Surveys
Does digitalization only mean progression or does it also have aspects of regression?
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This question indicates the following: On a daily basis we experience new styles of music, listen to new songs that may be composed in a new way, buy cell phones with updated Softwares and applications, publish our own music, etc. But do we always search for new trends? Is the 'new' always better? Or do we orientate our lives in accordance with past trends? Is the quality of music better now than in previous decades? And how can music influence our social life?
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We created this survey to collect information about music in the lives of two different generations. The younger generation are current students, ages ranging from 16 to 30 years. Then there is the generation of our parents, which consists of 35 to 60-year-olds.
Which Decades' Music Do You Prefer?​
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As you see in the results of this survey, the younger generation preferred the music of today, the 2000s and the 80`s the most, while the older generation preferred the decades in the following order: 90s, 80s, music today. The reasons for this result might be hard to identify. One possibility could be that people prefer music from the decades they were born in or had the highlights of their life because they associate a good time with the songs or they just get used to the style of music. Another possibility could be that they like the type of music of the decade they have chosen more or they just think the quality of this decades' music is the best. It is a fact that we and maybe even the people themselves do not know the exact reason for ranking the decades' music like they did, but we see that people listen to the music of various decades. This shows that every decade has something that makes people connect with the music, even though it may be 'old fashioned'.
What Aspects of Music From Previous Decades Do You Appreciate More Than Music Today?
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What Aspects of Music From Today Do You Appreciate More Than Music From Previous Decades?
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Aspects of Music From Previous Decades Preferred
Aspects of Music From Today Preferred
The outcome of this question shows that both generations agree that only the beat in today's music is better compared to previous decades. Furthermore the younger generation appreciates the relatability from today's music. However, both generations value all other aspects of previous music. That is why we assume that music nowadays is either of lower quality or a less appreciable style than music from the past - in the opinion of the majority of the people. This could highlight one reason for regression in the development of the music, but it does not have to be caused by digitization.
Which Medium Do You Use Most Often to Listen to Music?
During the past years and decades, different mediums of listening to music have been rapidly developed. As you can see, this was a successful aspect of digitalization because almost a hundred percent of the younger generation use Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube. The older generation also prefers to use Spotify and Apple Music the most, followed by radio and YouTube.
Do You Think the Accessibility We Have to Music Platforms and Softwares Today Increases Creativity?
We asked this question to figure out which effect the digitization of mediums has. Most of the participants of the survey answered that they think the accessibility may increase creativity. But how? One really important aspect is that these new platforms give everybody the opportunity to publish music. That is why a lot of new and young musicians become popular and a hundred of different types and styles of music exist. On the other side, all listeners can easily have access to the latest creations. Our study shows that only 19% of the older generation makes music while around 56% of the generation of students frequently make music. This could be one effect of digitization because people are more in contact with various types of music and have higher chances to be heard.
Do You Think That Upcoming Music Trends (e.g. trap, techno, various sub-genres, etc...) Stand For More Creativity than Music Trends in All the Previous Decades?
The majority of the asked persons of both generations denied. Why is that so?
One possibility is the following reasoning based on Critical Theory:
Nietzsche stated in "The Birth of Tragedy that `in a song and in dance man expresses himself as a member of a higher community; he has forgotten how to walk and speak and is on the way to flying into the air, dancing(…)he has become a work of art."
This statement demonstrates the importance and power of music, but at the same time, we have to question: What is this community? How is it formed? What defines this work of art? And who is the artist of it? Is it me, the musician, someone, or something else? The answer could be that capitalism is the driving force that leads to this community. Why? The capitalistic system makes a musician think about the aim of being successful which means having a huge audience because of many produced songs that become popular. Keeping in mind that music is divided into genres. Each genre has its special image and if you listen to a genre, you may dress and commodify your actions and beliefs according to the appearance associated with your genre. This is how stereotypes are created and if you do not want to be characterized as people of a specific genre, you do not listen to this music. The new, upcoming trends are easy to produce, have simple lyrics, and often monotonous beats. The music industry benefits from that by a wider audience that can identify with the music and therefore listens to it. Furthermore, it does not create cognitive dissonance, and therefore the listeners can flee into the music, a world free of problems and stress, and do not think critically e.g. about capitalism itself. A lot of musicians have a typical capitalistic aim. That is why they compose music that serves most of the social genres. This capitalistic system is additionally reinforced by radio channels, etc that often play the newest and most popular songs most of the time. As you see now, it is a Perpetuum mobile that leads to the fact that musicians do not focus on their special personalities, beliefs, and thoughts, and creativity gets lost. Because of digitization it is easier to produce music, but harder to be creative and unique.
How Can Music Influence Our Social Life?
How Often Music is Listened To
Reasons For Listening To Music
First of all, music seems to be part of a lot of different activities in our daily life. We asked in our survey, when and why people listen to music. And as seen in the results, it plays a big role in our lives.
If you look at human history you will notice that many historical and current movements use music as a tool of communication and that music often deals with historical and current happenings. But it is not only accompanying big events, but it also connects us in a special way. First, making music creates a shared world: we all experience time, space, emotion, etc differently, but when we make music together or dance together, we agree on a specific metre, dynamics, and moves. This gives us the feeling of being connected and 'in the same team'. Secondly, it is one way to express, share, and spread emotion. A huge amount of songs, especially popular songs is about love and this is a feeling everyone experiences at least once in his or her life. We asked in our survey one last question and the responses show very well that music means memory, emotion, and connection.
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What Is One Memory That Made You Appreciate Music More?
What Aspects of Digitalization Seem to be Progressive/Regressive?
It is obvious that one of the most significant changes has been the development of new media. New platforms such as Spotify create a more colorful image of music and increase the number of new trends, new musicians, and their listeners. It simplifies the access to music and therefore the integration of it into our daily life. It helps to spread ideas and produces a new type of access to many distinct opinions and information.
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While there are a lot of positive aspects that come with the digitization, according to our survey results, the quality of music as an art suffers. We have seen that the majority of people value music from previous decades more than today's music. One reason for that could be that nowadays everybody who possesses a computer can produce music. Before digitization, musicians had to have a huge knowledge of how to play different instruments and had to put a lot of money and effort into the production of music. This is why today's music maybe not an art anymore but rather computer work, which can be seen as a regression of art. But some may ask - didn't music in previous decades, and in specific eras sound the same and have the same type of beat and tempo? Are we also experiencing today sounds that are similar for a specific set of time, except produced on different mediums? Even though music is ever-changing, the music of both previous decades and today is still valued because it connects to emotional experiences.
Works Cited
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Haworth, Christopher. (2018). Technology, Creativity, and the Social in Algorithmic Music.
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190226992.001.0001.
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Powers, Anna. “Creativity Is The Skill Of The Future.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 May 2018,
www.forbes.com/sites/annapowers/2018/04/30/creativity-is-the-skill-of-the-future/#16fb21084fd4.
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Barbeito, Rodrigo. (2014). CRITICAL THEORY: CULTURAL INDUSTRIES AND MASS CULTURE IN
CAPITALIST. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262183220_CRITICAL_THEORY_CULTURAL
_INDUSTRIES_AND_MASS_CULTURE_IN_CAPITALIST
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Leverone, Jackson. “Critiquing the Music Industry Through the Lens of Philosophy.” California
State University Stanislaus, 2010, https://www.csustan.edu/sites/default/files/honors/documents/
journals/Edgings/CritiquingtheMusicIndustry.pdf.
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