Teenage listening- exactly what and why?
August 27th 2007 11:31
The stereotype of teens and their music is that parents hate it and the listener in question is very much into it- knowing the ins and outs of the band member's lives and the lifestyle the music is attached to. What a pity none of this is true.
Okay, well, some of it is- but the delivery of that sentence was just too perfect, I couldn't resist.
Delving into the realm of teen listening proved a strenuous exercise, and I was met with much resistance. Luckily for me, my friends can be described as 'awesome' with one going above and beyond the call of duty and aiding me in my collection of knowledge. Once armed with this precious new info, I returned to my lair to clean and crop it so that I may present it to you in its finest form.
But enough of this rhetoric, onwards with the exposition!
On the subject of parental approval, it seems their issue (if any) is more with the volume than the content.
They have either come to terms with the lyrical content, or simply found it indecipherable, but for whatever reason, they will not do battle over the word content. Instead they save their strength and practice their trademark moves for the Battle of the Sound waves. Perhaps it's a case of 'if it's too loud, you're too old' but the parents will be out in full force if the general racket goes beyond a certain point. Where this point is hard to say. It's sort of like 'the line' - you can't see it, but you sure as Hell know when you've crossed it.
But exactly what are teens listening to?
Not one genre, that's for sure.
The research conducted for this blog entry shows that music is equated with mood and selected according to how the subject feels or how the subject would like to feel. Even the metal heads indicated an inclination for pop and golden oldies when in party mode or simply having fun with something called 'friends'. So while a certain dress sense and disposition can be related to a preference in musical content, it does not set a person's auditory adventures in stone... which is kind of a duh, really.
Keeping with the theme of emulation, we come to dress code. Do we all run around posing as our favourite guitar hero, must we get wasted if our favourite band member does so, and does a new look for them mean a new look for us? Well, no.
Apparently the teenagers of today (well at least the ones I communicated with) do not think imitation is the highest form of flattery and do not engage in activities simply because a certain musician has been known to do so. They may look up to a person, maybe even give them 'hero' status in their lives, but does this mean attempting to become a replica? Not in the slightest. It is one thing to draw positive inspiration from the creators of our chosen listening and another thing completely to become obsessed with them.
Actually, obsession doesn't even seem to be that big a deal in regards to the actual music.
Are you familiar with the concept of street teams? They're the kids that hand out flyers at shows. They put posters up and wear band logos as if they were uniform requirements. They're literally out on the street promoting a band. Are they your average music-listening teen? Apparently not.
While the average teen listener may click on a banner or check out the odd band a friend suggested, it is only the minority that hit the streets like wolves in the night, plastering the streets with news of events and all online spaces with links to music samples and band member info. The majority are happy to just listen to what they have dubbed 'good' listening and not stress about whether there's more where that came from.
Okay, well, some of it is- but the delivery of that sentence was just too perfect, I couldn't resist.
Delving into the realm of teen listening proved a strenuous exercise, and I was met with much resistance. Luckily for me, my friends can be described as 'awesome' with one going above and beyond the call of duty and aiding me in my collection of knowledge. Once armed with this precious new info, I returned to my lair to clean and crop it so that I may present it to you in its finest form.
But enough of this rhetoric, onwards with the exposition!
On the subject of parental approval, it seems their issue (if any) is more with the volume than the content.
They have either come to terms with the lyrical content, or simply found it indecipherable, but for whatever reason, they will not do battle over the word content. Instead they save their strength and practice their trademark moves for the Battle of the Sound waves. Perhaps it's a case of 'if it's too loud, you're too old' but the parents will be out in full force if the general racket goes beyond a certain point. Where this point is hard to say. It's sort of like 'the line' - you can't see it, but you sure as Hell know when you've crossed it.
But exactly what are teens listening to?
Not one genre, that's for sure.
The research conducted for this blog entry shows that music is equated with mood and selected according to how the subject feels or how the subject would like to feel. Even the metal heads indicated an inclination for pop and golden oldies when in party mode or simply having fun with something called 'friends'. So while a certain dress sense and disposition can be related to a preference in musical content, it does not set a person's auditory adventures in stone... which is kind of a duh, really.
Keeping with the theme of emulation, we come to dress code. Do we all run around posing as our favourite guitar hero, must we get wasted if our favourite band member does so, and does a new look for them mean a new look for us? Well, no.
Apparently the teenagers of today (well at least the ones I communicated with) do not think imitation is the highest form of flattery and do not engage in activities simply because a certain musician has been known to do so. They may look up to a person, maybe even give them 'hero' status in their lives, but does this mean attempting to become a replica? Not in the slightest. It is one thing to draw positive inspiration from the creators of our chosen listening and another thing completely to become obsessed with them.
Actually, obsession doesn't even seem to be that big a deal in regards to the actual music.
Are you familiar with the concept of street teams? They're the kids that hand out flyers at shows. They put posters up and wear band logos as if they were uniform requirements. They're literally out on the street promoting a band. Are they your average music-listening teen? Apparently not.
While the average teen listener may click on a banner or check out the odd band a friend suggested, it is only the minority that hit the streets like wolves in the night, plastering the streets with news of events and all online spaces with links to music samples and band member info. The majority are happy to just listen to what they have dubbed 'good' listening and not stress about whether there's more where that came from.
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