History:
Music is a very important art form that has been a characteristic of the human beings. This form of art involves the manipulation of sound. It has been greatly used as form of entertainment and expression for people and has had great importance in people’s lives. Music has undergone great changes throughout history attributed to changes in social, political and economic factors. Development of new musical instruments has also led to the advancement in music over time. Interaction between different cultures has resulted to the sharing of ideas as far as music is concerned and thus resulted to evolution of music. Europe is one of the regions that have seen great evolution of music. The continent is characterized by a diverse society that has interacted throughout history. Another fact is the historical changes that have occurred in Europe such as industrialization wars have had an effect on the development of music. Music in Europe especially England has undergone great changes attributed to political as well as cultural changes. These changes have resulted to evolution of music which has then influenced the music industry on a global scale. This essay is therefore important because it will try and explain aspects of the music industry in Europe during the 1960s and the factors that have moulded it to what it has become.
Because of the fact that the 60s had a lot of excitement and a need to explore for more because of the increase in advanced technology especially in communication that linked people to the globe. There were lots of experimentations on music done as a result of influence from music from other regions of the world. The world had become a very small place thanks to communication. One important aspect is the increase in listening to music developed by the availability of the radio. Due to increased number of listeners music in Europe diversified and grew to large extents development of better capacities to record as well as edit music led to the development of new forms of music. A characteristic of music in Europe during the 1960s is the genre rock and roll that was very popular in Europe and further spread its influence to the United States and the entire world.
Because of economic development around Europe and the world during the 1960s, most people had good purchasing power. In addition to this there was a very great influence of the media such as television, film and radio. This led to the development of the pop culture that greatly influenced music in terms of recording marketing and performances. The young society had purchasing power led to the high promotion of music around Europe and across the world. An example is the band the Beatles, a British band that enjoyed musical success attributed to the high influence of the media. The popular culture had their music almost everywhere. The media had developed a culture that enjoyed music through playing by the radio as well as live performances. This aspect greatly influenced music in Europe and across the world. The Beatles’ success in Europe trickled down from Europe to America where they had a growing fun base and more opportunities which made them shift to the United States.
The 1960s period was a time characterized by lots of revolutions in many aspects of the society, most notably, the political and the social aspects. These revolutions were as a result of changes in beliefs and values attributed to the end of the Second World War. People were more conscious about human rights and the need for peaceful coexistence. It was a time in Europe characterized by restructuring and rebuilding. However, there was the development of attitudes by youths during this period characterized by disregard to most values and beliefs for political systems and cultural values. They are attributes of the popular culture in Europe and America was highly influenced by rock and roll music. This developed as a new form of culture that developed as a result of the political, economic and social factors existing within the time as a result of revolutions mainly attributed to the need for respect for human rights and also the need to stop wars. This form of culture greatly influenced music in Europe and it is during this time that most rock bands gained success mainly because of the huge number of listeners as a result of increased access of music to people caused by advancement in communication and technology. The use of music for expression was utilized during this time and resulted to the development and spread of the culture in Europe, united states and the whole world, mainly attributed to the effects of mainstream media that promoted this form of music for profits, taking advantage of the people’s purchasing powers.
Music has always been linked to politics through the fact that music is a form of expression and this is a characteristic of many cultures and the sixties was a period in the European history characterized by complexities in culture and politics attributed to the with convergence of different societies in the world because of advancement in technology. This period was characterized by more expression and freedom in terms of dressing, sexuality, schooling and most of all music. Because of the negative political environment associated with wars, poor laws and policies, there was great need for expression and change and this was done through revolutions to stop aspects such as wars, racism and sexism that had been rampant in Europe and the rest of the world. People acknowledged the need for freedom and peaceful coexistence. One factor that facilitated this form of cultural change is the music in this time.
Music had greatly advanced and as a result of better technologies, music in Europe had more access to people. Music was involved the moulding of people’s attitudes and beliefs and resulted to the modifications of culture throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The sixties was a time where most countries of the world were now civilized. This later on led to the development of a society that was very affluent and was as a result of rebuilding and reconstruction after the world wars and countries had now become economically stable and still developing. Most people had settled and there was peaceful coexistence in the world. Advancement in technology saw more production and also better pay for workers. People’s standards of living were improved as well as their living conditions. People in Europe had settled and had better lives as a result of economic development in Europe and the effect of class had been hidden by the improved living standards from better pays. Their affluence raised their purchasing power which then had an effect on the demand for music.
Commercialization was also an important aspect of the sixties because of the increased markets for products in Europe. This purchasing power greatly influenced the youths by increasing their ability to access forms of entertainment. With the help of the mainstream media and the development of popular culture, music started to become youth oriented because of the availability of a viable market by the youths. As a result of these economic, cultural and societal changes, the music industry had a greater capacity to influence the people because of increased access caused by more purchasing power and high demand for entertainment. The youth culture also influenced music of the time and led to development of music mostly targeting the youths and incorporated aspects that are accepted by them. It is because of these factors that rock and roll became very common during this time. Due the mainstream media and the great development in commercialization, music spread on a very large scale. This led to the development to the popular culture characterized by drugs, sex, affluence and the need for equality and freedom. This aspect greatly influenced political systems and led to the development of revolutionary movements that fought for people's right against oppression. From the above information it is clear that the sixties was a period of great development in Europe that saw a lot of changes in the cultural, economic and political systems. The increase in affluence led to increased demand for entertainment especially by the youths and thus resulted to change in music in terms of types and performance. It was mainly oriented for the youths.
Another important aspect that was related to the effects of music on culture in the sixties is the development of a generational gap between youths and parents. This has been attributed to the fact that this time saw a very big difference in tastes and preferences between the two generations. This factor was mainly attributed to the consumerism nature of the society based on the increased affluence on youths coupled by effects of the media on commercialization. The mainstream media was taking advantage of the large markets and used it to commercialize products. This aspect of generational gap led to the development of the culture mostly considered in the United States as the hippie culture. This culture was also widespread in Europe and was characterized by the youth’s disregard for values. The development of this culture was mainly attributed to the influence of music in Europe at the time. Because of the fact that these youths wanted freedom and peace, they rebelled against their parents and left their homes to live as communities. The development of the hippie culture was widespread in Europe especially in Britain and was a shift from the old rigid ways. These changes led to influence on political systems that resulted to the development of new acts, and development of new policies that gave way for more freedom as well as equality among races, cultures and most of all gender. However, the development of these cultures led to negative implications mainly in the form of increased sexual activities and the widespread use of drugs by the youths.
The sixties were therefore a crucial time in history in Europe especially Britain and one of the major aspects that had lots of influence during this time was music. The sixties was a period in Europe characterized by rebuilding and resettlement after the world wars that saw a lot of destruction and chaos in Europe. As a result of peaceful coexistence after the wars, countries became more stable and civilized. Economic development grew at high rates and people’s lives started to improve because of increased pays from the increased production. A majority of Europe’s population had increased living standards. This led to increase in the people’s affluence. Affluence then resulted to increased purchasing power. This purchasing power resulted to increase willingness and ability to purchase products. As a result the demand for entertainment greatly increased in Europe. Apart from this, this period in time was characterized by advancement in technology that greatly influenced music in terms of recoding and promotion. The development of editing and recording music led to the development of new genres and improvement in the quality of music. The development of mainstream media in the form of radio, television and film facilitated for the increased promotion of music. Music was therefore highly accessible and therefore could exert its influence to bigger audience. With increased commercialization of music and the rise of the affluent youths in the society, music greatly influences the culture of the European society. Music was more oriented for the youths and greatly influenced their attitudes, values and beliefs. It led to the development of new forms of culture characterized by rebellion and the need for freedom and equality. This aspect had a great impact in the change of political systems, with development of new policies and laws that protected human rights and equality.
Works Cited
"English Online." Society and Life in the 1960s. Accessed November 13, 2014. http://www.english-online.at/history/1960s/society-and-change-in-the-sixties.htm.
Hecl, Rudolf. "The Beatles and Their Influence on Culture." Accessed November 13, 2014. http://is.muni.cz/th/108918/ff_b/The_Beatles_and_Their_Influence_on_Culture.pdf.
"Music History 102." Music History 102. Accessed November 13, 2014. http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/.
"POP CULTURE: The Way We Were." PBS. Accessed November 13, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/opb/thesixties/topics/culture/.
Stevens, Halsey, and Howard Hartog. "European Music in the Twentieth Century." Journal of Research in Music Education: 156.
