Film Music: Sociology of Music (MUED 6032)

30 Replies to “Film Music: Sociology of Music (MUED 6032)”

1. File Sharing

   Though I understand the music industries opposition towards sharing music, I believe that with today’s technology file sharing or the conversion of music into sharable MP3 file formats is starting to become a thing of the past. The article describes music from when it was first transferred onto tapes, CDs, MP3s to network file sharing from sources such as Napster. What it is lacking are the changing devices we used to play the music.

   File sharing was hardly ever a tremendous issue until the invention of the compact disc in 1981 along with the ability to rip and burn multiple CDs from an original to create mixed tapes to put into CD players. Then the Walkman, Ipod, and MP3 player came about they somewhat replaced the CD player which only helped fuel the need to rip CDs from their original format and transfer them to those devices. This created a mixed message saying that the consumer can rip and download music legally however can only rip and save certain scenarios under the Audio Home Recording Act, “which explicitly allows the copying of a CD for personal use.” Which is how Napster got started.

   Personally, I never used Napster nor knew what it entirely was until reading the article. Though I loved downloading music to my MP3 player because that meant that I wouldn’t have to suffer through my music skipping in places because my CD got scratched. It also meant that instead of carrying a huge CD case, CD player, and ear phones on long crapped bus rides I only had to worry about my small MP3 player and ear phones that I could easily stuff in my purse or pocket if I had one.

   With the technology today, even the MP3 players are slowly becoming obsolete and being replaced by phones such as the IPhone and the ITunes app. It has become increasingly easy for consumers to download music to their Apple devices and be able to transfer downloads from that device to another Apple device using the ITunes app. Ripping original CD’s into ITunes is still possible however is not for the inpatient though transferring MP3s files into ITunes has become a task for the determined. The steps to convert files into playable formats to play on ITunes are continually changed with each update making it almost impossible.

   Today I personally store all of my music on my IPhone and have a subscription to Apple music. I can easily listen and download any of the songs that are on ITunes much like what is described with what Napster used to be in the 90s. What I have realized though is that what I have downloaded for free using the Apple music subscription is that the songs or albums do not show up on my computer and cannot be sync’d and saved to my computer. I do realize that there are other methods and music subscriptions that can be purchased such as Google though I do not know much about those programs and apps nor how they work.

   With the advancement of technology, I strongly believe that music industries can control much of the piracy and file sharing that is happening today by controlling how consumers can play their music through the devices that we use today.

   How do you foresee us playing music in the future? Do you believe that the ability to file share will become obsolete?

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   1. Hi Ashley,

      I remember using Napster… and maybe a few other services after Napster was no longer available. (BTW, did you know Napster is now back? Rhapsody is now Napster. Interesting, huh?) I did a little reading up on Napster and while some did say that it hurt the music industry (understandable) some also said that it had the opposite effect. A few examples being Radiohead’s album ‘Kid A’ being released on Napster months before its actually release date and this early exposure pushing them to the top 200 for the first time. Another interesting example is how all of this file sharing allows for musicians who aren’t represented to have exposure. I think that iTunes has really solved the initial issues by adding the protections that are placed on files. When I think about why I purchase CD’s now, it is usually from an event of an artist that is not well known and in my world, file sharing is done much more on an educational basis. I think the current bigger threat to file sharing is now focused on video.

      I’m not sure where I think music will go as far as access etc. Technology is advancing so quickly its hard to keep up let alone ponder the future.

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   2. Hi, Ashley!

      Like you, I never used Napster nor knew what it was. I did, however, make mixed CDs ALL OF THE TIME. In fact, my group of friends had volumes of mixed CDs for road trips—it was pretty intense. Haha!

      Also like you, I store all of my music on the iTunes app. My wife and I just recently had a garage sale where I sold ALL of my CDs that I had kept stored away in a closet for years and years. I finally let them go. Truth is, once they were uploaded onto my computer, I never touched them again. I also have another confession—I was extremely slow to make the change to downloading music instead of buying an actual CD. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I have a hard time spending money on something that I never actually hold in my hand. Kinda weird, I know…

      With new apps like Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music, I think the issues of file sharing are becoming a thing of the past. I recently began a subscription to Spotify, and I now have all the music I could ever want at my fingertips! And this is just for a few dollars a month! In my mind, you can’t beat that.

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2. Manipulation

   In this article manipulation, or a specific type of social influence, through music is discussed. The Stanford Prison experiment, where college students were randomly assigned roles as guards and prisoners, actually included the musical manipulation. For those of you who don’t know, the experiment was discontinued after only 6 of the intended 14 days. On the third day of the study, before a planned visit from outside family and friends, music was used to elevate the spirit of the prisoners in hopes of preventing the study from being terminated. Music was also played in the reception areas to connect visitors to a sense of culture and normalcy, as music is often heard in everyday settings. Music was also used by the guards to torture the prisoners, requiring them to sing specific things and punishing them based on an unknown criterion.

   When I think about manipulation through music, two things come to mind. The first is Christmas music in retail stores. I worked in retail 2 weeks after I turned 16, until I graduated from college. Christmas music is one of retailors’ biggest tools to influence shoppers to get in the buying spirit. Similar to the prison experiment, prerecorded music is used to elicit a particular response. I had always loved Christmas music (and have finally been out of the game long enough to have appreciation developing again) but this manipulation nauseated me. As we all know, the spirit of the season is not consumer based and many of the songs we hear acknowledge that but these songs are played to make you think “family… I love my family… I need to show them I love them… ill show them by buying presents.”

   The second thing that comes to mind is Anthony Burgess’s “A Clockwork Orange.” It is set in future London and tells the story of a delinquent who is forced to undergo aversion therapy. Alex, the main character, is sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder. During this time he goes through aversion therapy that includes administering him nausea-inducing drugs while he is forced to watch extremely violent videos. The therapy ends up being successful, however, the soundtrack to one of them films is Beethoven 9. Alex had previously been a classical music lover but for the remainder of his life is now nauseated by classical music. The book explores the reality of manipulating Alex and the decisions he is able to make in his life. I’ve always thought it interesting though, and wish it were further discussed, that Alex, this horrible, truly disgusting person, was humanized by the inability to enjoy music. I remember feeling bad for him because of this. Enjoying music had the potential to be his one redeeming factor, post prison.

   Questions:
   What do you think about retail stores playing holiday music to influence buyers? Has this influenced your own feelings towards this music?
   If you’ve read A Clockwork Orange, or I guess have seen the movie :/, what did you think about Alex not being able to enjoy classical music? I haven’t read the book in a long time… so forgive me if some details are fuzzy.

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   1. Hi Jamee!

      I’ve had the same experience with Christmas music as someone just shopping. I cannot for the life of me listen to Silver Bells, Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, or Deck the Halls. Which I believe is quite funny since the music is intended to entice the shopper to shop. I just feel nauseated and tuned out like the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

      I have never read A Clockwork Orange however it almost sounds a little like one of the books that I just finished called Operation Paperclip, it is about how the United States brought Nazi scientist into our country and the effects and uses of the programs that where created based on their research. There are a few chapters in the book that briefly talks about interrogation methods that the CIA tried out on the alleged Russian spies found within our government system with the interrogations being at one of the German bases. The CIA resorted to drugs and psychological behavior methods that where first tried and researched by Nazi scientist. The exact methods that they used was very brief though it did say that they used any means necessary such as sound and hypnotism to get information from them which could very possibly included music like you have described.

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3. I have always found manipulation of the mind to be a powerful and fascinating subject, and some of my favorite movies or television series involve influence of the mind.
   Music manipulation is equally intriguing to me. We are either annoyed because we have to listen, inspired by it, calmed by it, appalled by it, or even scared by it- like the condemned tritone of the early church. The article defines manipulation as “a manifestation aimed at influencing somebody to act or react in a desired manner”. In this vague sense, music has “manipulated” my own life as I listen, perform, teach, or compose.
   It is interesting how we can draw any music to a scenario to manipulate the “mood” or a person’s emotions. My second graders are learning an Israeli round called “Shalom Chaverim”, meaning, “farewell good friends until we meet again”. I asked them to think of a friend who moved away and how that makes them feel and then to show that emotion as they sing. One student said it made her want to cry as she was singing about it. I think in this sense the manipulation is positive- not to make my student cry! but for them to see the power and influence of music and its connection to our emotions.
   The use of music in the “Stanford Prison Experiment” shows how it can change a person’s perspective in both a positive or negative way. The two cases mentioned highlighted both effects. The first, by making a relatively dismal situation seem more positive if music is played when the visitors were inspecting the prison. The influence of music allowed the experiment to continue. The second represents a negative use when “prisoners” were forced to sing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” under circumstances that juxtaposed their current environment.
   Manipulation can also have a calming effect in a time of chaos and despair, and makes me think of the musicians on the Titanic who played as the ship was sinking. Just from watching this in the 1997 movie alone, I was deeply moved, and then to imagine the effects it had on the passengers in that moment is quite powerful.
   Another example of a calming effect I discovered a couple of years ago. I heard a story on NPR about a composer who created music for cats and manipulated sounds to make cats feel calmer. http://www.musicforcats.com. I downloaded free samples and played them for my own cat and was surprised that it actually worked! I have not researched effects of music and animals, but from this situation it is fascinating how my own animal was influenced by music manipulation.

   Music has been manipulated from the beginning, and it is undeniable that it influences just about anything no matter the situation whether it is by the composer, the person performing the music or playing it over a loud speaker, or the listener/audience. I think its important to acknowledge that manipulation of music is powerful. However, I do not care for this term when performing because I do not like the kind of authority the word “manipulate” holds over a person. Rather, I prefer the terms inspire, captivate, or connect when playing for a group of people.

   In what ways have you experienced music manipulation both positive and negative?

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4. Film Music

   A few years ago I was responsible for teaching a nine-week music appreciation course. Throughout the course of the year, I would get a new group of students every nine weeks. Within this course, I chose to do a segment on the history of film music. With every rotation of this course, I always found that my students were most interested in and intrigued by film music. Luckily, I did have a textbook to use at my disposal: Music: Its Role and Importance in Our Lives by DeGraffenreid.

   The first films came about in 1889 after Thomas Edison invented a machine called the kinetoscope, which was the forerunner of the movie camera. These films were mostly random action scenes with little to no plot. However, by 1902, filmmakers were beginning to incorporate small plots.

   In the early 20th century, movie theaters did not exist. Companies would ship films to communities and the film would be shown at a local community building (i.e. a community center or church). As our reading states, oftentimes films would be accompanied by a live pianist or organist to cover up the sound of loud movie projectors. At first, these local musicians would improvise a score to the movie; however, in 1909, cue sheets began to be published for musicians to play along with the movie. This was the very beginnings of scoring for a film.

   In 1927, Warner Brothers made a tremendous breakthrough. Their film, The Jazz Singer, became the first movie to successfully sync sound and picture. This ushered in the era of “The Talkies.”

   We also discuss how music in modern films is used and incorporated in many different ways. Filmmakers may use music for a variety of reasons. Here are the three ideas I present to my students:
   • Music helps establish character
   • Music provides insight into a particular character or event
   • Music intensifies the overall impact of the film

   Establishing Character
   The easiest way to establish character through the use of music is a character theme. Character themes are melodies associated with a particular character that recur throughout the film. John Williams is the master of this technique! Think about all of the popular character themes that he has composed throughout his career. Here are just a few: Superman, Indiana Jones, and Hook (my personal favorite). It is nearly impossible to conjure up images of these characters in your mind without also hearing their character themes.

   Providing Insight
   Filmmakers and composers can use music to give a glimpse inside a character’s mind and emotions. When used the right way, music can convey a character’s thoughts and feelings. Of course, there are many great examples of this in today’s films. The example I usually show my students is a scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In this particular scene the first year students are crossing the lake by boat to see Hogwarts for the very first time. The music in this scene does an awesome job of creating a sense of total awe and wonder!

   Intensifying Overall Impact
   Music can help to establish an emotional connection between the character and the audience—it can create a certain amount of empathy. To demonstrate this, I show a scene from the Titanic. In this scene, the ship has just struck the iceberg and began to take on water. A string quartet comes onto the deck and plays “Nearer My God to Thee.” While this quartet is playing there is total chaos and pandemonium—you would think that this scene would call for music that is loud, fast, and dramatic. However, filmmakers and the composer wanted to enhance the tragedy and loss that occurred during the event. Using this hymn, played by a string quartet, maximizes that emotional connection between the audience and the film.

   DeGraffenreid, G., (2006). Music!: its role and importance in our lives. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

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   1. KG,

      Film scoring is such a great genre of the world of music that is often overlooked or taken for granted. I love that you discussed it with your general music classroom. I am always attracted more to a movie if it has a great soundtrack. You are absolutely right about John Williams doing a great job of placing music with characters. There is nothing quite like hearing a characters motif placed inside the music of different scenes and used in different ways. I think providing insight is a really subtle role music plays in movies. This is the category that I think people don’t consciously think about when watching a movie. When movies do this well, I feel much more connected to the characters and to their feelings. Finally, intensifying a movie’s impact is, in my opinion, the best quality music gives to a movie. I often think about the Princess Bride soundtrack and how boring that movie would be without musical interjections and highlights every step of the way. It is no wonder that there are so few movies without a music track present. It adds so much information that is really crucial to the feelings that are conveyed throughout the film.

      If you ever get the chance, Dr. Michael Lee teaches a class every once in a while over film scores or the history of film. These classes are actually a part of the film studies college, I think. Anyway, he is very knowledgeable in film scoring and I know that if I ever get the chance I will be partaking in one of these classes.

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   2. Hi KG,
      I like your comments on film music. I wrote about it as well. I would enjoy incorporating a studies of film music in to my music appreciation classes, so I will definitely be checking out your source. I am not surprised that you saw higher levels of student engagement during the film music portions of your class. I think that non-majors often need some other source of connecting to the music in order to participate on a deeper level. I am often aware of my own shortcomings as a lecturer that limit my abilities to broaden their interests with the mere words that I say, so I have been trying to make use of this need for extra stimulation (pictures, movies, etc.) to help them enjoy diving in. I find myself struggling to convey the historical/cultural significance of pieces, or give insight in to the personal lives of composers in an attempt to draw them in. Symphonie Fantastique is perhaps the easiest piece to get students involved in discussion (opium, borderline stalker situation, etc.), and the first reaction I still hear from students after their first listen is still usually a comment about what movie the music reminded them of. Like it or not, students seem to draw from experience with film music in order to relate to the music they experience in my class.

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   3. Hi KG,

      I have really grown to appreciate film music. That really makes sense that your students were interested in this genre.

      One of the reasons that I like film music, is I feel like it brings forward an opportunity for people to appreciate what they are hearing, regardless of the genre, because of the context. Sometimes, I think, people have a difficult time taking ownership over classical music if they aren’t a classically trained musician. Film music allows people to appreciate traditional orchestration (sometimes even classically influenced/borrowed ideas) in a relatable format. I’ve written on here about our Pops concert that we do with high school students every year and it is by far the biggest hit. Students are, for the most part, motivated to learn the music in a very short period of time. They are excited to play music that shows off their instrument and ability, while still being a piece of music that people have heard of and often times have some sort of emotional connection to. If people are intimidated by interpreting classical music, film music can instill confidence to read emotion and direction from an audio source with the verification of visual accompaniment.

      All around, I would agree that film music is a great educational resource from many levels.

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5. File Sharing

   Reading this article made me think back to my own music listening/sharing evolution. In terms of listening to an album in its entirety that came from purchasing physical copies of cassettes and CD’s from Hastings and like places. I remember in middle school spending hours transferring all of my CD’s onto our desktop computer so that I could make playlists and burn CD’s to share with my siblings and friends. My CD case became filled with mixed cds of my own creation and shared mixed cds from friends. My friends and I would pass around CDS so that we could add it to our music libraries so there was a lot of file sharing going on just by sharing physical copies of the music and downloading them to our own devices.I never used Napster myself, but I’m sure some of my music from friends was acquired that way. For me, this is where the line was blurred between ownership and file sharing.

   With itunes it made it even easier to acquire new music and play from an ipod which was revolutionary at the time! It was amazing to have so many artists at the touch of your finger tips and no bulky cd cases to carry around. There is no telling how many 99c songs or $9.99 albums I purchased on itunes. With itunes share capacity that helped with the limitless sharing of the that specific song/album file. Currently, my main form of music listening is through Spotify. Even more revolutionary! I use it daily for my own enjoyment and for classroom use. It has allowed me to save from buying 99c tracks and to simply create unique playlists whether it is for a specific composer study or music for a program. With Spotify, I rarely buy from itunes or have the need to burn cds anymore. For many students, the idea of a CD is obsolete. They would prefer you sending practice tracks via email so that they can download directly to their devices. (These are 1st-5th graders) I feel like students today do not file share to the extend that they talk about in this article. Their music consumption is mostly from music apps, youtube, and other online sources. The physical or even downloaded music is obsolutet, for them they do not even get close to “owning” the track, but rather streaming it.

   In the article I found the statement about purchasing the physical media does not represent the ownership of the music, merely the right to “experience it” (473). No matter how we acquire or listen to music, we are not the owners of it, even if we did in fact purchase the track or album, we are simply consumer-listeners. The idea of cloning music is a large copy of file sharing. For me, I cloned music in various ways. From album, to computer, to mixed CD and beyond. At the minimum I would have three clones of the same exact album, just in different forms.

   This article has me thinking about what the next step for music sharing/listening will be.

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   1. It really is interesting to see how far we have come with file sharing and attaining music. CDs are pretty much obsolete, but I remember an issue when purchasing my laptop was that it did not have a CD insert, but now- I have yet to need a CD insert because of streaming and access to music in other varieties.
      I used Naptster and Kazaa before Itunes came around and I would get so excited to see the song download completely on to my computer. My friends and I would trade our mixed CDs of all of our favorite songs or playlists as a form of file sharing. I cloned music in the same way you mention- importing CDs to computer and then creating mixed CDs based off of certain songs from the albums.
      Now, our main source for music at home is casting YouTube on to the TV via chrome. I rarely use Itunes and purchase a song maybe once or twice a year, and rely more on YouTube and Amazon Prime or Naxos for song access on my other devices.
      I like how you mention the right to experience music and how we are consumer/listeners of the music. I agree that physical downloads of music are obsolete. It takes up too much space on our devices and because streaming is possible, why would we need to download?

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6. I was singing at my students as they got off the bus and walked into school the other morning and a fifth grader popped off, “the inside of your head is like a movie, isn’t it?” I had read the provided article on film music the day before and I thought about how interesting that question was. I can tell that this child associates music to movies so inextricably that my singing was linked to film, which is most logically considered a visual medium.
   The film music topic and the manipulation topic are inextricably linked. (Perhaps this was on purpose.) Unless the music of a film is diegetic, then what is its purpose besides manipulation? Film music is a very affecting, evocative, artistic, vital endeavor to films and in culture, yet I often find myself “turned-off” by the glorification it? I do not seek it out beside in the context of the film, like many other music lovers do. (But not enough do to garner more research on it, according to the text.) I do not know how I feel about it being a link to “classical” music either, but I think it’s fairly negatively. (This sentiment is cited as another link to lack of research.) Even then, though, I remember the sobbing I did when the Titanic theme would come on or the empowerment I felt by the Fellowship Theme in Lord of the Rings.
   Since I have have conflict, I can get behind the research—regrettably there is not more! The complexity of our brain is vast. Our audiovisual linkage is a research field unto itself, but to consider the psychological and sociological components also involved in movie-watching is impossibly complex. The congruence-association model (CAM) is the working explanation of the association of the audiovisual in media, and a lot of experiments have been done to manipulate the audio or the visual to study the link. Since almost all film music is diegetic (not part of the structural plot/not heard by the characters) I find the Gestalt interpretations of studies to be important in understanding why we are so linked to film music. Music in film is how we fill in some gaps: it’s good storytelling! Filmmakers caught on early on to this phenomenon, but it has not been well-explained at a cognitive level. The CAM model does well to explain what seems to be working well in film music—composers and filmmakers have evidence to support the structures they’ve been working with, like cohesion. I appreciate the author’s insertion of data that shows that irony in music can also be a label of cohesion.
   I understood the child’s assertion about my life-in-a-movie because I can understand the audiovisual link. He, like all movie-watchers, is compelled not by one aspect or the other, but by the combination. He was right, too. If anyone else is like me, they probably do have diegetic music playing at all times: in their head, informing how they view the world.

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   1. Hi Griffin,

      I too am like the student that you describe. I have always connected music with creating a visual picture be it film like or imagining a specific environment. In fact, it’s one of the many ways I love music because everyone’s picture is different. What is amazing is when describing how something should be played such as a staccato using visuals, students are more adept to able to visualize and produce that sound because it puts music into something that is tangible.

      Furthermore, while observing my younger students in 2nd grade during their listening sessions I’ve started a little experiment based solely on their reactions. My students have an idea of very basic music terminology however I wanted to see if introducing classical music as either “what where some of the things you heard” or “what did you see” had any effect on their descriptions. I found that they are able to latch on to music if they are told to visualize or create an image. They are entirely ecstatic to share their visualized story because they feel comfortable with sharing stories than with music terminology at this stage. I believe sometimes as adults we tend to lose familiarity of creating our own story or picture from music versus having it always visually in front of us with film.

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      1. Ashley (and Jonathan), this class is highlighting how conservative I can be about the nature of music! I, of course, “go with it” if classical music is being connected to film music. Your experiment with second graders is interesting. I sometimes use listening maps to visually connect, so I suppose I am often doing something similar. Your reasoning seems like a great method to gauge musical understanding at that age when they do need to have those schema structures to feel secure talking about it. How cool!

         I often consider artistic merit and intent. I don’t want to instill in students that I see music a tool for visual representations. Music is, I’d say, the most abstract of arts. If abstract art “meets you as far as you meet it” I don’t want it to be limited to its use as a tool for visualizations or representations. Children don’t have the cognitive abilities for abstract art in the contexts that adults do, though. Obviously they NEED the other-sensory connections (I think I’m bigger on movement than visualization), I just don’t want them to consider music a limited tool. So I’m careful about how I present it. (At least how I philosophically pretend I present it–a roomful of children kind of forces you into some less-than-perfect presentations!)

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   2. Hi Griffin,
      I too noticed the connection between manipulation and film music. Like you said, the music is often filling in the gaps. The music becomes a tool to tell the story. Horror films often only use music to inform the viewer that an otherwise normal act (walking down the hallway to shut an open door, etc.) is perhaps the worst (and last) decision a character will ever make. They even play with this ability by using music at a moment when nothing will happen, only to create a false alarm, playing with the viewers understanding of the language of film music.
      In reference to your comments on film music being a link to classical music, I’ve found that my students draw from films heavily in order to connect with the music I introduce. Students always say what movie they were reminded of, or what scene they were picturing (from a movie or their own imagination) while listening to the music studied in class. I go with it. If I am able to connect their visuals to the cultural context of the music, I do. If not, I tell them to use their first impression as a algorithm to aide their memory for the exams.

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7. I read about manipulation with music and the read was very interesting. Jamee summarizes it nicely within her post, if you are unfamiliar. I think the premise of the Stanford Prison Experiment is enthralling, and I will need to read more about it. As I read this article I was struck by a bit of surprise that this sort of experiment even took place. Anyway, the music manipulation was not a strong significance within the study because the study was not fully carried out and the music did not have a very big role. However, it seems as though music manipulation was achieved within the experiment.

   Thinking about the musical manipulation described from the article, I wonder if companies and stores actually think about manipulating their clients/customers with their music. Even if the company does not consciously think about manipulating the people in their establishment, I am certain that the music they choose would manipulate or influence the minds of the people who hear it in some way. This makes me wonder what different emotions and actions each genre or style of music would elicit in the listener. Many companies will play a cool jazz or what is casually referred to as “elevator music.” Is this meant to calm the guests? Maybe it is meant to calm the workers and help them stay focused. The optometrist office I went into today was playing country music. If it manipulated my thoughts at all it would have been negatively simply because I do not like country music. Does music manipulation still work the way it is intended if the person listening has a pre-conceived opinion about the music? It would be really intriguing to see a study where subjects’ attitudes are being observed while doing a task with music playing. Each group of participants will have a different genre of music that they are being exposed to while doing the task. I am certain that the results would show that there is a difference in attitudes of the subjects, but would it truly be because of the music or would it be because of their pre-conceived opinions about the music? For example, if someone were heavily opposed to heavy metal music, would his or her attitude be affected negatively because the music makes everyone respond negatively or just because that one subject does not like heavy metal? There would certainly be many variables to account for in an experiment like this one. It is an interesting situation to think through nonetheless.

   Questions:
   Have you heard about music manipulation at the corporate level? What is the goal with the music they play?
   Is there any genres music that affects you negatively? Does it have to do with a specific event or is it simply because you do not like the music?

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   1. Eric,

      Interesting and intriguing ideas! After reading these posts, I am thinking that some corporations are actually putting some thought into what music is chosen for their stores. However, JC Penney, Macy’s, Best Buy, Walmart – not so sure about these large retailers. The ones I think may would be the stores who are playing the “elevator music.” I think the purpose is to calm down the customers, create a more relaxed environment and that way the customer will stay and shop for a longer period of time, therefor spending more money. You know, I got to Riverwind about twice a year just for fun and give my money to the Chickasaws. I would bet that casinos are all over this idea! You hear that they pump oxygen into the room to keep folks awake and alert, they don’t have windows or clocks so you do not realize how long you’ve been donating money, surely the music they play would be thought about to.

      Speaking of Casinos, the tunes played on their games are doing something to draw people to them. I’d imagine there is much research in what kind of music is used for a Slot game. It needs to draw the consumer to the machine, it needs to keep them engaged while “donating” money, and needs to make them want to stay at the machine.

      Genres that affect me negatively? I would imagine if I walked in to Dillard’s and heard some “Scream-0” music being played, I would turn around and walk out. However, I cannot say I have experienced anything other than listening to that music that makes me dislike it. 🙂

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   2. I think a lot can be said for the thought behind corporate manipulation. (Or the lack of it, especially in light of the recent Pepsi scandal.) Music is carefully used to condition us. It’s done in a Pavlovian-style–sometimes so “old school” and obvious in corporate branding efforts. I think that’s why jingles were so popular for a time. I can reasonably speculate that jingles went out of fashion because of psychological advances studying their effectiveness versus other forms of musical manipulation. We now respond to pop music in advertisement more. It’s more ubiquitous and less obvious.
      Your mentioning Heavy Metal reminded me of the US armed forces using that genre to tease General Noriega, a Panamanian dictator, from his hiding place in an embassy.
      A lot of genre’s are affecting to me because of specific incidents or time periods. Namely, one that can either be super positive or super negative (and nothing in between) is “contemporary Christian/worship.” We’re all taken to a place of memories (and are easily manipulated) by the music of our preteen and teenage years, when most are developmentally apt to fantasize about being a rockstar or imagining placement in the lyrics because we developmentally view ourselves on a stage being seen by all. Any pop-punk music and certain albums really get me in a weird mental state from that time!

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   3. Eric,

      The article I referenced last week about the commodification of music expresses the understanding of target audiences. When you walk by a children’s story, the songs played are not just chosen for the age appropriateness, but to draw the kids to the store and their parents along with them. Many of the stores or venues that use music without words, is also intentional. We consciously or subconsciously are drawn to words. Just as we respond to our name being called in a crowded room, we process more than we know. Going back to the research done with Muzak, music is analyzed for its impact based on multiple variables found in each piece. This is intentional. I think it would be counterproductive to have a quick, wide tessitura, and a heavily orchestrated piece of music being played in a cardiologist’s office. I feel that personal preference does has an impact, but research would suggest that targeting your audience with specific music suited for the desired clients will have a larger impact.

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8. File Sharing

   I can’t help but think back to 1999 while reading this article. Oh, to be a freshman again!

   I remember Napster well. I had Napster and a good play list of music, none of which was Metallica. Before Napster, I can remember getting my cassette cued up on my stereo and waiting for my favorite tunes to come on the radio and hit RECORD, PAUSE, FAST FORWARD (repeat) to create my own mix tape. Once CD’s became affordable, I remember being able to transfer my music to the CD’s. When Napster came out, I was able to get as much music as I could fit and create amazing mixes.

   Through file sharing, I was able to start listening to a multitude of styles of music. My friends and I would tell each other what song we HAD to download and check out. I could find new jazz music I’ve never heard before. I even remember getting a 1999 (or so) Crossmen show recording of Blue Shades. My point, file sharing kept me searching and listening to music and was a great thing! I think that is what kept my drive for music going through high school – any music I wanted to listen to and study was at my fingertips! I do understand that the artists are making a living off of their music and not paying for their tracks hurts them, I get it and I buy (too many) tracks off iTunes, often.

   NEW FILE SHARING…?

   YouTube has just about any recording you would like to hear. When my bands are studying a new piece of music, I share with them YouTube links to listen to. Spotify, pandora radio, Apple Music all have music you can search and listen to for free or paid subscription.

   Again, I get that the artists make the music to sell for a living, but, the research even stated 15% increase of data traffic because of file traffic. Isn’t that what they really want, people to listen to their music?

   In the band director world, copyright is becoming more and more of a dirty word. Printed sheet music, custom arrangements and the old File Sharing. I’ve not found the “law” about sharing music (MP3 on cd) to students for educational purposes. I’d like to believe that for educational purposes, this would be allowed.

   I have many CD’s of jazz music my parents have stocked my stockings since I’ve been in Junior High or that I’ve bought myself. From this collection, my jazz band students receive a very large mix of jazz music to listen to. Is there a way you use “file sharing” to help with you students?

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   1. Hi, Matt!

      Just like you, I was creating mixed tapes from a very young age. VERY young. Haha! I remember—I must have been in my early elementary school years—I had one of those red and white Playschool cassette tape players/recorders with the red and white microphone connected by a spiraled yellow cord. I would put my favorite Disney VHS tapes in a VCR and use that “toy” to record all of my favorite Disney songs onto a blank cassette tape. I did this all of the time!

      As I got older and CDs became the popular source for music, I would create mixed CDs for every occasion: road trips, birthday gifts, just for fun—you name it, I had a mixed CD for it!

      As I mentioned in my response to Ashley’s post, I believe that the file sharing issue is becoming a thing of the past. Apps like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube have made it so easy to obtain any recording you would ever want to hear. Not to mention that it’s practically FREE (or at least extremely inexpensive)! For myself, I recently began a subscription to Spotify, and I LOVE IT! No adds, I can search for any recording I’d like to hear, and I can listen to any album whenever I would like to listen to it. It’s great!

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   2. Hi Matt,

      It sounds like several of us had very similar experiences with discovering and collecting music during our adolescent years.

      Ways that I have used file sharing with my students was by creating a google classroom and posting part specific tracks to help them learn their music. I also use this site to post youtube videos of different choirs singing some of our music. This has proven to be successful.

      I have seen the evolution of music listening in my younger students in just four years time. In my first year I found that burning practice cds for enrichment choir and circle the state was sufficient. Currently for many of my students, a cd player is obsolete. They have a personal device or can at least access a computer at home. For many. the only cd player is in their car, and for some that isn’t even the case. (Many new models are all bluetooth or only have an auxiliary cord) For some of my students a personal device and/or having access to cd player isn’t the case. This brings up a whole other subject of technology and equity for all students (at home and school) and that is a whole other topic for another day…

      I have witnessed how files are shared at the state level as well, they have transitioned from sending the teachers physical copies of each part cd to posting the tracks online where we can simply download to iTunes and then disperse in whatever way works for our students. What a life saver! This alone has cut down on a steps of having to burn to a school computer, importing to iTunes and then burning again for students.

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9. I believe that the concept of file sharing fits perfectly following last week’s topic of advertisement and what’s next for music in the digital/internet age. I was a product of the Napster and other file sharing platforms. The author states that many young music consumers had few negative remarks and more positive opinion of the idea (Hubber, p. 472). I attended a conference early in my teaching career on technology integration and ways to incorporate digital ideas into the classroom. The presenter centered around the idea of the difference between the “digital native” and “digital immigrant.” I found this distinction fascinating. The idea that those born after 1980 would be raised only knowing technology and advancing along with it. Those born before would struggle with keeping up and most likely feel as though they grapple to maintain a sense of proficiency. Now, I fully understand that many on either side of this divide can succeed or struggle, but my own anecdotal evidence supports the theory. When you think about the social implications of music during one’s formative years and adolescence, music does play a role in establishing and expressing social norms. For me personally, the ability to tap into such a vast array of music and have the opportunity to share this important aspect of my life was groundbreaking. The daily comparisons of new songs or finding that ever elusive complete albums, were a highlight of many conversations. I think the freedom that was found was the ability to create a mixtape of single songs from a vast array of albums without having to purchase the entire collection or pay for the CD single.

   Streaming services seem to have taken the mantle of Napster and merged those ideas into a potentially sustainable system. Providing similar services, but with the distinction of an agreement between the record companies and the provider. The subscription costs for members and the ad space (see last week’s discussions) provide the revenue stream to allow members to legally download and listen to vast libraries of music. The addition of other services (live radio, listening offline, preference-based playlist, artist information, etc.) provides an attractive option to customers. The discussion of file types and compression is something that seems to be on the rise in recent years. There is a lively debate between the quality of sound that is expressed in a compressed audio file such as MP3 versus other methods of playback, specifically vinyl. The recent surge in vinyl sales, coupled with a decline in both CDs and digital sales is astounding.

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   1. Hi Eric,

      I find the difference between “digital native” and “digital immigrant” fascinating as well. Last spring our GT teacher and I did a mini unit with out students about the evolution of recorded sound. We traced how music was recorded all the way from music boxes, records, 8tracks, cassettes, and beyond. For many their knowledge of recorded sound stopped at CD’s and it was interesting seeing them take turns trying to name the 8 track tape let alone get it to play in the machine! The GT teacher and I also had vastly different experiences with how we consumed and played music during our adolescent years to the present. This anecdote just goes to show how even in three different age groups (current students, 80s child, millennium child) we had different experiences of how we listened to and shared music.

      As educators, we have to continually advance along with the times so that we can remain relevant and meet students where they are at. At my school most of our performance tracks/listening music is found on the school iPod, which is becoming more and more obsolete. I have found it beneficial to share files digitally and have instead of “outdated” cds.

      With students being able to instantly stream music opens up a word of conversation. This has me thinking about how we can keep an open dialogue about what they are listening to and why. Going beyond sharing music for concerts and special performances, but finding way to encourage them to listen to interesting music that is readily available to them. The step of going to the store and purchasing an album, listening, and then potentially adding it to a perfectly crafted playlist is gone. I find it exciting that today’s students have a variety of music at their fingertips. I feel it is our job to continually push their curiosity to seek out new music and develop their own music taste.

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10. Film music has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up with Star Wars, and its music (and the film music of John Williams) has had a serious impact on me throughout the years. I am old enough to remember watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in theaters, but not old enough to have seen the first 2 when they came out (although I watched them so much that I don’t recall a time when I didn’t know that Darth Vader was Luke’s father).
    Even in to my beginning semesters as a music student, when I should be putting these childish things aside, this music continued to influence me. For aural skills (which I loved), I memorized intervals using the music of John Williams. Jaws (minor 2nd), Harry Potter (perfect 4th), Star Wars (perfect 5th), and the movie starring Michael Keaton as Batman (minor scale and minor 6th) were all a serious help for me. I make it a point to teach my guitar majors (or any other majors) struggling with aural skills to learn to hear the intervals they are studying in the music they know already. The music of daily life, the music of one’s childhood, or any other music that a student has some significant attachment to can really be a help with some of those beginning struggles in aural skills.
    One interesting part of film music that I have often observed is its ability to elaborate on a story, as mentioned in the reading several times (first with the Schumann piece used at the beginning of The Butler). I have wondered how much of a story can be told, or how of dialogue could be interpreted in so many different ways by the “unheard” music in a scene.
    Another aspect of film music that affects my work is how it has shaped the way people interact with classical music. My music appreciation class always has discussion time after each piece I play for the class. The first response from a student is almost always “it sounded like [some sort of action sequence] was happening”. My best guess is that film music has conditioned these students to associate classical music with specific visual happenings. Schoenberg sounds like a scene in a scary movie, etc.
    I would love to see a project that took a short bit of monologue that was accompanied with music. The monologue would have to be crafted in a way that the audience would be left to guess what would happen next, or if the person was telling the truth, or just leaving some room for interpretation in general. Then letting people watch it with different soundtracks, ask them to interpret. A rough example: a man saying “I’ve got something for you” and music plays (creepy sounding, romantic, swanky smooth jazz, etc.) and audiences are asked to guess what happens next. Maybe after I strike it rich as a college professor and retire in house in Mar-a-Lago, these will be the kind of things I do to pass time.

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    1. Jonathan,

       I also used the intervals of John Williams and many other movie soundtracks to help me in my aural skills. These were very useful tools to have when I needed to dictate melodies or sightsing (oh how I do not miss those days). Now, I give them to my students to help them hear intervals they are playing with their instruments. Especially brass instrument where hearing a specific partial is crucial to playing the correct pitch (horn is the worst!). The students usually get a kick out of movie references and it is something they will remember. The high school group knows many of the motifs associated with different intervals. My colleague and I can ask them, what is the tune we think of when listening for an octave? Many of them know we use “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and are proud to answer the question in class. This is the type of aural understanding that I wish I was given before I needed it when taking music theory in high school and in college.

       I think you are right about film scores conditioning us to feel a certain way when we hear music, and yet when we study the music of the Romantic Era, for example, the music of Johannes Brahms paints a detailed pictures about his feelings in times of his life that were very dramatic. It almost leaves us wondering, “what came first?” Was it the music that we associated with feeling, or is feeling what drove the music and humans simply have an innate compass on which all music can be placed a feeling.

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    2. Jonathan,

       John Williams is a great example to bring up with film music. Who better?! I think your aural skills strategie is a great technique. The similar intervals helped me in college while doing interval training. I will have to listen to Harry Potter and the (Michael Keaton) Batman again to catch these, however. I do agree though, using music from your daily life to help with aural skills is the way to go!

       When it comes to film music, I always think of what kind of mood it is setting up for the visual aspect to create the bigger impact. A scary movie without the Schoenberg sounding score just wouldn’t have the same impact! Your idea of having a monologue with different soundtracks is fascinating! I hypothesize that the music used would create similar assumptions about what is to come next.

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    3. Jonathan,

       In the non-major course I teach, we examined musical codes and programmatic music on Friday. I begin the class by discussing what types of examples they can imagine and play a few of them (i.e. clip-clop, minor 2nd, jingle bells, etc.). After this discussion, we move into an activity where the students will listen to a movement of Grand Canyon Suite. This was a composition that Disney based their Grand Canyon short film on in 1958. Similar to Fantasia, it was a depiction of the music from the suite. We listen to the movement “On the Trail,” which has six distinct sections. From there, the students are guided to draw an illustration of what they hear. It’s always comical to see what the similarities are, and what influences those choices. This opened a discussion afterward that about music and themes. Given that the Star Wars: Episode XIII trailer was released right before my class, I used that as a starting point for themes based on characters and how that helps guide our understanding of the plot and development.

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    4. Applying music that students know to remember intervals is such a great way for students to learn them. The P5 in Star Wars and m2 in Jaw were favorites for me.
       I agree with you on how listening to classical music is affected by films we have watched and our visions of what is happening in a piece is heavily influenced by what we have heard in movies. I recently introduced my 5th graders to The Planets by Holst and it has been fun to watch them listen and point out- “that sounds like Star Wars!” Then I get to expand and talk about how John Williams was influenced by Holst (and a few others).
       It would be interesting to hear how dialogue would be interpreted differently with another type of music. It is similar to watching a comedy show that has no laughter- would that punch line still be funny if laughter were removed? Music and dialogue go hand in hand in movies to capture a scene whichever way the director chooses, but I would love to see this project unfold with the interpretations of changing based on the music. It would create some varying opinions/ideas for sure.

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