The Influence of Protest Music During the 1960's and Beyond

The Influence of Protest Music During the 1960's and Beyond

The Influence of Protest Music during the 1960’s And Beyond During the early 1960’s, an interesting event occurred within the music era, which would augment the popularity of the protest music movement. Three generally distinct areas of music began to merge; folk music, topical music, and Tin Pan Alley music all began to meld together. (Rodnitzky pg.4) It was a possibility that both record companies and musicians were attempting to capitalize on the social event, which has taken into effect towards the younger generation. Confronted with serious social turmoil, a burgeoning sub-culture, and a sense of generational revolution, youths have viewed politicians, businessmen, and athletes less as role models and have turned to folk singers as models of integrity. As social movements began to improve the struggle for civil rights and protests of the Vietnam War, popular music and the protesters were inseparable because it was a new culture for young people. Everyone from musicians to businessmen to preachers recognized the effect protest music had influenced over the younger generation. Similar to religious messages, protest music often appealed to the guilt of the listener, invoking action. Support from radio stations, rallies, concerts, festivals, and music magazines gave this powerful form of music a popular venue, which helped youths became more serious and political at the same time. Other musicians during that era had other ways of expressing different genres of protest music. “Forty years ago, there was a social movement, or a collection of social movements, and people gravitated to the music because they thought the music spoke for them… So the music ... was an anthem for armies that were already on the march. Today, the armies are not so much on the march, if there are armies. So necessarily, the place of the music is going to be different. It's more often out ahead of what people are doing in their political lives.” (Danton)
As they filled campuses with...

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