertainment.
• Does music always sound better live than on records?
• Is classical music better than modern genres?
• Is it justified that some religions view music as a sin?
• Typically, music defines a culture and its traditions: true or false?
• Rap music has a strong connection to rebellious movements.
• Jamaican music’s link to the stoner lifestyle is unjustified.
• Synesthesia: how is music related to visuals?

Opinion on Music: Essay Topics

Opinion essays about music might seem similar to the argumentative type. Here, you are expected to write your personal opinion on a topic. Naturally, you can have many opinions on musical topics. Why not broadcast them? Keep in mind that you also need to provide reasons for your point of view.

• Music therapy can help people with mental illnesses . It’s a well-known fact that music affects the human brain. This ability makes it perfect for treating mental health problems. On the one hand, psychologists established that listening to classical music increases one’s cognitive capacity . On the other hand, listening to heavy rock impacts responsiveness.
• The questionable treatment of women in the music industry . While it may seem that both sexes are treated equally, women still earn much less than they deserve. Moreover, the extreme sexualization of girls persists as one of the most pressing problems in the industry.
• Which musician or band impacted your worldview ? Discuss what makes your favorite artist special. Consider analyzing their lyrics, genre, and evolution. If you want to, add a review of one of their albums .
• What are the challenges of being an independent artist? Typically, independent artists deal with all the financial, promotional, and distributional affairs by themselves. In the increasingly complex music business, this is not an easy task.
• Is social media efficient for promotion? Almost every modern artist uses social media to promote their albums or songs. Users often check their networks for updates, which increases the musician’s visibility. But do such methods help in the long run?
• Passion is the essential personal quality for every musician . If an artist is not eager to continually produce high-quality output, they’re unlikely to succeed. However, qualities such as responsibility, honesty, hard work, and creativity are also vital.
• Is music good for stress relief?
• How does music connect people ?
• Analyze qualities that good musicians shouldn’t have.
• Who are the most excellent musicians in the country genre ?
• Is it possible to live without interacting with music ?
• Choose three successful rappers and analyze their influence.
• How can a musician become famous without having money or connections?
• What are the difficulties of being in a band ?
• Who impacted the development of indie music the most?
• Is pop music losing its popularity? If so, why?
• Three factors that affected your choice of a favorite genre .
• Which artists are the most prominent in power metal?
• Which record label is the most influential now?
• Can Justin Bieber’s songs be considered legendary?
• Did Kanye West introduce a new kind of rap?
• Which rock bands lost their fame because of a scandal ? How did it happen?
• Discuss Dire Straits’ impact on music history .
• Who are currently the most successful women pop singers ?
• Why are some music genres more popular than others?
• What does success in the music world depend on ?

Topics for a Persuasive Essay about Music

Is there anything music-related you want to convince people of? A persuasive paper is your chance. Carefully craft your arguments to show your readers you’ve always been right about the beauty of cowbells. If it’s not your jam, consider these essay topics about music:

• A seven-string guitar is superior to a six-string one. The additional string gives more room for creativity. It might be challenging to master, but in the end, the music has a fuller sound . Do you think it’s worth the effort?
• The lyrics don’t matter as long as the melody is good. It’s possible to like songs from different countries, even if the listener doesn’t understand the language. The singing is simply part of the composition. Does this mean that what the vocalist says is unimportant?

• Most people living in big cities neglect country music. People from urban areas tend to think that country music is tasteless. For them, its tunes and lyrics sound too simple. Does the strong association with cowboys, farms, and long roads simply not appeal to the city lifestyle?
• Should rap music be performed only by black people ? The genre hosts a large portion of African American artists . Not only that, but black rappers are widely considered the best of their craft. Do white artists do the genre justice?
• Music that artists make merely to get money is soulless. Passion is a critical factor for every musician. If money is the primary driver for creating a song , the result is inevitably flawed. Do you agree?
• Pop music is undergoing a transformation. Listeners acknowledge pop as the primary genre of contemporary music . Yet, new musical instruments are changing the game. Even the lyrics touch on more serious topics than before.
• Indie is the new pop. Indie music is a relatively novel genre. Still, it continues to gain popularity. The light-hearted tunes paired with existential lyrics have captured the audience’s hearts. Is it possible to envision the future of music without bands such as Coldplay, The 1975, and the Arctic Monkeys?
• The meaning of freedom for jazz as a musical genre .
• Punk rock has recently witnessed a renaissance.
• Exposing plants to classical music makes them grow faster.
• Classical music: intellectually stimulating or relaxing ?
• Is it justified that some countries legally prohibit artists from performing?
• Is it easier for children to learn with music?
• Can a person ever become a great artist without a natural talent ?
• Should workplaces allow their employees to listen to background music ?
• Jimi Hendrix’s guitar skills are still unmatched.
• The impact of pop music on European culture and trends.
• Kurt Cobain’s death should have been a wake-up call for the music industry .
• Why is music beneficial to society?
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s legacy can be felt even today.
• Nintendocore is a legitimate genre that the industry should take more seriously.
• Should you listen to a bands’ music even if you disagree with their opinions ?
• Musicians should receive more government support.
• Patriotic songs make people feel passionate and energetic about their country.
• Depressive and sad tunes can worsen a person’s mood.
• Doctors and therapists need to understand the importance of music .

Music Evaluation Essay Topics

Do you want to know how to evaluate music? The point is to divide your overall impression into several parts. Music evaluation requires much attention and concentration, so try to do your best to stay focused while listening.

Use these criteria for evaluating music performances:

Now all you need to do is choose a topic and get down to writing!

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• Discuss the rise and fall of hardcore punk. Many bands that started in the hardcore punk scene softened their sound over time. Why did this genre disappear from the mainstream?
• Copyright laws are going too far . It’s getting increasingly difficult to use somebody else’s intellectual property. Creators on YouTube have to fear lawsuits for creatively repurposing copyrighted music. Moreover, laws such as the DMCA are frequently abused to generate revenues.
• More bands should use their influence for political purposes . Renowned artists have a broad reach. Bands like Rise Against or Anti Flag use this influence to raise political awareness among their fans. Is it a fair approach?
• Borrowing and plagiarism in contemporary music . New artists don’t emerge without having listened to other musicians. They draw inspiration from their predecessors. Thus, songs are always a mix of already existing tracks. In your essay, discuss the difference between homage and plagiarism.
• What are the similarities between poetry and song lyrics? Songs and poems are similar in that they deliver a message to the audience. Their creation demands extensive knowledge of rhyming, literary devices, and other components.
• Why do some musicians ask others to write lyrics for them? It is a common practice to have a crew of songwriters who create texts for performers. Sometimes it happens due to a lack of imagination or inspiration. Does finding out that your favorite artist doesn’t write their lyrics destroy the magic of their music?
• How can popular music diversify as a genre? Pop music reached its peak. Adding and borrowing elements from different genres can be one way to diversify a streamlined genre.
• The history of music as political propaganda .
• Explain the difference between high and low contemporary music culture .
• How is contemporary music related to that from other periods?
• What are the connections between pop music and the hip-hop genre?
• What connects popular music and contemporary culture ?
• How does music in the United States relate to Spanish music ?
• Analyze the evolution of Indian music .
• Discuss why certain albums manage to climb to the top of the charts.
• The link between social classes and musical genres.
• Differences and similarities of music and other art forms .
• How does a musical instrument’s origin influence its development?
• What is the role of traditional music today?

• What are the main processes in music production?
• How is music theory relevant today?
• Analyze which contemporary artists’ albums had an effect comparable to that of Queen’s A Night at the Opera .
• Eurodance: Europe’s most extravagant genre.
• Songs and everyday life of Michael Jackson vs. Madonna: who wins the ultimate pop crown?
• What difficulties has Eminem faced throughout his career?
• Over-ear headphones provide a better sound experience than on-ear ones.

Topics for an Expository Essay on Music

An expository essay explains or describes a subject. In the colorful world of music, topics can range from the physics of sound waves to artists’ social impact.

• The importance of Blues music in the late 19 th century and now . Blues originated in the 19 th century American South. It was an outlet for African Americans to express their sorrows. Later, it exceeded by far the cultural boundaries that confined it.
• The role of music in prison camps. Singing was an essential part of life in the Nazi concentration camps . One of the most well-known songs of that time is called Peat Bog Soldiers . In your expository essay, explore why prisoners started singing and how it developed.
• How did Chester Bennington’s death impact the music industry? Linkin Park was a giant in the business for decades until depression made their lead singer take his own life. The event sparked debates surrounding mental health and pressure in the creative industry. What long-lasting effects did these discussions have?
• How did Baroque music reflect the zeitgeist? Compared to the Renaissance period, Baroque was in all aspects very pompous. The artists of the Sun King’s time didn’t shy away from the extravaganza. This ideal is especially prominent in architecture. How does music fit into the picture?
• Investigate the development of musical harmony. The Ancient Greeks already had an idea of some tones fitting together better than others. However, it wasn’t until the 1600s that tonality became a crucial part of music theory.
• Music in commercials: an analysis. Songs and jingles are commonplace in TV commercials. But what are they good for? In your essay, you can compare the success of advertisements with and without music.
• What causes music trends to change? It’s easy to define various eras of music . Naturally, the invention of new instruments has influenced this development. What other factors played a role in these transformations?
• Why is 4/4 a universal beat?
• Examine the origins of The Star-Spangled Banner .
• The effects of dissonance on the human mind .
• How do staccato, legato, and other forms of articulation influence the perception of a musical piece ?
• Discuss the significance of music in video games .
• Music drives people’s motivation.
• Explain the calming effects of nature sounds .
• How does music influence literature ?
• Celtic music is known to have an extraordinary impact on the psyche. How does it work?
• How does music impact the discharge of hormones such as dopamine?
• Music therapy is suitable for those who have bipolar disorder .
• What made Falco such a unique artist?
• How does the perception of a silent film differ from that of a movie with sound?
• A rock concert by Kansas: How the relevance of live concerts changed over time .
• Is being able to read music important for a composer ?
• How did Beethoven write music after losing his hearing?
• Should all songs have proper rhythm and structure?
• Why do so many indie artists become commercial?
• Is it essential for song lyrics to rhyme?

History of Music: Essay Topics

If you’re interested in the evolution of music, you’ve come to the right section. Historical research reveals the significance of music throughout time. Unsurprisingly, songs and melodies have been part of human culture for centuries. Dive deeper into this exciting subject with one of the following ideas:

• How did the Catholic Church influence music development in Europe? During the Middle Ages , religious movements had a significant impact on music. Consequently, composers used to create more sacred music. It became a way of personal expression since it often contained religious texts. 
• The cultural meaning of Renaissance music and its influence on other styles . During the time of the Renaissance , sacred and secular music heavily impacted each other. As a result, more variety emerged. The chanson and madrigal, for example, became popular around Europe.
• Research archaeological findings of early musicality. The search for the oldest musical instrument delivers thrilling insights. Archaeologists have excavated a flute made of ivory and bird bones, dating approximately 43,000 years ago. They found it in a cave in Germany where Neanderthals lived.
• History of early music and appearance of musical instruments. The beginning of the human culture was the turning point of musical instruments’ appearance. They were primarily used for spiritual rites; typically, they were horns or drums for ceremonies.
• Louis Armstrong’s contributions to the jazz world. Jazz originated in New Orleans and was a favorite among African Americans. Louis Armstrong’s improvisations forever changed the genre, making the soloist-improviser the center of the performance.
• The phenomenon of pop music and its origins. Popular music dates back to the second half of the last century. It comes from the US and the UK. Its main peculiarity lies in the variety of tunes and lyrics .
• Native American music before the discovery of the New World . Incas and Aztecs had particular styles of music. Findings show that these ancient civilizations used instruments for ceremonies. Researchers also discovered that various American cultures mingled, thus creating new techniques.
• The use of string instruments in classical Greek songwriting.
• Famous composers of 18th century Italy and their influence.
• Mozart vs. Beethoven: comparison of techniques.
• Deliver a thoughtful analysis of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony .
• What role do acoustic instruments play in jazz compositions ?
• Explore the history of the Ocarina.
• Due to what circumstances did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart become one of the greatest musical geniuses in history?
• Influence of the Romantic period on modern music .
• How and why were the swing era and jazz connected?
• Rock and roll as an international language in the 20th century.
• Explore the rise of techno music.
• Is there a historical connection between music and math ?
• How did music become a staple subject in many schools?
• The greatest musicians of World War I .
• Industrialization and its effect on music development.
• How did female producers such as Kate Bush impact the music industry ?
• Analyze Frédéric Chopin’s contribution to classical music .
• Music evolution in ancient Greece vs. the Roman Empire .
• How does archeology help to uncover musical traditions ?
• Tupac’s influence on modern rap music .

Classification Essay about Music: Topic Ideas

In a classification essay, you explain how a whole relates to parts or vice versa. To do it, you need to divide one broad category into several subcategories. Each classification paragraph focuses on one subcategory, so you need to find a key feature that will be your basis of division. For example, you can divide music by genre, volume, musical instruments, etc.

Here is our list of musical topics for this essay type:

• The most popular types of alternative music among teenagers. Naturally, teens like different kinds of rock and experimental music . Try to dig deeper and ask some teenagers about their preferences to get a clear picture.
• Types of modern dance music . Describe the tendencies and popular genres. You can also focus on a specific country.
• The most popular types of jazz music in Europe . Although jazz emerged in the United States, this genre became recognizable all over the world. You can analyze the most popular streamed songs, or the concerts and other mass events.
• Rock music in the ’70s. You can describe the genres, styles, or types of performers. The concerts, clothes, and lifestyles are also suitable for this topic.
• Blues musicians of different time periods. Analyze the lyrics, the musical instruments they used, and how long their careers lasted.
• Classification of music for children . Some of it can be for dancing, development, or just listening. Research the purposes of different kinds of music for children.
• Types of music used in films. The soundtrack is one of the main things we remember after watching a movie. There can be popular songs or tracks composed specifically for a film .
• Rock bands that represent different subgenres.
• Rap subgenres in the United States.
• Periods of classical music .
• What motivates people to start a musical career?
• Different kinds of music for relaxation.
• The industries where composers work .
• Types of opera singers and instrumental music .
• Different professions in the music industry .
• Unpopular genres of independent music.
• Different types of music listeners .

College Essay about Music: Topics

When you apply to your dream college, you need to write an impressive essay. Admissions officers pay attention not only to your grades and achievements but also to your personality. Your writing can indicate your motivation, academic interests, and how well you fit into the college. Writing an essay about “music in my life” is a great way to demonstrate your passion and creativity.

Choose one of these topics related to music for your college essay:

• The role of music in your life . Describe what music means to you, how often you listen to it, and how it helps you in life. For example, you can write about inspiration, motivation, or the sense of freedom that it gives you.
• What are the essential aspects of music for you? Try to write down everything you like about music. It might be melodies, lyrics, vocals, or mood. You can choose several aspects if you feel that you can’t decide.
• The time when music changed your life. In this essay, you can pick one occurrence or describe how music changed your life gradually. It’s important to indicate where you started from and where it led you.
• How do you see the future of the music industry? Demonstrate to the admissions officer how well you know the art and the business.
• Your role model in the music industry. You may write about the qualities of the person you admire and why you want to develop them in yourself. Remember that admission officers want to read about you, not your idol.
• How did your musical taste change over the last ten years? Describe the evolution of your preferences. Explain why you have changed some of your past choices. Do you think your musical taste has improved?
• Your favorite musical genre .
• Does listening to music help to heal body and spirit?
• What is the best music performance you have ever seen?
• Why do people become fans of particular musicians?
• Your favorite song lyrics .
• Can people be judged by their musical taste?
• Why is music an essential part of human culture?
• Quote about music that appeals to you the most.
• How can music education help you in the future?
• Do you prefer listening to music or performing it?
• How can music change your mood?
• Why you want to become a musician.
• Which culture has the most beautiful ethnical music ?
• Is music more of an art or business?
• What are the essential parts of musical education ?

Other Music Essay Topics

• Why do supermarkets play music? Think of the reasons why marketers use music in advertising and how it impacts customer behavior.
• An analysis of Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music . Evaluate how the director uses music to tell a story.
• The impact of music on the human brain . Examine the latest research in the mental health field and how music therapy affects depression treatments.
• The workings of the music industry . Assess how contemporary audio technology and touring lifestyle affect musicians.
• The role of music in different cultures. Choose and compare two countries to analyze their perspectives on the music industry.
• Music on television . Evaluate how the music of TV shows and movies impacts the audience’s feelings and behavior.
• Oliver Sacks’ contribution to music psychology. Explore the theories he discusses in Musicophilia and describe its influence on music psychology.
• Should all music be available for free download? Think about the ethical and legal aspects of this issue.
• How did music psychology help the development of music education ? Try to find a correlation between these two fields.
• Britney Spears and the adverse effects of teen popularity. Writing about this topic, you might want to focus on how her early fame affected her life. What happened after her famous breakdown in 2007?
• The half-life of one-hit-wonders. Focus your paper on quantitative research. How long do one-hit-wonders stay famous on average? Why do they fail to maintain their success?
• Journalism and the music industry. Examine the effects positive or negative press had on a musician of your choice.
• Festivals and sponsorship. Discuss the benefits that corporate sponsors and the creators of music festivals gain from working together.
• Rock songs and pessimistic lyrics. Why do most popular rock songs have such sad and angry lyrics?
• Discuss the development of your music taste. Write about what pushed you to change and how it influenced your life.
• The psychology of music. Examine what someone’s favorite music genre can tell about their personality.
• Is ASMR music? ASMR artists make quiet sounds to soothe their audience. But can we really consider it music?
• A historical analysis of jazz. Explore how African Americans influenced the flourishing culture of jazz that has spread worldwide.
• The effect of classical music on children’s cognitive abilities. Supposedly, classical music is great for kids. Study this theory and make your conclusions.
• Discuss the characteristics of modern Latin American music . Dive into its diversity and describe the reasons for its popularity.
• How do Chinese artists make traditional music? Write about its complex creation process. Analyze the importance of articulation for composers.
• The history of music . With this essay, explore the six periods of music history. To top it off, you can predict what music will be like in the future.
• The music industry goes online. Discuss the importance of the internet for the industry and the challenges associated with it.
• The magic of instrumental music. Pick your favorite orchestra pieces and find unique features in each of them.
• Musical education: the sound of success? Does everyone need a musical background?
• Explore the latest techniques in songwriting . Look into the song creation process of contemporary musicians. How do they get the audience to enjoy their art?
• Compare and contrast e-pianos and keyboards . In doing so, consider their structure, sound, and features.
• The Woodstock festival as a game-changer. How has the Woodstock Music and Art Fair influenced the current state of the music industry? Additionally, investigate how current festivals hold up to the standards set by Woodstock.
• Music therapy for stroke patients . Find out whether incorporating elements of music therapy can support the treatment of patients who suffered a stroke.
• How do amplifiers work? If you’re a musician, you’ve likely used an amplifier before. Now it’s time to figure out what they are actually doing.
• The Killers’ contributions to indie rock. How would you define their style of music? What makes them a key player in indie music?
• Analyze the music in Grease . Pick some of the most popular songs from the musical and write about their influence on American culture.
• What’s the best way to interpret songs? Describe methods to deconstruct songs and how the music style affects this process.
• Teufel vs. Sennheiser: the ultimate comparison. German sound equipment manufacturers are known for their cutting-edge technologies . But which brand is the best?
• What role does harmony play in music composition? Choose several pieces of music and describe how the artists used harmony.
• How necessary are double bass drums? Do musicians place them on stage just to impress people, or do they have actual use?
• Compare regular festivals and free ones. Why spend hundreds of dollars on Coachella if you can go to Woodstock for free? In your essay, focus on the differences such as size, participating artists, and general entertainment .
• A historical analysis of choral music. Singing in groups is a practice common across various cultures . You might choose one or two to work on.
• How did The Rolling Stones influence British culture? The Rolling Stones are one of the longest-standing rock bands of all time. Naturally, this left significant marks on their home country.
• How important are regional accents for English-language singers ? When working on this theoretical topic, include some examples and your personal opinion.
• The world of musical instruments: medieval music . This fun essay can focus on different types of medieval instruments and their evolution.
• Does the creative process differ for electronic and acoustic music? Look at how artists usually write songs. Do they start with the melody, the rhythm, or the lyrics? Does it depend on the medium?
• The correlation between poems and medieval songs. Find out how composers were reinventing poetry to create songs.
• Hip-hop and gender equality . What is the role of women in the development of this music style? Don’t forget to give examples.
• When politics interferes with art: Eurovision. Analyze the role of the political situation in this song contest. Is there anything left of its original idea?
• How did Vladimir Vysotsky become a beloved musical figure outside of Soviet Russia? It’s unusual for Russian-language musicians to gain fame outside of their home country. Research how Vysotsky managed to mingle in the USA and have some of his work posthumously released in Europe.
• K-pop conquers the world . You may narrow the topic down to a specific artist. Focus on the influence of Korean music in other cultures.
• Music school students vs. amateurs. Discuss the different experiences and outcomes of music school students and those who learn to play instruments at home.
• Do music choices shape one’s identity , or is it the other way around? It’s an exciting question that lets you dig deep into the psychology of music.
• The music of dissents. Energizing songs play an essential part in rebellions and revolutions. For example, analyze how protesters used music during the Arab Spring .
• The development and popularity of electronic music . Starting from the early experiments, analyze the development of this style and its increasing influence
• How do artists use social media to promote their music? You might want to choose one or two examples to illustrate the tools they use.
• Organum as one of the oldest written types of music . Study the development of this music style throughout various cultures.
• The appeal of Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters. Many people consider the song one of their favorites. Examine its structure , melody, and lyrics. What makes it unique?
• Africa’s hidden musical gems. African music is as diverse as its people. Pick two countries and compare their style. How do they differ from Western art ?
• Did people’s music tastes improve compared to previous decades? Here, you have the chance to express your views on the evolution of people’s music preferences.
• Is the life of pop stars as easy as people think? Share your thoughts on whether famous musicians and singers have a leisurely lifestyle.
• Physiological reactions to different types of music . Study how your body reacts to various beats and tones.
• Why do people tend to listen to specific songs on certain occasions? In your essay, ponder the effects of love songs or powerful anthems on one’s mood .
• What does someone’s ringtone say about their personality ? Think about how it affects your perception of a person.
• The impact of music on the individual’s productivity . Studies suggest a positive effect on people’s performance when they listen to something pleasant while working. But all the noise can get overstimulating. That’s why finding the balance is central.
• Music is natural. In the depth of nature, there is music. Rain, a bird’s song, or the tapping of a squirrel’s feet melt together to create a beautiful composition . Music is everywhere—one only needs to listen carefully.

If you haven’t found what you’re looking for, you’re welcome to use our topic generator .

✍️ Music Essay: How to Write

So, you have chosen your essay title. Now it’s time to start writing! But before you begin, read the sections below and learn how to organize your work.

How to Describe Music in Writing

You might think that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Well, it is not an easy task, but we know how to cope with it.

Follow these tips while writing:

• Make a comparison.  Explain which characteristics of a piece remind you or are identical to those of another one. It’s better to avoid comparing music from different composers in this case. Instead, evaluate and analyze two musical pieces from the same composer.
• Describe the melody and dynamics.  You may want to use musical terms to show your knowledge and proficiency. Define the genre and what kind of instruments and tones are used.
• Explain how it makes you feel.  You can use basic human emotions to describe the feelings of a listener. For example, it can be anger, tenderness, irritation, excitement, or nostalgia.
• Use metaphorical language.  You may try using your imagination to create analogies. Be careful not to make your metaphors overcomplicated, as it may confuse the readers.

Essays about Music: Descriptive Words

Do you want your essay on music to be interesting and expressive? Then you may want to use descriptive vocabulary. Here are some of the terms that you can use in your essay to make it sound more professional:

• Tempo is the “speed” of music. There are fixed expressions to define tempo—for example, largo, moderate, or presto. You can also describe how fast the music feels.
• Timbre is the term that evaluates the “color” of music. Even if two instruments play the same note of the same volume, the sound is still different. This is how you can notice the color of the tone. For example, gentle, clear, heavy, or warm can be the adjectives to describe timbre.
• Dynamics define the volume levels of music. The volume can be the same all the time, for example loud or soft. If the volume of music changes, you can use such expressions as “gradually gets louder” “or suddenly becomes soft.”
• Harmony characterizes how all the notes and chords sound together. The sequence of chords—chord progression—defines how satisfying the melody is for the listener. For example, if the transitions are smooth, you can use such words as “relaxed” or “warm.”

Music Essay Outline

Like any other assignment, writing about music requires a proper essay outline that will guide you through the writing. The following sections will help you with that.

Before you start, here are some tips that will help you prepare for writing:

• Do some prior research. Try to learn as much as possible about the piece you will be writing about. It’s also helpful to listen to the music several times with headphones to notice more details.
• Don’t be afraid of asking questions. Consult your instructor if you’re unsure about your topic or the piece you have chosen.
• Choose the topic that you like. If you’re passionate about a subject, it is always easier to write about it. Who said that homework could not be interesting?
• Follow the recommendations that your instructor gives. It includes word limit, formatting style, deadline, and essay type.

Music Essay Introduction

The introduction is the section where you come up with a brief explanation of the topic. You may start it with a quotation, definition, or short statement that catches your reader’s attention and leads them to the essay subject.

A thesis statement is usually the last sentence of the introduction that defines the content of body paragraphs. It needs to be specific and not longer than two sentences. If you decide to shift the focus of your essay while writing, it’s crucial to change your thesis too.

Different types of essays require different thesis statements. Let’s take a closer look:

Music Essay Body

Your essay’s body is the most significant part of your writing. Here, you provide evidence and explanations of your claims.

The typical body paragraph structure includes:

• A topic sentence explaining the argument for a particular paragraph.
• An introduction to the evidence you gathered to support an argument.
• Quotes and facts (don’t forget about proper citation!) and their explanation.
• A connection between the evidence and the essay topic.
• Paragraph transitions  leading your reader to the next section.

Topic Sentence about Music

Topic sentences can be used as a roadmap to writing your essay. Each body paragraph begins with a topic sentence that defines what the paragraph is about. It introduces the argument or main thought that will be explained. It’s also connected with the thesis statement.

It’s essential to make your thesis easy to understand, so it’s better not to overcomplicate it. For example, here’s an unsuccessful topic sentence with unnecessary words:

As stated above, the guitar is an essential musical instrument in rock music that defines how it sounds.

Instead, you can formulate it like this:

The guitar is the most iconic musical instrument in rock music that defines how it sounds.

Music Essay Conclusion

When writing a conclusion for your essay on music, you can use the following structure:

• Summarize the text in a few sentences.
• Review the key points of your paper.
• Paraphrase the thesis.

To make your essay conclusion more effective, avoid the following:

📑 What Music Means to Me: Essay Example

Now you know all about writing an essay on music! To make it even easier for you, we’ve prepared an essay sample that you can use for inspiration. Check it out:

Now all you need is to turn the music on and get down to writing! We hope you liked this guide. If you did, don’t hesitate to share it with your friends.

Further reading:

• How to Write a Good Critique Paper: Killer Tips + Examples
• How to Write an Art Critique Essay: Guidelines and Examples
• How to Write a Movie Critique Paper: Top Tips + Example
• Modern Fairy Tale Essay: How to Write, Topics and Ideas
• 200 Creative Topics for Opinion Essays
• 182 Free Ideas for Argumentative or Persuasive Essay Topics
• 180 Excellent Evaluation Essay Topics

✏️ Music Essay FAQ

Music is a vast topic. An essay might deal with anything ranging from trends in the 1950s to the best guitarists of all time. Writing an introduction to certain music styles or bands is also possible. In any case, the paper should be well-structured, logical, and cohesive.

Writing about music doesn’t necessarily require any specific skills. If you’re not familiar with the theory of music and can’t play musical instruments, you can just write about the music you like. Here are some topic ideas: favorite music band, style, or how you perceive music.

You can interpret music as a topic in various ways. If you are getting a degree in this field, you might want to write something more specific and technical. If your essay aims to merely inform and entertain, write about your favorite music style or band.

If you are writing an essay for school, a good choice would be an expository essay. It doesn’t require any specific knowledge of the music industry. Title suggestions might be: “My perception of music,” “My favorite band,” “How music can change the world.”

• What is the Music Industry? Definition and Facts: Study.com
• What Music Do You Write To?: Writers & Artists
• A Music Review: British Council
• Music: UNC Writing Center: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Sound and Sense: Writing about Music: Colorado State University
• Music analysis Research Papers: Academia.edu
• The Power of Music Therapy: Belmont University
• Musicology: Northwestern Bienen School of Music
• Musicology: Areas of Study: Indiana State University
• Music Facts: Facts.net
• Music History from Primary Sources: Library of Congress
• Music: Encyclopedia Britannica
• A History of Classical Music: Part 1: The List
• What Is Jazz: Smithsonian Institution
• The 50 Greatest Composers of All Time: Classical Music
• Musical Terms and Concepts: SUNY Potsdam
• Ethnomusicology: University of Oxford
• Music Research Process: Syracuse University
• Journal of Popular Music Studies: University of California Press
• The History of Pop Music in 5 Defining Decades: The Culture Trip
• Music of the 20 th Century: Lumen Learning
• Explainer: Indie Music: The Conversation
• Your Brain on Music: University of Central Florida
• Music and Health: Harvard University
• The Psychological Function of Music Listening: NIH
• Essays that Worked: Hamilton
• Writing in Music: Writing Thesis Statements: The City University of New York
• Academic Writing about Music: University of Denver
• How to Write Song Lyrics: Berklee
• Essay Introduction: University of Maryland
• Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements: Purdue University
• Writing Body Paragraphs: Monash University
• Some Tips for Writing Efficient, Effective Body Paragraphs: University of California, Berkeley
• Writing a Paper: Conclusions: Walden University
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The Woes of Being Addicted to Streaming

By Jeremy D. Larson

I feel unsettled when I stream music on Spotify. Maybe you feel that way, too. Even though it has all the music I’ve ever wanted, none of it feels necessarily rewarding, emotional, or personal. I pay a nominal fee for this privilege, knowing that essentially none of it will reach the artists I am listening to. I have unfettered access to an abundance of songs I genuinely love, along with an abundance of great songs I’ve never heard before, but I can’t shake the eerie feeling that the options before me are almost too perfect. I have personalized my experience enough to feel like this is my music, but I know that’s not really true—it’s simply a fabricated reality meant to replace the random contours of life outside the app.

The truth is that if you’re using Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, or any other streaming service, you’re not paying for music so much as the opportunity to witness the potential of music. Music becomes an advertisement for the streaming service, and the more time and attention you give it, the more it benefits the tech company, not necessarily the music ecosystem. In Spotify, each song’s play count is prominently displayed, in effect gamifying the music industry so that tracks tacitly compete against one another inside the app. They even go so far as to turn the amount of time you spend in their app into a badge of honor during their annual year-end promotional campaigns. So you’re in the top percentile of Big Thief listeners? That’s not just a measure of your love for an artist’s music , but also a reflection of the time spent enriching the value of a company.

In addition to co-opting corporate social media strategies to benefit from the attention economy, tech companies have inherently made songs fleeting, cheap, and sometimes intrusive , corrupting the cultural exchange between artist and listener. Music is now leased to you through a secret system that you don’t understand, by a company with which you should have no emotional connection. Instead of simply buying a physical product or even pirating music from Napster—both of which created uniquely personal libraries of songs that helped define the identities of a generation—millions of users now sit side by side at the ledge of one great big trough of recorded music for the monthly price of a Chipotle burrito.

There have been many passionate and excoriating essays written about how streaming services have short-changed artists with minuscule payouts. But as the reviews editor of this music publication, I find myself asking: What does a platform like Spotify afford the most engaged music fans and what are the lingering effects of its use? As the independent musician and writer Damon Krukowski once wrote, there are alternative and radical solutions to combat the upstreaming of profits and homogenization of sound that the streaming era has come to stand for. But as one of nearly half a billion people who pay a small fee to rent the vast majority of the history of recorded music—not to mention the 2 billion people per month who use YouTube for free—I have found that, after more than a decade under the influence, it has begun to reshape my relationship with music. I’m addicted to a relationship that I know is very bad for me.

I know I am addicted to Spotify the same way I was addicted to nicotine or Twitter. It makes me happy, aggrieved, needlessly defensive. Oh, you boycott Spotify and only buy CDs on Bandcamp? Good for you. I use Spotify every day for hours on end, when I’m working, at the gym, running, when I want to put some music on while making dinner, when I go to sleep.

I write off part of my Spotify use as a hazard of my job, but I just can’t get enough of that sweet streaming asbestos outside of work, too. Even though I buy a fair amount of records every year, Spotify is my main delivery system for music. It’s like being hooked on rolling papers or the yellowed smell of a casino—not the actual vice itself. The ease, the look, the familiarity—I’m addicted to the emotional labor it does for me when its “Radio” feature instantly creates a playlist of songs that kind of sound like, say, “Breakdown” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers while I’m sitting outside on a nice afternoon. It loosely organizes what I love and what I might love and, for the most part, it’s absolutely correct.

I’ve sometimes rationalized that it is not an unhealthy addiction: I use Spotify in a way that reflects who I am, I bend it to my whims. For the last 10 years, I have kept playlists of favorite songs—both old and new—I discovered each year, a living record of growth and change in taste. I listen to weekly playlists that are made by friends and colleagues and artists, silently connecting with their interests. I’m going beyond the algorithm, operating at a higher frequency, clipping between the walls that cannot contain my taste profile.

The seeds of this addiction were planted in the late 2000s, when the music industry was struggling to adapt to the new digital era, unsure of how to wrap a tourniquet around the vast hemorrhaging of money caused by such a fast-moving paradigm shift. The streaming era as we know it began in an unlikely place, with good intentions: On October 10, 2007, Radiohead released In Rainbows and allowed fans to pay what they wanted for its digital files. After 1.2 million downloads, the average price paid per album was $2.26. Case studies in setting a new market price don’t come in a tidier package than this.

But as free-market and egalitarian as it was, the experiment was meant to motivate fans to go out and buy an actual physical copy of the album. Devised by Radiohead’s managers Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford while they were “a bit stoned,” the pay-what-you-want stunt was a means to an end: “If we didn’t believe that when people hear the music, they will want to buy the CD, we wouldn’t do what we are doing,” Edge said at the time. A lot of Radiohead fans did buy the album when it came out—it sold 122,000 copies in America alone in its first week—but by then, the downloaders outnumbered them by a wide margin. So even though Thom Yorke later described Spotify as “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse,” his band all but invented the model of what would become the streaming era: turning music into an ad that you pay very little for, with no real incentive to go and buy what it is advertising.

Another important shift was happening in 2007. Seeing the writing on the wall, several high-profile artists were abandoning their longtime major labels to find other avenues of distribution: Madonna left Warner to sign with touring giant Live Nation, a bellwether of where the real money was being made in the industry. (JAY-Z would make a similar move the following year.) Nine Inch Nails left music mogul Jimmy Iovine’s label Interscope and independently put out an instrumental album, Ghosts I-IV ; by Trent Reznor’s estimation, the collection made millions more than it would have had they released it with the label.

Into this stew of major label woes—which included the lingering piracy boogeyman—came Spotify. Launched in 2008, the streaming start-up was a direct attempt to both stem piracy and circumvent anti-piracy laws in its native Sweden. In addition to offering a way for online listeners to legally play music, Spotify acquired its user base in markets around the globe because of how easy it was to use. No more paying per song on iTunes, no more navigating the murky waters of P2P servers, no more waiting for albums to download. Here, finally, was a solution: legal music, a lot of it, right now, for cheap.

After officially launching in the U.S. in 2011, Spotify quickly turned into a potential panacea for everything that was ailing the music industry. Two years later, newspapers were asking: Can Spotify Save the Music Industry? A race to market dominance ensued. By 2014, Reznor had mended fences with Iovine and became the chief creative officer of Iovine’s new streaming platform, Beats Music, which wanted to set itself apart from competitors like Spotify and Pandora. Instead of an algorithmic platform that served you what you wanted, its team of curators would provide you with a more human experience. Iovine saw that, through artist and influencer-created playlists, you could confer taste, status, and criticism—the stuff that the former record-buying public supposedly pined for. One of Iovine’s maxims at the time: Access is average; curation is everything. Seeing the promise of a more bespoke streaming experience, Apple bought Beats for $3 billion and relaunched the service as Apple Music in 2015.

That same year, JAY-Z stood on a stage with Madonna, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Kanye West, and several other A-list musicians to announce the artist-majority-owned service Tidal, with “a mission to re-establish the value of music.” Touting hi-fi streaming and better payouts for artists, Tidal seemed like a much-needed counterweight to Apple Music and Spotify. Finally, here was a platform not funded by Silicon Valley VCs but by (admittedly already wealthy) musicians who understood the art and work that goes into the process of creation. But since its launch, its growth has lagged dramatically behind its competitors. Last year, JAY-Z sold the majority of Tidal to Square, a mobile payment company owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Each successive introduction of a new tech company into the streaming era sought to solve a problem created by the digital era: pirating, the devaluation of music, and the lack of human connections music once relied upon. At this point, music piracy has generally been on the decline for five years. Major labels have plugged the holes in their coffers by licensing the vast majority of their music to streaming services and meting out payouts to their signees. The exception has always been the independent-minded Bandcamp, which includes a Radiohead-style pay-what-you-want option at a record’s point of sale, and fosters holistic connection between musicians and listeners through hubs run by labels and artists. Earlier this year, Bandcamp was acquired by the software company Epic Games.

Much like social media, the streaming era has created a simulation of real life. Each company uses its technology to digitize and replace the analog practice of buying, listening, and connecting to music, all while capitalizing on the nostalgia of those activities. The seamlessness of the experience—the ease with which one song bleeds into the next, and the buffet of decisions laid before you on Spotify’s home screen—creates an artificial scarcity out of vast abundance. For me, it has caused a kind of nagging depersonalization, an experience so divergent from, say, holding an album in my hands, or being in a record store, that I feel like a little bit of a hack every time I open the app. But I also understand that for the majority of subscribers, this simulation of a beautiful, vibrant, limitless music industry is possibly all they could ever want.

Let’s say there are three general categories of music listeners: Passive, Auxiliary, and Intentional. Most of the world falls into the Passive category, absorbing music like inhaling oxygen: without much thought at all. For them, there is either music playing, or maybe it’s not music playing, who can be sure? There is perhaps little to no interrogation into why any sound is floating down from the speakers at the grocery store; it simply exists at the same megahertz as the shopping cart and the fluorescent lights and the cereal selection. Songs are liked and not liked, if they are thought about at all, and the whole relationship is pure and elegant.

The second is the Auxiliary listener, someone for whom music enhances a primary experience to make it more interesting. Common forms of auxiliary listening involve music accompanying a visual stimulus, like film scores or needle drops in movies, music videos or their modern-day equivalent: a song snippet looped in a TikTok. But the Auxiliary listener chiefly uses music as a utility: to relax, to work, to go to the gym, to get drunk, to do drugs, to have sex, to dance, to fall asleep. Music is not your life, but what was playing while you lived it.

The last is the Intentional listener, someone who chooses to listen to music for the pleasure of it in and of itself. This is admittedly the tiniest category of people, a subset that spends a remarkable amount of time listening to albums, mixtapes, DJ sets, and playlists without distraction. They are purposeful about what they select and why—for them, there is a pleasure to be found in the flow of listening to music and the emotional, intellectual, and biographical response that it creates untethered to anything but the chemical responses in the brain. Some of these people use drugs to enhance this connection, but not all of them. Music, for these people, is life.

It’s important to make these distinctions because I believe that, for Passive and Auxiliary listeners—again, the vast majority of people in the world —Spotify and the streaming era writ large have achieved an ideal compromise. The technology has made accessible what had previously been difficult or kept behind the gates of record stores or music criticism. For an older generation, there is a sudden and overwhelming pleasure in being able to listen to all the music from your life instantly, retracing the decades through a digital library.

The cognitive dissonance occurs when people in the Intentional group—people like me—try to tell people in the Passive and Auxiliary groups how to listen to music. I know the global financial devaluation of music is irreversible, and there are only a small percentage of total music listeners for whom the phrases “buy from brick-and-mortar stores” or “support Bandcamp Fridays” means anything. But what I fear is that the streaming era is actually writing the same listening histories for those who can’t be bothered with Intentional listening–all exclusively based on proprietary algorithms that seem like a way to discover music but, in fact, act more like a feedback loop.

A close friend, an Auxiliary listener, recently sent me a Spotify link to an album by classic rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet, noting that it would be good music for the gym. This sent me into a bit of a panic spiral for three reasons. One is that I wondered why I neglected to share my professional life with him: In 2018, my pan of their debut album drew the attention of those beyond Pitchfork’s usual purview, with Barstool Sports suggesting that the band must have “fucked my girlfriend,” and GVF fans threatening to “TP” my house via homemade signs they held up at concerts. The second is that I realized I am but a tiny little dust mite in the universe, and my own opinion on Greta Van Fleet is largely irrelevant beyond the scope of a few thousand music snobs and select GVF fans, and what’s actually important in the world is the bond close friends have despite these relationship glitches. Third is that Spotify knows me better than my close friend.

The more time I spend on Spotify, the more it pushes me away from the outer edges of the platform and toward the mushy middle. This is where everyone is serviced the same songs simply because that is what’s popular. Four years ago, while the app’s algorithmic autoplay feature was on, I was served the Pavement song “Harness Your Hopes,” a wordy and melodic—and by all accounts obscure—B-side from the beloved indie band. As of this writing, the song has over 72 million streams, more than twice as much as their actual college rock hit from the ’90s, “Cut Your Hair,” the one Pavement song your average Gen X’er might actually recognize. How did this happen? In 2020, Stereogum investigated the mystery but came up empty-handed from a technological perspective, though the answer seems obvious to me: Whereas many Pavement songs are oblique, rangy, and noisy, “Harness Your Hopes” is among the most pleasant and inoffensive songs in the band’s catalog. It is now, in the altered reality of Spotify, the quintessential Pavement song. When frontman Stephen Malkmus was asked about this anomaly, he sounded blithely defeated: “At this point we take what we can get, even in a debased form. Because what’s left?”

The whole “Harness Your Hopes” situation is in part a result of what’s called “cumulative advantage.” It’s the idea that if something—a song, a person, an idea—happens to be slightly more popular than something else at just the right point, it will tend to become more popular still. (On the other hand, something that does not catch on will usually recede in popularity, regardless of quality.) This is the metric of how most social recommendation algorithms work—on Facebook, the more “likes” an article has, the better odds a user will read it. But when this is applied to what songs are sent to which people, Spotify can engineer its own market of popularity as well as what song defines a band. Popular songs on Spotify are popular within the app because they are what most people are listening to. So from both a behavioral psychology and business perspective, it makes sense for Spotify to assume that you want to listen to what other people are listening to. The chances of the average listener staying on the app longer are much higher if Spotify curates songs that have had a similar effect on people whose taste matches theirs.

This is one of the main addictive chemicals of most streaming services: Recommend a handful songs—out of millions!—that feel uniquely personal but in fact are just what everyone else is hearing, too. If a Passive or Auxiliary listener lets the algorithmic Spotify Radio play songs based on Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” the results are almost purely based on chronology, tempo, and feel. Gone are the filigrees and the autobiography of the song and how it existed in the world to you , the listener. Instead, everyone’s experience is now the same.

For instance, Spotify’s radio station for Ludacris’ “What’s Your Fantasy” doesn’t link to any OutKast songs, even though I watched Ludacris open for André 3000 and Big Boi when that song was released in 2000, and both acts are from Atlanta. Is Spotify aware that Big Boi is a huge Kate Bush fan? Does Spotify know that singer-songwriter John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is a metal head? If you have seen Darnielle cover metal bands from Dio to Gorguts to Nightwish, or are familiar with one of his most popular songs, “The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton,” you know that he loves some sick riffs and moonward barks. But all of that intimate (and publicly available) knowledge is lost to machine learning. Tuning into Spotify’s Mountain Goats’ Radio won’t turn up any Dio at all—just literate and mostly acoustic indie rock songs that sound similar to the Mountain Goats. Left to a streaming service, these kinds of textured and unique connections are smoothed over or erased entirely.

I have committed my personal and professional life to making sense of music, of finding connections and context within songs to create a critical framework that allows me to organize everything I listen into an ornately chaotic web. If I started a Fugazi radio playlist, maybe I would throw some Red Hot Chili Peppers on there—you’ll hear it. If I started a Pavement radio playlist, how could I not include the Louisiana rapper Young Bleed’s song “How Ya Do Dat,” where he calls himself “ slanted and enchanted ”? I would argue that Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Parquet Courts’ “Instant Disassembly” both utilize a stilted, inverted grammatical style in their lyrics and are absolutely in conversation with each other.

When music is so abundant and our attention is scarce, there’s power in adding more intention to your listening diet, more chaos, more risk. The thrill in finding music that is wired to your singular life is not that thousands of other people have found the same thing. It’s that the music becomes something confounding and unique, a true reflection of where you are and where you’ve been. The beauty of the algorithm of your mind is that it makes perfect sense to no one but yourself.

This week, we’re exploring how music and technology intersect, and what today’s trends and innovations might mean for the future. Read more here .

By Nina Corcoran

By Matthew Strauss

By Madison Bloom

By Pitchfork

Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Rock Music — Heavy Metal Music and How It Can Positively Influence People

Heavy Metal Music and How It Can Positively Influence People

• Categories: Religious Beliefs Rock Music

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Words: 4509 |

Pages: 10 |

23 min read

Published: Apr 11, 2019

Words: 4509 | Pages: 10 | 23 min read

The Benefits of Heavy Metal Music

Works cited.

• Berghammer, T. (2016). Is Metal a Religion? Metal Fans, Metal Music, and the Metal Community. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199942769.001.0001
• Christe, I. (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins.
• Cohen, A. J. (2013). The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal. Rough Guides.
• Dunn, S. M. (2012). Metalheads: Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Alienation. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
• Guerra, R. (2019). Heavy Metal Music and the Communal Experience. Lexington Books.
• Keith Kahn-Harris. (2007). Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Berg Publishers.
• LeVine, M. P. (2008). Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam. Random House.
• Purcell, N. (2003). Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture. McFarland & Company.
• Weinstein, D. (2000). Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology. Lexington Books.
• Whiteley, S. (2014). Metal Music Manual: Producing, Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering Contemporary Heavy Music. CRC Press.

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Essay on Music Concert

Students are often asked to write an essay on Music Concert in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Music Concert

What is a music concert.

A music concert is a live show where musicians perform for an audience. These concerts can be small or big, depending on the number of people. They can take place in different places like parks, stadiums, or concert halls.

Types of Music Concerts

There are many types of music concerts. Some concerts feature a single musician or band, while others have many artists. Concerts can also focus on different types of music like rock, pop, classical, or jazz.

The Experience of a Music Concert

Going to a music concert is a special experience. You get to see your favorite musicians perform live. The music, lights, and energy of the crowd create an exciting atmosphere. It’s a chance to sing along, dance, and have fun.

Importance of Music Concerts

Music concerts are important for many reasons. They allow musicians to connect with their fans. They also give fans a chance to enjoy live music. Plus, concerts can bring people together and create a sense of community.

In conclusion, music concerts are a wonderful part of our culture. They provide a unique experience for both the audience and the musicians. Whether you love rock, pop, classical, or jazz, there’s a concert out there for you.

250 Words Essay on Music Concert

A music concert is a live show where musicians perform songs. People come to watch and listen. It’s a place where you can see your favorite singers or bands. Concerts are held in different places like parks, stadiums, or concert halls.

There are many types of music concerts. Some are big and some are small. Big concerts can have thousands of people. Small concerts might be in a coffee shop with just a few people. Some concerts are for one type of music, like rock or jazz. Others might have many kinds of music.

The Experience at a Music Concert

At a concert, you can feel the music in a special way. The loud sound, the lights, and the crowd make it exciting. You can see the musicians play their instruments and sing. You can also sing along and dance. Some people even make friends at concerts.

Why People Love Music Concerts

People love concerts because they are fun. They can make you feel happy or excited. You can hear music you like and see your favorite musicians. Concerts are also a way to share music with others. When everyone is singing and dancing together, it feels like a big party.

In conclusion, a music concert is a wonderful event. It is a place where people can enjoy music together. Whether it’s a big concert or a small one, it’s always a special experience. So the next time you have a chance, why not go to a concert? It might be a lot of fun!

500 Words Essay on Music Concert

A music concert is an event where musicians come together to perform. It’s like a big party where people gather to listen to their favorite music. Concerts can be small or big, with few or many musicians, and can take place indoors or outdoors. They can be free or you might need to buy a ticket. The music played can be of any type – pop, rock, classical, jazz, or any other genre.

Parts of a Music Concert

A music concert is usually divided into several parts. The first part is the “opening act”. This is when less known musicians or bands play to warm up the audience. After the opening act, the main performer or band comes on stage. This is the “main act”. They play for a longer time and perform the popular songs that people came to hear.

Sometimes, there is also an “encore”. This is when the main act comes back on stage to play a few more songs after they said goodbye. It’s like a little extra gift for the audience.

Experience at a Music Concert

Going to a music concert is a special experience. It’s not just about the music, it’s also about the feeling of being part of a big group of people who all love the same music. You can see the musicians in person, hear the music live, and feel the energy of the crowd.

At a concert, you can dance, sing along, or just sit and listen. You might also meet new people who share your interest in music. And when the concert is over, you’ll have memories that you can keep forever.

The Importance of Music Concerts

Music concerts are important for many reasons. For musicians, they are a chance to connect with their fans and to showcase their talent. For the audience, concerts are a way to enjoy music in a unique and exciting way.

Concerts also have a positive impact on the community. They bring people together and create a sense of unity. They can also boost the local economy, as people often spend money on tickets, food, and other things when they go to a concert.

In conclusion, a music concert is more than just a live performance. It’s a social event that brings people together and creates unforgettable experiences. Whether you’re a musician or a fan, a concert is a celebration of music that everyone can enjoy.

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I saw Beyoncé get booed at the CMAs. I’ve been waiting for 'Cowboy Carter.'

To that inevitable icebreaker question, “What was your first concert?” my heart always beats with excitement at the chance to share that in 2000, when I was 8, I was lucky enough to see the group that’s now known as The Chicks . But almost every time I give that answer, I get confused looks, blank stares and sometimes laughs. Women in country music were all I was ever interested in when I was growing up, and many of the kids at school made fun of me for that. It wasn’t the cool thing to do, especially for a Black kid. But not even seeing my favorite group when I was 8 compared to the November 2016 CMA Awards when The Chicks were joined by an unannounced Black artist whose love of country music has also been questioned .

Women in country music were all I was ever interested in when I was growing up, and many of the kids at school made fun of me for that.

As soon as I heard those horns begin playing and heard Beyoncé say the word “Texas,” I knew that we at the CMAs were in for the treat of her performing her then-hit “Daddy Lessons.” Even better, she was performing it with The Chicks, the group I grew up thinking was everything. And then I heard a woman in the row ahead of me yell, “Get that Black b---- off the stage!”

In a March 19 Instagram post promoting “ Act II: Cowboy Carter ,” her album that was released today, Beyoncé wrote, “This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed… and it was very clear that I wasn’t . But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”

Beyoncé did not say exactly which experience had left her feeling unwelcome, but the hostile, often racist, responses she got on social media after performing at the 2016 CMAs and the CMAs taking down a post promoting her and The Chicks were big news ( a spokesperson for the award show said the post hadn’t been approved by Beyoncé).

The day after their performance with Beyoncé, The Chicks posted a link to “Daddy Lessons” on social media and wrote, “ If we all turn this up really loud, together we can drown out the hate .”

The woman in front of me yelling at Beyoncé had so much rage in her voice. Months later, I was still replaying that moment in my head. I’d ask myself: Do people feel this way about me when I enter the country music space?

Five years later, while listening to Rissi Palmer’s “Color Me Country” radio show on Apple Music, I crossed paths with Holly G, the founder of the Black Opry , a home for Black artists, fans and industry professionals working in country, Americana, blues and folk music. I accepted her invitation to the 2021 CMAs, the first time I’d been there since I saw Beyoncé disrespected. This time, because I’d found my community, the environment felt different. I felt supported.

“My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant,” Beyoncé  said in that March 19 Instagram post.

A common experience among Black country artists and fans is feeling unwelcome. Many of us were told that country music wasn’t meant for us. I think for a majority of us Black country music fans, we waited until we were a little older and less concerned with fitting in to be open about being fans of the music. That is, we became more open about or love for the music when we became more interested in finding the joy in standing out and being authentically ourselves. With the release of “Cowboy Carter,” we find solidarity with Beyoncé, who’s been open about feeling unwelcome in the country music space. Our hope is that with so many eyes on Beyoncé and Black country artists, there will be greater appreciation for Black people’s history in country music and Black country artists across the board will be in higher demand.

A common experience among Black country artists and fans is feeling unwelcome.

Beyoncé made history when her song “ Texas Hold ‘Em ” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. According to Billboard.com, “Prior to the triumph for ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ no Black woman, or female known to be biracial , had previously topped Hot Country Songs .” That feat is worth celebrating, but it’s not at all surprising to learn that Beyoncé has a song at the top of the charts. The more pressing question is what are country radio programmers going to do for Brittney Spencer , Camille Parker , Chapel Hart, Roberta Lea , Julie Williams , The Kentucky Gentlemen and so many other Black artists who have been knocking on country music’s doors for years? How are the people coming to the genre because of Beyoncé going to respond to those artists?

During the flood of adoration for Queen Bey’s new accomplishments, there’s a whole community of Black country fans who are hopeful that the visibility she brings to the music quickly turns to financial and substantial long-term support for lesser known Black artists in country music.

Tanner Davenport is a Nashville native who has been a fan of country music ever since he was a kid. He is a co-director of the Black Opry — a home for Black artists, fans and industry professionals working in country, Americana, blues, folk and roots music — and an artist manager in Nashville.

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In Cowboy Hats and Fringe, BeyHive Turns Out in Nashville for Beyoncé

On Friday night, in the capital of country music, the artist’s fans showed up in force to celebrate “Cowboy Carter.”

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By Emily Cochrane

Reporting from Nashville

Beyoncé fans had spent the day racing from store to store, searching for their first cowboy hat or pair of white cowboy boots. They brought out the denim jackets lined with silver fringe, the brown and white cow print skirts and the silver rhinestones to stud just above their eyelid.

Then on Friday night, they headed downtown to the famed strip of honky-tonks and bars on Lower Broadway in Nashville to listen to Beyoncé’s new album, “Cowboy Carter,” a tapestry of not only country music, but also contemporary pop music, funk and other genres.

“I’ve never seen so many people that look like me in cowboy hats in my life,” Nia Blair, 24, marveled, dancing in her own pair of new boots. She added, “One album did all this.”

There was no shortage of celebrations of the superstar’s new album this week: There were listening parties from Atlanta to Houston , a fan day at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and a seemingly endless stream of on-theme posts from brands and politicians .

But this is Nashville, where the iron gates of the country music business and its radio stations have fortified its brand as “Music City” with a history of minimizing the women and musicians of color who helped build its foundation or sought to expand its horizons.

It is also where some of its fandom and critics rebuffed Beyoncé’s performance at the Country Music Association Awards with the Chicks in 2016, a moment implied to be the catalyst for the creation of the album.

This party was different.

“Tonight is really just a message saying that we are here in Nashville,” said Dede Neahn West, who helped organize the listening party on the rooftop of Acme Feed & Seed, a refurbished farm store that now boasts four floors of music and events. “It’s just giving honor and celebrating, and celebrating our culture.”

Just over a week before the album was set to be released, Ms. West and Aaron Bell, a longtime Nashville producer and musician , began talking about putting together an event in the city to bring Black fans together to celebrate what many see as the triumph of the album’s artistry, the acknowledgment of the extra barriers musicians of color face and the promise of more to come.

“Being a Black person here — Broadway has nothing that reflects us,” said Mr. Bell, a D.J. who frequently performs as A.B. Eastwood and like others, said he has found a more inclusive space to perform at Acme Feed & Seed. “It was important to do it on Broadway.”

“Nashville, we love you,” he said, but, “we don’t have to wait on anybody to give us the OK.”

The release of the album has jolted the country music industry. But it has also created an exhausting and emotional whirlwind of attention for the legions of musicians, producers and artists who had already worked for years in Nashville to create a space for Black musicians in a genre they loved, some said in interviews.

“Beyoncé has brought us all together for this night alone, which we can be grateful for,” said Tanner Davenport, co-director of the Black Opry , which has given a platform to Black country and folk artists, including through a touring revue , since 2021. But he added, the reason he and others “stay in this area is because of the community that’s here.”

There is not yet an indication that the Nashville conglomerate of labels and executives has drastically changed its approach, particularly given its lasting dependence on terrestrial radio . That has left open questions about whether financial and institutional opportunities will come to other Black country artists, even as the initial songs from “Cowboy Carter” have broken country music records .

“The greatest opportunity that we have for change here is the fact that she’s exposed the idea of country music to a ton of people who now seemed more receptive to engaging with it — which the fact that they were not receptive is through no fault of their own,” said Holly G, the founder of the Black Opry .

She added, “I think what we have an opportunity for now is to build a fan base that can exist and thrive outside of these spaces that have not made us feel welcome.”

And the listening party on Friday, titled “Kinfolk,” was a signal that perhaps those fans could be drawn in.

On Friday night, past where bachelorette parties and tourists flocked to the rest of the famed strip of honky-tonks and bars owned by stars like Kid Rock, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan, hundreds of people brought the rooftop at Acme Feed & Seed to its capacity.

A line of fans in fringe, denim and leather snaked through the floor below, as others crowded the rooftop, posed for photos with friends and listened to calls to buy more records and tickets for other artists. Attendees spoke about how this was the first country album they had listened to in its entirety, how it had prompted them to begin listening to other Black country artists or the joy they felt being surrounded by other Black country music fans.

“We’ve never felt comfortable even playing music — country music — on Broadway, but it’s nice to be here tonight with people that respect what we do and respect what we look like,” said Brandon Campbell, who performs with his twin brother, Derek, as the country duo The Kentucky Gentlemen.

To celebrate a Black woman’s country album on Broadway given a decade of challenging experiences in the city, he added, “is really big, mentally, physically, emotionally for us.”

Video of the 2016 performance at the Country Music Association Awards played on loop on televisions behind the bar, as bartenders served drink specials like The Bey-Hive, a discounted cocktail can, and Texas Hold ’Em, a whiskey sour made with whiskey from a Black-owned distillery in Nashville.

“It’s a lot of fun, and seeing the fact that people are actually willing to dress up and come out?” said MaKayla Stovall, 25. “It makes me feel a certain amount of pride, being Black and from the South.”

Brandon Robinson, 27, said, “I hate that she didn’t have a good time last time, so I’m glad that we can have a good time for her.”

When it was time to start playing the album, there was raucous applause, phones and studded cowboy hats held high into the night sky in time with the music.

And when two of the Black women featured on the album, Brittney Spencer and Reyna Roberts , appeared onstage together, the crowd roared. A woman in a cowboy hat and long white coat wiped away tears, as the two women sang along to their own harmonies on the album’s cover of the Beatles song “Blackbird.”

“This is incredible,” Ms. Spencer told the crowd before the next song began to play. “I love Black Nashville.”

Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville. More about Emily Cochrane

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ABBA fans celebrate 'Waterloo' Eurovision victory, 50 years on

Chloe Veltman

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers perform the iconic ABBA song 'Waterloo' at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Alastair Grant/AP hide caption

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers perform the iconic ABBA song 'Waterloo' at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Fans of the Swedish supergroup ABBA gathered Saturday in England, Sweden and elsewhere to celebrate the hit song "Waterloo" on the 50th anniversary of its victory at the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish Television hosted En Fest För ABBA (A Party For ABBA), a tribute concert in honor of the band, in Stockholm on Saturday evening. The king and queen of Sweden were in attendance, though none of the band members were there.

Earlier in the day, singers and a pianist regaled commuters with a tribute to the song at Waterloo train station in London.

Piano Moments Waterloo Station London #waterloo50th #ABBA #Eurovision #Abbawaterloo @ABBA @pjd1978 pic.twitter.com/mW3UYJv7RD — Jeff Day (@jeffd1963) April 6, 2024

Fans also gathered for a flash mob dance in Brighton to mark the occasion. The English coastal city hosted the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

ABBA performed "Waterloo" that day with glitter and gusto. One member (conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff) was even dressed as Napoleon.

The group's win was the first for Sweden in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition was first staged in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.

Telling the story of someone who "surrenders" to a lover, the song references Napoleon's surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

"My, my / At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender / Oh, yeah / And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way / The history book on the shelf/ Is always repeating itself / Waterloo / I was defeated, you won the war / Waterloo / Promise to love you forevermore..."

"Waterloo" went on to sell millions of copies, and topped the charts in several countries, including the U.S. Top 10.

It also propelled the band to global success. ABBA has by far outstripped every other Eurovision winner in this regard, with platinum-selling albums, tribute shows like the immersive ABBA Voyage experience in London, and movies like Mamma Mia! starring Meryl Streep.

Mamma Mia! ABBA Is Back After Nearly 40 Years

This year's Eurovision contest will take place in May — fittingly — in Malmö, Sweden. But the choice of host country has nothing to do with ABBA's victory five decades ago. With rare exceptions, Eurovision is always hosted by the country that won the previous year's contest. Swedish singer Loreen won the 2023 competition with "Tattoo."

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Country star colt ford hospitalized after post-concert heart attack, breaking news.

Morgan Wallen Arrested On Felony Charges Days After He Denounced Fans For Booing Taylor Swift

By Jake Kanter

Jake Kanter

International Investigations Editor

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Morgan Wallen capped a wild weekend by getting arrested on multiple felony charges.

The American country singer’s rep confirmed the arrest in a statement to Deadline’s sister title Billboard. He allegedly hurled a chair off the roof of Eric Church’s Chief’s Bar in Nashville on Sunday night.

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Worrick Robinson, of Worrick Robinson Law, said: “At 10:53p Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities.” He has been released from jail.

The incident took place after Wallen denounced his fans for booing Taylor Swift on Friday night. He told the crowd that they had set an attendance record for his two-night appearance at the Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. He then quipped that he would likely hold the title “until Taylor Swift comes to town.”

Wallen thanked fans for their loyalty, but said: “We ain’t got to boo, we ain’t got to boo.”

@tylermayer53 #fyp #morganwallen #taylorswift #countrymusic #onethingatatime #lucasoilstadium #indianapolis ♬ original sound – tylermayer5

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Country music fans praying for star in ICU

• Updated: Apr. 08, 2024, 7:14 a.m. |
• Published: Apr. 08, 2024, 7:12 a.m.

Colt Ford performs during the Take It Outside Tour 2016 at Lakewood Amphitheatre on Friday, August 26, 2016, in Atlanta. (Photo by Robb Cohen/Invision/AP) Robb Cohen/Invision/AP

• Brian Linder | [email protected]

News broke Friday that country music star Colt Ford was in “stable but critical condition” in an Arizona hospital after reportedly suffering a heart attack following a show.

No updates have been provided since, but it didn’t take the country music world long to rally behind the 54-year-old with prayer and well-wishes.

Alright #RowdyRebels … our brother in Christ and music @coltford suffered a heart attack and is in critical condition… Need those prayers once again! Let's go! ✝️🤟🙏🏽 #PrayerIsPowerful Lord… Please seal Colt with your precious blood and heal him in Jesus name I pray amen! — Blind Joe (@theblindjoe) April 6, 2024

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