Music and Identity

Music has a variety of genres and sub genre, yet the main ones are typically; Acoustic, Alternative, Blues, Classic rock, Club, Country, Crunk, Death metal, Electro, Electronica, Emo, Experimental, Folk, Funk, Garage, Hardcore, House, Hip Hop, Indie, Jazz, Latin Metal, Pop, Punk, Rap, R&B, Reggae, Rock, Soul, Techno, 2-step. With each of the genres listed, and the numerous others, a certain style has been associated to the music, which links the artist(s) to the fans.

Deciding what music you’re into has a few factors, and it’s not just as simple as what music you like. Age has a big impact on what we listen to as we change what we are listening to as we get older, think back to when you were a child and what you were listening to then to what you are listening to now. It’s unlikely that you still listen to those artists, at least less often as you did. This could be because of your social group, and fear of being judged. I for one am a big fan of the groups Busted and McFly, yet I won't play them when I’m with mates as that’s not the music that connects the group together, it seen as socially unacceptable. 

What's socially acceptable in a group changes between groups, yet social groups are most often made up of people with the same taste in music therefore; the identity of that group will be similar in characteristics and appearance. Though there may be subtle differences. Even people that claim that they are individual are grouped together, which makes you ask the question, how individual are they?? But with so many styles and groups it's hard to know which group you actually fit into. There is now a way to find out, http://uktribes.com/, was set up by Channel Four and Crowd DNA to look at the characteristics of teens and young adults. The site has divided social groups into five main styles;

1.      Aspirant Mainstream

·   Trendies

·   Rahs

2.      Mainstream

·   Ravers

·   Townies

·   Chavs

·   Boy racers

·   Sport junkies

·   Street rats

·   Casuals

3.      Urban

·   Get paid crew

·   Blingers

·   DIYers

   ·Trackies

4.      Alternatives

·   Gamers

·   Emos

·   Scene kids

·   Skaters

·   Metalheads

·   Young alts

5.      Leading Edge

·   Hipster

·   Geeks

·   Craft kids

Its thought that whatever music you are into will be determined how you dress and the social group you end up in. Applying this to an actual artist would mean that a fan of;

a Michael Bubble fan or Josh Groban fan you think of women like this. 

Michael Bubble typical fan

The Typical Grobonite

Both are mid (plus) aged, and are clearly into more sophisticated style of music. Stereotypically they won't be into the heavy beat or energy of popular music, but prefer a more relaxed music. Both Bubble and Groban are in a similar genre of music, and have a similar fan base. Compare those fans to the fans of Justin Bieber –  other wise know as 'Beliebers'. 'Beliebers' tend to be young teenage girls, and stereotypically thought of as the screaming over dramatic drama queen fan (see below).

The crazy Beliebers!

 However music has become more than just what you listen to and who you spend time socializing with. Music has affected the brands people go for; from shopping (Topman, Animal and Fat Face), where you eat (McDonalds or Starbucks), social networking sites (though everyone seems to use Facebook and Twitter now) and most importantly how we listen to music (radio, iTunes/iPods, legally downloading, illegally downloading). As the way we access the music will also affect how we listen to it, whether we are with mates, or on our own. Then the environment of where we listen to music has a knock -on- effect on how the person dresses. To conclude music and identity has become a complex circle of; social groups, genres and branding.