Music has immense influence throughout the world. Music evokes many feeling, surfaces old memories, and creates new ones all while satisfying a sense of human emotion. It also provides a sense of knowledge with the ability to help identify a culture, as well as educate countries about other cultures. Our sounds, our noises, whether comforting or disturbing, are, as forms of response, substantially different to the forms. It can be a tool for many things: relaxation, stimulation and communication. Or it can also be a tool for resistance: against parents, against police against power. Questions of tradition, identity, and propriety and of the control over properties real and creative are, even for the least political among us, inescapable and urgent as the way in which we answer these questions can determine how our music is placed in the world, how it is consumed, valued, disposed. Through the topics like the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. Music being the highly profitable, capitalist enterprise control and regulate the music. They sell culture and heritage.
The seven large multinational corporations, with their nation of origin and reported 1990 sales, are: Sony (Japan, $3 billion), Time/Warner (U.S., $2.9 billion), Polygram (Netherlands/Germany, $2.6 billion), Bertelsmann Media Group (Germany, $2 billion), Thorn/EMI (U.K., $1.88 billion), MCA (U.S., $1 billion), and Virgin (U.K., $500 million), total 1990 sales $13.88 billion (1993, pp. 141-143). With number such as these it is nearly impossible to deny the fact that these companies do not have a great affect on the influence of music and media that they distribute. Conglomerates not only run the market for music, but determine which music is to be distributed and to where, therefore pushing an idea or culture onto a nation. Artists such as Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Michael Jackson set out on world wide tours to spread their music throughout the world. These artists have realized the caliber and sheer numbers they can produce by not just focusing on one area. As site by Farley (2001) artist sometimes do not conquer a civilization completely, but help to create a hybrid form that has been formed using aspects of a person’s own culture and incorporating foreign attributes. For example, within Jamaica, there is a form of music known as “ragga”, which is a rap-influenced form of reggae. This is a perfect example how music can have somewhat of a positive affect. However, there are negative affects which come with such an influence. Along with the influence of the lyrics from rap came a lot more than Jamaica bargained for. They find that with local ragga star “Elephant Man’s” lyrics such as “Badman nah run from police inna shootout/ Whole crew a government see dem pon di lookout….” they have incorporated violence and hate. At recent concerts their have been fights, injuries, gunfire and death. So as positive as it seemed to incorporate foreign aspects into their music, it turned out to be a horrid influence. Artists also have had a key role in promoting “world music”. World music is defines as music that was written by artists from a foreign country in a native tongue. Nowadays nearly every music retailer – from the old fashioned bricks-and-mortar kind, through the online CD vendors, to the completely virtual iTunes Music Store – has a major section called “World Music” or “International.” U.S. based artists such as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and David Byrne are seeking to improve relations between U.S. and world music artists. One of the major fears associated with the globalization of music is the creation of a global monoculture. Monoculture is destroying local tradition, knowledge, skill, artisans and values. Specifically artisans have been affected through the fact that the product that they have tried to market has been outdated and overrun by the pop star garbage that has taken over the world and destroyed cultures. One of the main causes for the affects that music has had globally is the open-mindedness of the people that have accepted it. For example in 1959, Richie Valens hit the top of the charts with his song “La Bamba”. After this large hit, it was forty years before the world accepted another Latin rocker – Santana. With Santana’s worldwide success sparked room for artists such as Wyclef Jean. Wyclef formed a new hybrid formed of Haitian Creole and English. Even U.S. based Christina Aguilera recorded an entire CD entirely in Spanish. Within transitions to create a global market, these artists have found not only how to make money and survive in a capitalistic world, but how to satisfy more than one cultural group.
The seven large multinational corporations, with their nation of origin and reported 1990 sales, are: Sony (Japan, $3 billion), Time/Warner (U.S., $2.9 billion), Polygram (Netherlands/Germany, $2.6 billion), Bertelsmann Media Group (Germany, $2 billion), Thorn/EMI (U.K., $1.88 billion), MCA (U.S., $1 billion), and Virgin (U.K., $500 million), total 1990 sales $13.88 billion (1993, pp. 141-143). With number such as these it is nearly impossible to deny the fact that these companies do not have a great affect on the influence of music and media that they distribute. Conglomerates not only run the market for music, but determine which music is to be distributed and to where, therefore pushing an idea or culture onto a nation. Artists such as Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Michael Jackson set out on world wide tours to spread their music throughout the world. These artists have realized the caliber and sheer numbers they can produce by not just focusing on one area. As site by Farley (2001) artist sometimes do not conquer a civilization completely, but help to create a hybrid form that has been formed using aspects of a person’s own culture and incorporating foreign attributes. For example, within Jamaica, there is a form of music known as “ragga”, which is a rap-influenced form of reggae. This is a perfect example how music can have somewhat of a positive affect. However, there are negative affects which come with such an influence. Along with the influence of the lyrics from rap came a lot more than Jamaica bargained for. They find that with local ragga star “Elephant Man’s” lyrics such as “Badman nah run from police inna shootout/ Whole crew a government see dem pon di lookout….” they have incorporated violence and hate. At recent concerts their have been fights, injuries, gunfire and death. So as positive as it seemed to incorporate foreign aspects into their music, it turned out to be a horrid influence. Artists also have had a key role in promoting “world music”. World music is defines as music that was written by artists from a foreign country in a native tongue. Nowadays nearly every music retailer – from the old fashioned bricks-and-mortar kind, through the online CD vendors, to the completely virtual iTunes Music Store – has a major section called “World Music” or “International.” U.S. based artists such as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and David Byrne are seeking to improve relations between U.S. and world music artists. One of the major fears associated with the globalization of music is the creation of a global monoculture. Monoculture is destroying local tradition, knowledge, skill, artisans and values. Specifically artisans have been affected through the fact that the product that they have tried to market has been outdated and overrun by the pop star garbage that has taken over the world and destroyed cultures. One of the main causes for the affects that music has had globally is the open-mindedness of the people that have accepted it. For example in 1959, Richie Valens hit the top of the charts with his song “La Bamba”. After this large hit, it was forty years before the world accepted another Latin rocker – Santana. With Santana’s worldwide success sparked room for artists such as Wyclef Jean. Wyclef formed a new hybrid formed of Haitian Creole and English. Even U.S. based Christina Aguilera recorded an entire CD entirely in Spanish. Within transitions to create a global market, these artists have found not only how to make money and survive in a capitalistic world, but how to satisfy more than one cultural group.
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