The Impact of Music on Society

 

Since music started to evolve, the evolution of music technology on society has positively and negatively affected society. For billions of people, music has been an essential aspect of their life for a variety of reasons including culture, mental health, morals, self-expression, and more. Music affects society as a whole and individually, some ways that music is influential include playing an instrument, music vocals, listening to music, dancing, and using music in some way. According to research by Save the Music Foundation, music has a significant impact on humans and it can potentially affect disease, depression, expenditure, productivity, and our outlook on life (Peralta, 2022). In culture, music aids the promotion and protection of other human rights and when healing, it dismantles walls and boundaries creating a space for reconciliation and education (Peralta, 2022). On cotton plantations, enslaved workers used to sing hymns to send messages and communicate without their owners knowing their secret language. From a communication perspective, music has the power to connect people to feel fundamentally different from other forms of communication, for example, to express the feelings of “no one understands me” or “nobody knows how I truly feel” (Peralta, 2022). For society, music provides a platform for anyone to speak out, can uplift someone’s mood or inspire them, gives us a coping method just by listening or dancing, is a bridge for communication, and create a platform for idea-sharing and education (Peralta, 2022). Music has proven to be an outlet for society, but why is that? 

Due to the evolution of music technology, society has been able to use music for many reasons from music education and therapy to the music industry. With technology advancements composers are now able to create soundtracks from home studios, musicians can live stream their concerts where ever they are in the world, and singers can now publicize their music through digital media and digital downloading (The Impact of Technology on the Music Industry, 2021). The invention of the phonograph to being able to stream or download music through a mobile device and having the capability to take this action at any time shows society that anything can be possible with music. Early digital recording hardware and software made the recording process cheaper and simpler and compact discs ostensibly improved the quality of audio for consumers and minimized manufacturing and distribution costs (The Impact of Technology on the Music Industry, 2021). Pirating was very prominent before digital music downloads arrived, it was popular to illegally download music and put it on a CD or Disk to listen to music in a vehicle, cassette player, or CD player. Paid digital distribution platforms have allowed the music industry to make more profit than before through streaming services such as Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SoundCloud, and iTunes (The Impact of Technology on the Music Industry, 2021). Social media and video streaming have allowed artists to connect with fans directly and this saves costs on PR campaigns, plus they can now record music from home for cheaper costs than recording in a studio. The movie and video game industry has also been a big contributor to the music industry by getting soundtracks made and many followers from video games download music they like. Advancements in the music industry have greatly impacted society in more than one way, therefore as more technology evolves so will music.

Below you will learn more about the impact of music on society.

References

The Impact of Technology on the Music Industry. (2021, February 2). SUU. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://online.suu.edu/degrees/performing-arts/master-music-technology/tech-impact-music-industry/#:%7E:text=The%20past%20two%20decades%20of,the%20world%20through%20livestreamed%20performances.

Peralta, L. (2022, March 4). Impact of Music on Society - Sociological Effects. Save the Music Foundation. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.savethemusic.org/blog/how-does-music-affect-society/#:%7E:text=Music%2C%20as%20a%20cultural%20right,change%20and%20bringing%20communities%20together.