Musicians addressing the environment head-on only represents one side of the music industry's engagement with the climate crisis. The way we listen to music impacts the environment . Streaming music uses a significant amount of energy, even though the technology seems to make sound feel immaterial. Kyle Devine is author of Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music , which traces "the history of what recordings are made of, and what happens to those recordings when they are disposed of." For Devine, recognizing the effects of the recording industry on the natural world and its reliance on human exploitation offers a chance to rethink our relationship with music, and drill down what we really value in a musical experience. In this week's episode of Switched on Pop, co-host Nate Sloan speaks to Devine about the hidden costs of our modern soundtrack.
Kyle Devine: The stages of music's materiality are that, between 1900 and 1950, most of the commercially successful recording formats were made substantially of something called shellac, which is a resin that comes from a bug, and that bug was mostly harvested in India during that period. But between 1950 and 2000, every single major or commercially successful recording format was made of plastic.
In this current data stage, I think we might have a perception that when we listen to music in the cloud it's essentially this weightless, perhaps consequence-less, process. It's in the ether. But you say that we might be misunderstanding the ecological impact of data-driven music.
The tendency is to think of the history of recorded music as a history of dematerialization, a history where we moved from things that we have and we hold and are treasured objects on some level, to this history where everything is somehow up in the cloud, in the flow as part of some magic stream.
But one of the fundamental difficulties about talking about music in this way is that people talk about a move from the physical to the digital. And what I have been talking about, and many people have been talking about, is that the digital is physical.
To imagine an alternate climate future might demand sacrifice and might demand a new system than the one we're used to. And yet perhaps that alternate future wouldn't be destructive to the way we enjoy and celebrate music. Can you imagine what a more sustainable vision of music consumption looks like?
Okay. So, what do we do? That's an important question, but for me, the hidden assumption in that question is, "What can we do that allows us to continue doing as we have always been doing, but just creating a little bit less damage." I call that solutionism. And I think that solutionism is very much a part of the problem.
It's a mode of thinking and wanting to be in the world that allows us to continue as we have been doing. The real ways of addressing the problem require us to address what we actually want in the first place. Music has this draw for people politically, personally, in terms of community. And I think it may be one small place where we could really fundamentally ask: What do we want to sustain in the first place?
'Nobody else could make this music': the return of underground punks Rudimentary Peni | Punk |
Penn State Alum Uses Music, Experiences To Promote Community Change | Onward State
Penn State alum Aaron Berger, better known as Aaron Bear, credits himself with creating a new genre of music: heart-healing indie-folk. He makes his music with the hope that people can connect with themselves, others, and their communities.
Bear’s latest single, “Ancient,” was recently released to all streaming platforms on April 18. The song is intended to help listeners connect with their deep emotions and “open up to their authenticity.”
In “Ancient,” Bear dives deep into his own heart to find forgiveness toward his parents and their rocky relationship while he was growing up. Along with the song, Bear shared a nine-page letter with his parents, explaining why he wrote the song and how he felt growing up.
“It’s ultimately me forgiving my parents for the experience, and I don’t really think I forgave them until the song was birthed,” Bear said. “But the only way you can forgive somebody is through love. Just accepting them for who they are and what they did and surrounding it with love.”
Bear never imagined this is what his music career would turn into. While at Penn State, he performed at almost every single downtown bar, doing mashups of *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys or covering old rock bands. He even performed after football games at Café 210 West.
Bear also said that he owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Penn State Songwriters Club after the group allowed him to perform his first-ever acoustic songwriter gig at Webster’s downtown.
In turn, Bear met his good friend and producer, Tommy, who helped engineer, mix and produce his debut album, “Let Love Transform.” The title came from a card drawn from an Oracle deck, the day of which he was leaving for a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Washington.
“You basically become a monk for 10 days straight,” Bear said. “And the reward is the ability to be more skilled in non-attachment. If something happens, it doesn’t throw you off course, and you accept it.”
After this experience, Bear moved out of Portland and traveled all over the world to get a better grasp of his spiritual self. He traveled to India, Nepal, Thailand, and all over the Middle East, playing music and connecting with the world around him.
5 ways to connect with students through pop music | SmartBrief
I will never forget the day I heard Ethan sing for the first time. He was a high school freshman and enrolled in my beginning guitar class. Students were completing their end-of-semester performances. They all picked songs, learned them independently and performed them for the class. I always encourage students to sing, but many of them are intimidated at the idea of using their voices in front of their peers.
But here was Ethan -- singing Pumped Up Kicks quietly and confidently. I couldn't help but tear up at the sight (he teased me for that later). There is nothing quite as incredible as connecting with kids through music, and I have found that popular music is a great vehicle for doing just that.
Even though most adolescents consume popular music (i.e., music that is commercially available and includes popular genres such as rock, pop, and hip hop), there is often a disconnect between in-school music classes and out-of-school experiences with music listening. According to a 2011 study by the National Association for Music Education, only 21% of graduating seniors participated in their school music program. That means that nearly 80% of adolescents are disconnected from school music despite being active music consumers.
In the end, we want our students to be engaged. We want them to find positive outlets for self-expression. And we want to know that our work matters and will matter for years to come. During the past 15 years as a public-school educator, I have had the privilege of using music in the classroom as a tool for connection and community. Here are five ways I've found that popular music can boost student engagement:
Students enter the classroom with a wide range of musical experiences and preferences. By including popular music in a classroom, teachers can give students the opportunity to share what matters most to them and offer new avenues for connection. My students love sharing tracks every Friday when we do our "class playlist." I learn so much about them by the music they pick, and I get to sit back and be the student while they teach me about the music that means something to them.
Across the country, our communities and student populations vary widely. Even within the same district, one school might have a majority Korean population while another has a majority of Hispanic students. What and how we teach should be different for both of these schools. From country to K-pop (Korean pop), traditional tunes to Mexican pop, diversity in music is just as broad as diversity in culture. If we want to boost engagement in music education, we need a culturally relevant curriculum.
Adolescents are inundated with music all day long—through social media, advertisements, and curated playlists. But how often do they engage in active listening? How are their music preferences shaped? When students actively listen to and learn popular songs, they engage with music in a whole new way. One great way to do this is to have students dissect a popular song (much like the award-winning podcast, Song Exploder). Through purposeful, directed listening, students get excited about consuming new music and learning more about the lyrical depth and how the song was produced.
Much of our school music programs are centered on the large ensemble model. Students learn to sing or play an instrument within an ensemble and to read primarily from notation. While there is value in this experience, there is also a lack of connection between in-school music-making and out-of-school music-making if students cannot be autonomous musicians. Teaching students to play popular songs on the guitar or piano can be a gateway for self-directed learning in music. If you pair those experiences with tools or software that the students can access at home, they can continue to grow and develop musically for years to come.
Moosiko, an online platform that teaches guitar using modern songs, derives 100% of its lessons from student requests. In 2020, some of the most requested songs by students included Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, Fly Me to the Moon by Sinatra, and Put Your Head on My Shoulders by Paul Anka (a song released in 1959). Any idea where today's students found these not-very-current songs? They were all used as backing tracks on TikTok, the popular social media app among teenagers. Culturally relevant music doesn't just mean music that was recently released.
Recognition of the power of music in medicine is growing - Scope
As a cellist, I have experienced firsthand the restorative powers of music. From middle school through medical school, and as a surgeon and a leader of academic medical centers, playing the cello has always brought me joy and comfort. Its benefits have been particularly important to me during the pandemic, as music has served as a source of rejuvenation and resilience.
Beyond its well-known impacts on emotion and spirit, music also has a profound ability to support physical healing. Music therapy has proven effective in helping patients recover from stroke and brain injury and in managing Alzheimer's and dementia. A 2008 study published in Brain: A Journal of Neurology found that music helped people recovering from a stroke with verbal memory and maintaining focus. It also lessened depression and confusion.
Music is found in every culture, and our ability to create and interpret it is built into our anatomy. The human ear is tuned to the human voice, but its range is much greater. The frequency mothers use to communicate with their babies and the exaggerated tones and rhythms of baby talk are reflected in musical compositions.
Music therapists working at Stanford Children's Health see daily how their work helps patients -- and their families -- cope with anxiety and stress and manage pain. Yet it may be how the music provides comfort, on good days and bad, and even a measure of hope, that is just as important to healing.
As a physician-scientist and a surgeon, my tendency and training send me to hard data, tests, and imaging. But I've learned over my career the importance of empathy and truly listening to understand what patients are feeling and, ultimately, the best course of action for their care.
In the same vein, a doctor is much more than an expert in human anatomy. We have a number of innovative programs integrating the arts and humanities in medical education. Medicine and the Muse , a program within the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, benefits our entire Stanford Medicine community of clinicians, researchers, staff, and students by helping to restore perspective and bolster resilience in the face of intense stress.
I have particularly appreciated -- and enjoyed -- another program. Our pandemic-inspired virtual Stuck@Home concert series has allowed us to connect with our colleagues, share in their talents, and express ourselves in ways that would undoubtedly be more difficult during a teleconference. It has helped sustain our community. At a recent edition of this monthly concert series, I played the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." For me, the piece resonates so powerfully of hope, and it was my pleasure to share it with my colleagues.
Now I have a confession to make. I didn't always adore the cello. When I was 11, I wanted to play the trumpet. My parents thought otherwise. They suggested a string instrument. The school district had a cello to rent, and I've been playing ever since.
My parents were right. The cello was the better choice for me. At the time, I didn't realize how momentous that day was nor that I would be playing the cello 50 years later. In fostering in me a deep love and appreciation for music, the cello has been instrumental in creating the leader I am today.
‘Music takes you places’: Local music band excited to be performing again | WKBN.com
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A local music band is excited to get back to performing in the Mahoning Valley.
DJ Big John and Donnie Harmonize make up Memory Lane Radio, and they are set to perform at the Victoria House in Austintown.
This will be the first one they have had since the pandemic started. They’ll be performing for nursing home facilities’ residents.
“I’m just so happy to be able to be back with them and share the music and the love of our ministry and what we do. I know they are ready to get to dancing and having a good time and we’re ready to do that for them,” Harmonize said.
“Being able to get back with our family and I always say music takes you places in your mind. Remember the good times and everything will be fine,” said John Caldwell, aka DJ Big John.
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) - Trumbull Regional Medical Center is hosting a hiring event for nurses on Wednesday.
Homer "Frog" Carnes, 41, faces charges in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Officers said they looked where the man said he "hypothetically" put the gun and they found it there.
Songwriters Are Getting Short-Changed by Music Streaming, Study Shows - Variety
Ever since the music industry began its streaming-fueled recovery around five years ago, the songwriting and publishing communities have been protesting not only the uneven payment structure of streaming — which sees recorded-music rights holders being paid three times what publishing is paid — but also the imbalanced power and payment structures of the music industry. This situation has been thrown into dramatic relief in recent weeks by the formation of the songwriters’ group the Pact and its calls for artists to stop demanding credit and publishing income for songs they did not write — but the organization’s founders also say that it is just the first step in a music economy that has tilted against the people who create the very foundation of that economy: songs.
Needless to say, songwriters saw little income from that business model — which has been completely up-ended by the pandemic. Now, with most areas of the business looking at streaming as a if not the primary generator of income, the songwriter’s plight is more dire than ever, according to “ Rebalancing the Song Economy,” an authoritative new report by industry analysts Mark Mulligan and Keith Jopling of Midia Research (with an introduction by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus).
The 35-page report, which is available here for free , lays out both the history of this dilemma and some (admittedly difficult) proposed solutions, but what may be unprecedented is the way that it lays out how skewed against songwriters the new music economy is. A handful of the many statistics from the study follow:
In a section titled “The Songwriter’s Paradox,” it lays out the ways that the song has become more important than ever, but, paradoxically, the songwriter has less income and influence
The report then proposes a series of solutions that are far too complex to summarize fully here, but in short:
The report concludes with a very British statement: “What is clear is that today’s’ song economy is not working as it should and that everyone across the value chain will benefit from a coordinated programme of change.”
In last week’s Variety article on the Pact , hit songwriter Justin Tranter expressed a similar sentiment in far more direct terms: “The business is definitely still broken and songwriters are definitely the least respected people in our industry, no matter how big of a songwriter you become.”
No comments:
Post a Comment