Music and Social Class: A Contextual

Study
Explain How Social Class and Music are Related:

Social Class used to influence music massively and I believe the main reason for this was
accessibility. Listening to early music developed in ancient civilizations like Greece, China, Italy and
India, I noticed two things – the first, that all of these music pieces involved early forms of string
instruments and second, that the music was recorded in some way. The latter immediately informed
me of the class that participated in enjoying this music; only the wealthy were literate in these
periods, much of the lower income population were required to perform laborious tasks, and thus
had no use for, nor access to books. Also due to the working class dedicating their time to labour or
crafts they had no time or use for instruments. This means that only the elite owned Instruments,
giving them exclusivity – with exclusivity comes interest but also higher prices. Ultimately, this would
have lead to the working class having no accessibility to instruments. Excluding the lower classes
from ownership of instruments meant that only a very niche portion of the population with their
very specific educations and values were able to express themselves through use of instrumental
music. Over all cultures, much of the elite’s values were very similar and thus similar music was
produced from these places as a result. As travel from one country to another was becoming more
possible, predominantly white, Mediterranean cultures such as Greece and Italy were creating
empires – this meant that they would force their values and culture onto other countries who would
have adapted their music to be more similar (and to the tastes of) these countries. However, this
doesn’t mean that the working class did not develop their own music – a lot of the working class
enjoyed passing down stories that expressed emotion or taught valuable lessons, this had to be
done through word of mouth and the same applied to music – music of the working class at this time
was probably just sung words and wasn’t recorded due to the lack of literate working class people.
Here, we are already seeing the formations of genres resembling ours today such as classical and
folk.

As time progressed, so too did our concept of music. Empires spanning multiple continents meant
that different instruments from other cultures could be accumulated by the wealthy, or adapted to
appease Eurocentric tastes and played together as a means of showing social status. This
culmination of instruments, played together to create grandiloquent pieces of music was the
beginning of what is known today as Orchestral music. The exclusivity of instruments as well as the
expensive education needed to play them, made instrumental music a sign of high social status and
subsequently became incredibly popular amongst this strata, which is probably why we associate
genres such as Orchestra and Classical music with the bourgeoise now. Meanwhile, sung word was
gaining massive popularity also, due to the most powerful factor of 15 th century life, the Church.
Hymns were songs used to pay thanks to God or as supplication prayer. During this time, all people
attended church, this meant that both the rich and the poor became familiar with song – especially
in 16th century England, in which, attending Anglican Church services became mandatory for
everyone – perhaps this is why genres which blended both song and grand instrumentals had
become so loved, such as Opera - developed in Italy during the 16 th century (1598) - particularly by
the upper-class.

As time continued to progress, accessibility was not the only factor that played into the stratification
of music. Eventually, race also played a huge roll in separating music and its class. During the 17 th
and 18th century, African people were kidnapped from their countries and were forced to work as
slaves in America in huge plantations, such as tobacco or cotton fields. Ultimately, approximately 7
million people from Africa were enslaved, depriving the continent of its most able men and women.
This cruel and unusual treatment of these people lead to the development of Soul music – a form of
protest, it was an amalgamation of gospel music and Rhythm and Blues that described the black
experience in America. Catchy beats were stressed through hand claps and spontaneous movements
or sounds. As well as being an entire genre of its own, Soul music was probably the beginning of
performance styles such as acapella and ad-lib (again due to lack of access to instruments.)
Eventually, on the 31st of January 1865, slavery was abolished – however, the experiences of the
black community, now living in America, would not soon be forgotten and so soul music was passed
down through generations of black families who, at the time, due to rampant racism and
segregation, were forced into the working class – the bourgeoise would often not interact with
people from the black community (due to segregation) and subsequently, did not often hear Soul
music, nor did they enjoy it due to their inability to empathise with its lyrics. Therefore, at the time,
Soul was considered a working class genre – used as a means of protest.

It was not until the 1950’s that soul music would be given a wider public platform. Although, this was
only done through white singers, such as Elvis Presley, using Soul and R&B lyrics accompanied with
instrumentals. Initially, the genre known as Rock n’ Roll was widely hated by the white middle and
upper class who found the lyrics protesting their flawed society to be disruptive and uncouth,
though as the white youth of both the working and middle classes began to enjoy it, the genre
became widely accepted in the 60’s, now just termed ‘Rock music’. This was the first real time that
music genre was widely enjoyed by different social classes. This also meant that there was a rise in
black singers, who actually made the songs that rock derived from, being accepted and actually
celebrated leading to the 70’s, the disco decade – predominantly songs made by black people that
the working and middle classes enjoyed. Not only did this mark a new genre, it also marked
acceptance of the black community who could now be free of (for the most part) discrimination and
gain social mobility – more black singers were considered middle or even upper class completely
changing the generic ‘upper class’ and ‘lower class’ music tastes. This continued through the 80’s
and 90’s as genres such as Pop and Rap were created and widely celebrated.

Today, It is impossible to label music genres with a particular social class. Although we are still
socialised to believe that particular genres are more ‘refined’ and ‘complex’ than others,
subsequently making them to the tastes of the ‘upper class’, this is a toxic mentality driven by
people who do not believe in equality, instead believing that those who have had the resources and
opportunity to succeed simply have more merit and talent than those who are deprived of the
necessary resources. In fact, if we are labelling the upper-class purely based on their wealth, then
there would be a large percentage of black rappers who fit that label – this would make rap an upper
class genre despite the lyrics often referring to the working class experience. Social Status is
determined by three things; income, power and cultural capital – however this system is
fundamentally flawed as it was created by a niche group of people who’s goal was to keep this status
unobtainable for others to the point that particular behaviours and pass-times apparently indicate
one’s class. In conclusion, the existence of streaming services, publicity and celebrity status as well
as much wider accessibility to musical instruments means that genres can no longer be confined to
social classes and are instead left to the taste of the individual.
Describe How Culture Impacts Music Tastes:

When discussing the cultural impact on music, we often tend to focus or things such as religion and
economic status. Undoubtedly, this does affect our tastes in music – for instance, more conservative
countries such as Abu Dhabi would be abhorred by more promiscuous songs largely celebrated in
western culture, such as WAP by Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion. The expectations of women in a
culture heavily impact the music tastes of a culture – women expressing sexual liberty through song
would be condemned as sex is a shameful subject in these cultures as opposed to western culture
where provocative song and dance has become the norm. However, according to new research
studies published in the journal Nature, cultural musical preferences were much more note based
than lyric based. Through the study, they discovered that in western cultures people tend to favour
consonant chords such as the C and G chords, whilst disliking seemingly clashing or inharmonious
sounds such as C and F sharp chords. On the other hand, while sampling a group of 100 Tsimane
people from the amazon region who had very little exposure to western culture, they found that
they had no preference for consonant chords or dissonant chords. This goes to show that musical
preference is not based on integers or the perfect ratio of sound (meaning all humans should
theoretically enjoy the same music all over the world) but rather their exposure to sound – thus
cultures with different experiences, being exposed to different things during their socialisation
would prefer different music.

In addition to notes and lyrics, tradition plays a huge role in determining a person’s music tastes.
Certain cultures have traditions that influence the music they prefer. For example. In western
cultures we are exposed to ‘Christmas songs’ and carols every year around the winter season. This
tradition means that we have become accustomed to this type of music and largely come to enjoy
them as they are something that incite nostalgia or memories of the season. Traditions are expected
to be carried on through generations and thus children are socialised into associating the positive
feelings of the winter season and the Christmas holidays with certain types of music, subsequently
influencing a whole culture’s music tastes. The same applies to other cultures that enjoy
celebrations such as Ramadan or Eid – the feelings associated with this music subconsciously shapes
people’s musical preferences.

What Types of Music do You and Your Family Listen To/Has Their Upbringing Aff ected
Tastes?

My family’s tastes in music are at least very eclectic, and at most completely inharmonious. Each of
our music tastes have been influenced by completely different aspects of life.

Personally, I most enjoy surreal Indie music produced by artists such as Jack Stauber who create
often confusing, complex pieces of music and indiscernible lyrics in order to convey chaotic
emotional states, and then contrast this with long instrumentals offering respite; or very innocent
allegories for much darker subjects (for example his use of symbolism comparing death to the sweet
reward of dessert.) I hadn’t been exposed to this music early in life, rather, I discovered it myself
through the internet and my love for surreal animations and performance pieces. I tend to favour
music that has interesting instrumentals, fast tempos and upbeat chords rather than slow songs –
however, I am fascinated by darker subjects. Subsequently, I have become someone who favours
indie and alternate rock as they provide both of these things as well as often inferring narratives
rather than outright telling one. I love analysing pieces and want my music to make me think rather
than understand it completely.
I have influenced my brother in this way largely, though he personally favours 50’s - 60’s pop and
rock. This was influenced, not by people of the era in his life, but instead by internet culture.
Through the ‘radio’ function in Games such as Fallout 4 (60’s dystopian setting) he has come to enjoy
the atmosphere that these songs create. It has also been labelled as a very attractive an unique thing
to enjoy on social media sites such as Tik Tok and so there is a cultural pressure to enjoy this music
as well as the praise for enjoying completely different genres than the status quo that means he
enjoys these genres. They provide a unique sense of identity – something invaluable to a teenage
boy.

My dad mainly listens to old country music or rock – this was largely influenced by my granddad who
listened to traditional Irish music as well as American Country and folk music. I addition to this, my
dad grew up watching old western films with his family and so the music incites an old indescribable
nostalgia. In regards to rock, it is the upbeat instrumentals and rebellious nature of the songs that he
enjoys singing along to – often the liberal views align with his own and consequently he enjoys them.

My mum however prefers 90’s rap and R&B, this was mainly due to her upbringing with my nan who
listened exclusively to 70’s reggae and living in west Croydon where rap culture was massive. The
90’s was her child/teenage-hood where she payed the most attention to current music, so listening
to that music is still most familiar to her and subsequently what she most enjoys, however as her
views have separated from those portrayed in 90’s rap, she has started enjoying current pop more,
with its completely inoffensive lyrics and the fact that they are constantly played means they are
memorable and easy to keep up with.

What Music Do You Dislike and Why?

I don’t particularly dislike any genre – even those famously hated, like jazz I enjoy because they
create spontaneous upbeat and complex instrumentals. One genre that I don’t particularly like nor
dislike is Opera – I think that the artistry involved in it is admirable and I understand how complex it
is, though due to a lot of the songs being Italian I cannot empathise with the lyrics making it less
intriguing to me than perhaps a rock song. On the other end of that spectrum however, is dubstep,
dubstep is a genre I generally dislike due to the seeming lack of artistry involved with it – the beats
are often simple and the songs follow the same pattern of building a beat to a climax and then
dropping that beat, instead relying on eardrum-shattering bass before it fades out. This had become
incredibly predictable especially as dubstep became popular in the early 2010’s and It no longer
piqued my interests at all. Also, as aforementioned the copious amount of bass often made listening
to these songs disappointing (if not listened to with speakers) or uncomfortable.