Politics and Music

Popular music was introduced to the world with the gramophone, which was expensive and not very accessible to everyone. The radio made popular music truly popular, as it was much more accessible. Radio sales were booming in the 1920's. However, the style of music we all associate with the 1920's wasn't played on these radios for a while. Jazz was created by black musicians. In the 20's and 30's, during prohibition, it was often played in speakeasies, which spread the reputation that jazz was scandalous and would corrupt the country. White audiences were more accepting of jazz once white orchestras started incorporating jazz into their style of playing. Wow, white people taking the style of black music, and respecting it once a white person starts playing that kind of music? We're still not past this. Big band orchestras that played this kind of music eventually became more integrated, but still: white orchestras took the style of black musicians but didn't actually let black musicians play it with them for a while. Thus, we see politics and music combining. Blues was the next thing to come after jazz. It was created by black musicians and focused on overcoming hardships and adversity. This would eventually evolve into rock music. Rock music emerged in the 1950's, created by, once again, black artists. It often had edgy and suggestive lyrics, and were marketed towards teenagers. Parents hated this and often called it "race music." White audiences became more accepting of rock music as the Civil Rights movement continued, but rock music wasn't fully accepted until Elvis, a white guy who sang songs written by black people, began to sing rock music. Then, the 1960's! Music was much more explicitly political, with the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-War Movements, and Feminist movements having all sorts of protest songs! In the 1970's and 80's, these protest songs were in the style of punk rock, which was appealing because people with no musical knowledge could participate and make music. In the 70's, hip hop began to emerge. Hip hop was created by black youth who would use the music to talk about the issues that plagued their communities. Hip hop continued to be popular, as rock music evolved into different subgenres. To conclude, the history of music has always been intertwined with politics.

Source: http://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/6-2-the-evolution-of-popular-music/