Thursday, 10 April 2008
Week 7~ Can Popular Music Be A Genuine Force For Political Change?
Although popular music can be used as an influence on a political stance it doesn’t mean that the music itself will cause any long term political change. A good example of this is Live Aid; the concert was created to highlight the plight of Third World countries through famous artists and bands’ collaborating together, while this was successful in raising money for the cause there has been no real long-term solution to the problem through the concert. Other popular artists that have tried to influence politics include the band “Red Wedge” which were formed to promote the Labour Party in the 1989 Elections, ironically their attempts to sway the public vote failed and Labour lost, soon after they disbanded which goes to show that popular music isn’t always a force for political change but instead it can be a short-term solution until another factor is used in the change successfully.
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1 comment:
Red Wedge wasn't a band, it was a loose political grouping formed by a number of groups and artists to promote the cause of the Labour party, in addition you have the chronology back to front.Labour lost the election and as a result Red Wedge disbanded. I do however, take your overall point that the real power of popular music is in raising awareness rather than producing concrete political action.
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