The 1970s and 1980s left an indelible mark on the global music scene . They ushered in a new decade that saw unprecedented cultural growth. The presence of numerous coexisting subgenres on the rock scene gave many new artists the opportunity to establish themselves and numerous listeners to develop a passion for it. In this context, the birth of the internet as a new medium for commercial diffusion expanded the possibilities for consuming and enjoying musical material, while record companies were forced to redefine their sales strategies. To analyze the new relationships that began to emerge between music and technology , it is useful to consider rock from two different but complementary perspectives: rock as a musical genre and rock as a means of communication.
Theories and developments of the relationship between music and society: a sociological aspect
As a musical genre, rock is intimately linked to the most important technological innovations in music. From electronic instruments to LP records, stereophony, and the transition to vinyl have allowed the reproduction of increasingly complex and refined sounds. Rock, in fact, is also a search for specific sounds. The rough sound of the blues, the clean sounds that characterize symphonic rock, or the more aggressive sounds that make up heavy metal are just some examples of the meticulous sonic research of this genre. In this context, the press as a medium has played an important role in defining its aesthetics and values. According to English sociologist and musicologist Simon Frith , both the underground and specialized press shared a treatment of rock as a cultural form. Furthermore, the definitions of the various subgenres provided by music critics have had a dominant influence on rock subcultures.
Indeed, the media do not merely represent, but participate in the assembly and development of musical cultures. Even when they express negative judgments, offer unreliable accounts, or even censor. Described by Frith as a "crucial form of contemporary mass communication," rock music has actively participated in communication processes over the last fifty years. And it can be analyzed with the tools offered by contemporary sociology.
McLuhan
In this case, Marshall McLuhan 's communication theories may represent a good starting point. Considering the influence of his ideas on numerous essays on popular music , the Canadian sociologist argues that the media are extensions of our senses . They alter their balance, in turn altering our perception of reality, which in turn causes political, cultural, and social transformations. Therefore, beyond the content transmitted, technology itself creates a strong and determined communicative impulse. McLuhan distinguished between a society of oral tradition and a society characterized by writing and reading. Oral culture is spontaneous, immediate, and based on the involvement of all the senses in collective social experiences.
Conversely, the inventions of writing and especially printing shifted the human sensorial balance toward the "detached" sense of sight. The resulting culture is flat, mechanical, and individualistic. However, the return to an oral culture occurred with the advent of electronic media, transforming the world into a McLuhanian "global village." His ideas had a wide resonance since the 1960s. They were also embraced by various youth movements of the time, but the sociologist's assertion that technology determines our culture based on a cause-and-effect relationship is refuted by the English sociologist Richard Middleton . He believes that technologies open up a range of choices that depend exclusively on individual intentions , social conventions, and market strategies.
A Case Study: Marilyn Manson and the Revolution of the Sacred in Music
By sharing Middleton 's perspective , it's possible to analyze what was happening musically between the late 1980s and early 1990s. The growing popularity of new rock subgenres brought back the genre's early icons like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, reintroducing their music to the decade's new generation. All this was also possible thanks to the new modes of music commerce that were spreading like wildfire across the international cultural landscape.
The heavy metal scene, for example, after emerging from a period of severe crisis due to numerous political movements that attempted to sabotage its global rise, rebounded with renewed vigor, offering a new audience approaching the genre new music with increasingly contemporary themes. Despite the increasing scrutiny of content by American censorship organizations , one person made these prohibited themes his calling card, becoming one of the most controversial figures in 1990s rock: Marilyn Manson.
Symbolism and obscenities
Having become famous for his concerts, considered obscene, violent, and profane, since 1994, he is one of the most beloved rock stars among heavy metal fans. Adhering to the shock rock philosophy, represented by bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Hugh Warner) revolutionized a field already particularly explored by his predecessors: the use of Christian themes and symbolism in rock. This topic, already addressed in a more subtle manner during the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era, became a popular topic among early heavy metal bands in the 1970s, and later spread exponentially to other genres such as punk.
The use of these themes, overwhelmingly in an offensive and parodistic manner, is more closely linked to the dark and distorted sounds of metal, so much so that it influenced the birth of specific subgenres. Marilyn Manson's revolution began with his coronation as a true pop icon: the album Antichrist Superstar, released in 1996 , secured him his first platinum record, reaching levels unthinkable by the genre's standards. A strong commercial push and the numerous criticisms leveled by the media, which described him as a "bad example for society's youth," allowed him to have a huge impact on the public, who were literally overwhelmed by the imposing nature of this new figure on the rock scene of the moment, who became the symbol of marginalized youth.
Rock as a common information environment
Through the words of American academic and communications professor Joshua Meyrowitz , it is possible to gain a clear idea of the changes that electronic media have brought about (and still bring about) in the relationship between musical culture and American society. According to Meyrowitz, the media do not alter the sensorial balance of a culture, but rather reorganize the spaces in which people interact, consequently shaping our behaviors. His theories speak of a " common information environment ," understood as an area shared by both the musician and the audience, where both exchange and explore new social and cultural orientations, in what Alfred Schutz would call a "relationship of mutual attunement ." It is faced with these choices that political authority faces, setting itself the (somewhat utopian) goal of shaping music according to its own administrative proposal.
Rock, as previously described, has always been a genre of disruption , ever since its emergence in the early 1950s. For Frith, it is "a contradictory form that mixes pride and shame, celebration and guilt, anger and acceptance," with the aim of challenging what society rejects and voicing its demands.
Bibliography:
- Frith S., Sociology of Rock (1978), Feltrinelli, Milan 1982.
- McLuhan M., The medium is the message (1967), Corraini, Mantua 2011.
- Meyrowitz J., No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior (1985), Oxford University, Oxford (IN) 1986.
- Middleton R., Studying popular music (1990), Feltrinelli, Milan 1994.
- Schutz A., Making Music Together: A Study of Social Relations (1951), Armando, Rome 2015.
Richard Cilli
