political and technological factors

Political, social and cultural factors affecting the development of different genres of music

Task 1

There are many things that can factor in the evolution of a music genre. Politically genres can be affected by war, famine or censorship etc. For example war and conflict gave Bob Dylan the inspiration to write many of his songs and they have affected the way that genre has grown and the direction it has taken over the years. Masters of war was a very influential song in that it helped unite a vast group of protesters to come together and peacefully demonstrate their disgust over the Vietnam War. Another example would be hip-hop. It has been heavily affected by politics and censorship. In an attempt to prevent the so-called bad influence of hip hop on the public the government censored out all profanity included in songs played over the Internet or radio. Because of the government trying so hard to ban this kind of language it has become even more popular and the genre has grown exponentially and influences people all over the globe.

Technological factors affecting the development of different genres of music

Task 2

Technology has affected music in both positive and negative ways. On the plus side technology has advance so that music can be kept in time and equalized to perfection. This gives a more clean and contained effect to music production. For example the advances in programming have given way to genres such as dubstep, hardcore and hardstyle. They have also brought things like the electric guitar into play to give birth to rock and roll and in turn bring band such as led zeppelin, AC\DC and cream. The technology in microphones has now advanced to a stage were recordings can be made to sound exactly like the reality. Unfortunately not all advances are seen as beneficial to the music industry. For example some would say that electronically made music is not pure and too unnatural and therefore is not considered good music. Some people also feel that because this music is so popular it blocks the way for more acoustic band, electronic music is often considered to have no feeling behind it and that no passion has gone into the producing process.