The Medium IS the Message

Music is far reaching and has an immense amount of impact on individuals in our global village, it is not only a means of entertainment but also a strong communicative tool, if utilized properly can be very useful. The reason why music is such a good way to relay messages is because it has the ability to not only attain, but retain one's attention whilst entertaining them. Proof of this can be seen in all societies where nursery rhymes are taught to children as the first step to the learning process; the alphabet is taught using a given tune- therefore making it easier for the child to learn and remember. Some scholars even, use music to remember their work for assessments by adding a tune to the given material. Having this much power at their disposal, one would then think that the material that artists and producers choose to produce would be of some substance. One would imagine the lyrics to be rich and meaningful? This is not the case! The content found in most modern day popular music is mostly of an offensive and derogatory nature, where sexual connotations are always implied and the abuse of alcohol, unruly behaviour and offensive language is encouraged. What then, is the message that these artist want to render to the public especially to our youth? We live in a society where there is no message, where the medium is the message. The engaging beat and rhythm of the song are the only things worth any notice. I have heard many er occasions where older and seemingly respectable individuals listening to inappropriate music and when i ask them why they would listen to such garbage, their simple response would be that it is not the lyrics they like, just the instrumentals! The sad reality is that immature audiences will not only listen but also emulate some of the implied behaviour. What then is the solution to this crisis? How do we control and censor what gets put out for consumption? Search me...........