Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?
I think popular music can be a genuine force for political change. Not so much in the music or lyrics to the songs, but from the power music has in everyday life. Music is a collaborative medium which unites people in many different circumstances. By using music as a way of getting huge amounts of people together for a period of time, it gives singers or other people a chance to speak to a large group of people about something important. If the people listen and take action for the issue, it can lead to political change because the government has to satisfy the people.
Some people might argue that popular music isn’t a genuine force for political change, but I definitely think it has the potential. For example when the law was changed because of the dangerous, drug-induced raves that meant certain types of music couldn’t be played in a place where a certain number of people were together.
1 comment:
It is interesting that you use the 1994 Criminal Justice Act as an example of popular music's potential for political change. Certainly, the moral panic generated by rave culture lead directly to political action but this was certainly not the intention of the music in question. Perhaps you could have discussed the way that popular music has helped to raise awareness and funds for specific causes or even the way that it can serve to chronicle the political climate of its time.
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