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Catanduanes State University

College of Education
Virac, Catanduanes

MUSIC: ITS AFFECT ON TEENAGE SOCIETY

Glydel P. Rodriguez
BSE-MAPE 1F
January 19, 2015

MUSIC: ITS AFFECT ON TEENAGE SOCIETY

Introduction
Is it necessary to believe to the statement The music made me do it? Who should be
blamed for the actions and bad doings of teens today? Should the artist and media have a
percentage of the responsibility? Can genres like raps, rock or heavy metal change the moods
and causes teens behavior to take a turn for the worst? Music affects teens in different ways and
has been the cause of behavioral changes happening on them.
This research would give an overview to the effects of music in different ways, if it gives
a positive impact to the teens and in what particular way. This research is done to understand
further the essence of music in the society of the teenagers.
This research is also conducted to share the readers what had happened to the Columbine
Shooting, to pinpoint if the music had a percentage of responsibility about the incident.
Music, by definition, is the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in
combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and
continuity (Webster 781). Music, an artful arrangement of sounds across time has always been a
factor in peoples lives. It is part of virtually every culture on Earth, but it varies widely among
cultures in style and structure. It is also a way of communicating and every message
communicated reaches the audience clearly. Music is especially meaningful and popular during
adolescence. It is the most preferred leisure time activity for many adolescent.
Smithtown (2001) stated that there are so many types of music out there today. Rap, pop,
rock, country, indie, alternative, hardcore are some of the abundant types in the world. Music
sends out either good or bad messages that have big impacts on how people act. People usually
become friends with others who have a same taste in music as the rest of the people they hang

out with, or it can be vice versa. People may not want to associate with people who have
different tastes in music because theyll argue about what they think is better but its just their
own opinions.

The Effects of Music

According to Kath Katakutan, music can control human life. It can make you feel loved
and in love, smile or even sob. But its not all about the song, tune or genre, its all about the
person you think of whenever you hear a song.
Positive attitude is one of the most important characteristics that anyone can acquire from
something. Unluckily, the music industry has also had negative impact upon the attitudes of
millions of its listeners. This range from a teens attitude towards life, life goals, education, selfesteem or self-awareness, respect for others especially for their parents, and having respect for
authority. This issue creates a major problem for society because the teen who listens to music
that contains violent lyrics will often go out into society and attempt to idolize the music and the
artists. Unfortunately, many teens do not understand that many of the artists dont actually live
the lifestyles that they sing about.
Millions of teens are heavily influenced by the music industry. This can either by
positive influence and or by negative influence. The music industry has the potential to influence
a teens attitude, behaviour, self esteem, types of clothing, types of friends, and respect or lack of
respect for their parents and authority figures.

Positive Effects of Music

For Mental Health

For adults, teens and children music can be a positive force for mental health, calming,
relaxing, intellectually stimulating. Music affect our emotions, it can create channels in our
mind, patterns of thinking.

Positive Outlook on Life

As music can easily influence negative behaviors, it can also provoke a positive outlook
on life and the changes that come secondhand with that. Its like a broom made of silk fibers that
gently whisks your troubles away but that would only work if you were listening to a major key,
a happy song.

For Academic Means

According to study, music can help students improve their academic excellence,
particularly students who study music and learn to play a musical instrument. Studying music
involves math and science, so students improve in those areas. This improvement can benefit
them on testing, such as the SAT. According to the College-Bound Seniors Report, done in 2011
by the College Examination Board, students who partake in music performance scored an
average 41 points higher on math and 57 points higher on verbal than students who did not
partake in music performance.

Kath Katakutan, a third year student, majoring in MAPE stated that music can make a
person feel relaxed whenever one is tired of anything. Moreover, she explain further during the
interview that she has a friend who listens to music whenever hes reviewing for an exam. His
reason according to her is that it can help him for whenever he listens to a music he cant hear
any disturbance around him.

Music as Mood-Modifier
For teenagers music frequently provides a means of identifying or labeling certain
emotions. In music with lyrics, teenagers may identify with expressed emotions of happiness and
sadness or with sociological or political themes. For teenagers struggling with issues surrounding
adolescence, sexuality, sexual orientation, loneliness or depression, identifying these emotions in
music can be extremely helpful. This is especially true when a teenager is unable to discuss these
issues and emotions with family, friends or peers as identification of similar themes in music can
make her feel less alone. When teenager use music as mood-modifier, it can be used to reinforce
and perpetuate negative emotions as well as positive emotions.

Music as a Catalysts for New Ideas

Listening to music is also a way of learning new ideas, about their own culture and other
cultures of which they are not familiar with. They can learn musical traditions, various musical
instruments, history lessons, political issues of their culture and many more. Moreover, as
listening to music is a fun activity for a lot of teenagers, this can often be a more fun way to learn

about a culture, rather than simply reading a textbook. This is the reason why lessons for kids are
transformed into songs to avoid monotony.

Music as a Way of Manifestation of Ones Emotion

It is true that being a teenager can be a rough time emotionally, as body goes through a
lot of change. Music can be especially meaningful to teenagers. It is an emotional art form
covering every type of emotions, including happiness, anger, sadness, regret, anxiousness for
them. If theyre able to find a song that fits their emotion, they can feel comfort as if a friend is
with them and would feel that theyre not alone in their emotions. As music as a way to express
emotions, many teenagers might try to make their own music which can create healthy emotional
expression.

Music as a Way of Bringing People Together

Sharing the same interests and dislikes could bring people together as music tastes and
interests, especially teenagers. Learning another teenager likes the same style of music or band
can be an easy way of two teens to share a connection and begin a friendship or something even
more. As well, music is often enjoyed in public, at concerts and dance clubs already share a
common interest, that particular band or music style, so a connection can be easily made. As
teenagers sometimes feel isolated or like outcasts, music can help a sense of community.

Negative Effects of Music

Music, it is known to be one of the most influential tools in the society today. It has the
power to influence teens in many ways. Rap, heavy metal and rock are some popular genres that
are known to affect teens the most.
As the popularity of these music continues to grow, teens risks of becoming violent,
suicidal or sexually active grows with it. Since music is all throughout the media, there is no way
for teens to escape the influence it gives on them.
Music has always been used in the society to change social behavior. During the 60s a
lot of the songs contained lyrics against racial injustice and anti-war which tried to change the
mood of the violent 60s. As time progressed and new artists were introduced, the message
change from fighting to causing harm in our society. Now, some music not only changes moods
but is suggestive. Many teens become experimental with drugs, sex, alcohol and violence due to
the music they listen to.
Many times, people hear news reports about teens that have fallen victim to the negative
influences of music industry. Music industry has a tremendous and profound effect upon the lives
of millions of teens. It is also important to note that music industry impacts a greater percentage
of a teens lifestyle than anything else. This includes everything from the type of clothing
teenagers wear, to how they wear their clothing, the types of friends they choose, peer pressure,
the types of music they listen to, and even their attitudes about life and their attitudes towards
others.

Columbine Shooting (1999)

Music has been pinpointed to several different issues occurring in the society. One
incident that has been blamed on music is the Columbine shooting in 1999. In this incident two

kids came to a high school in Littleton Colorado and killed 12 students, teachers, and seriously
injured several others. Shortly after they turned the guns on themselves and committed suicide.
After the investigation of this act, it became knowledgeable to the world that these two trouble
teenagers were strong listeners to heavy metal and Goth music. They were also known to be fans
of Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson believes that he had no influence to what these two
teenagers did but the media felt otherwise.

Teen Pop Popular Music

Teen pop is a subgenre oriented to teen audiences and almost always made by teens. The
genre has changed a lot through decades, but there are common elements like the simplicity of
the songs, repetitive choruses, or teen-oriented lyrics. The genre is oriented to the market with
huge marketing companies following the artists, with many of them involved in other sectors like
magazines, radio programs, TV series or films.
Listening to popular music is considered by the society to be a part of growing up. Music
serves a way to relieve tension or boredom. It provides entertainment and helps to eliminate
problems. According to some studies, teenagers use music in their process of self-information,
ant their choice of music tells what kind of identity they possess.
Some authors have suggested that popular music provides adolescents with the means to
resolve unconscious conflicts related to their particular development stage and that their music
preference might reflect the level of turmoil (violent disturbance) of this stage. The teens
preference of music and the reaction they give to it vary with age, culture, sex, and ethnicity.

Male adolescents use music as energy boosters and as a mood stimulant while female
adolescents use music to reflect their emotional state, in particular when feeling lonely or down.

History of Popular Music

The genres origin can be traced to the 1940s, heavily influences by Swing and expanded
in the 1960s with artists like Paul Anka and Rick Nelson. In the 1960s appeared another teenoriented genre called Bubblegum with The Monkees and The Partridge Family as representative
bands of genre. In the 1980s the genre took a frequent Boy Band formation with bands like New
Edition and New Kids on the Block and the genre began to take influences from Dance-Pop and
Contemporary R&B. In the 1990s the boy bands and girl group formations continued with Spice
Girls and Take That until the beginning of the 2000s when solo artists became predominant
began with Aaron Carter and Britney Spears. In the middle 2000s some artists began their careers
with Disney like Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber, who are oriented to Pop Rap, Contemporary
R&B and Country Pop.

Most Active Listeners of Popular Music

A study conducted through sixth-graders revealed that 98% of these children
listened to popular music, 72% of them on most days or everyday. Furthermore,
it has been reported that children 8 to 10 years of age listen to music an average of
1 hour per day. With many children and adolescents listening on iPods or other
devices using headphones, parents may have little knowledge of what their
children are listening toSeveral theories have been developed to explain the
relationship between music and behavior, and a number of studies have
demonstrated that there is a relationship between music and emotions, regardless
of age. Although the emotional response to music depends on the way it is
presented, it is also true that it is closely related to the age of the listener and the
experiences or preconceived ideas they bring to the music. The effect that popular

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music has on childrens and adolescents behavior and emotions is of paramount

concern.(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009)
Adolescents are not the only young consumers of popular music. Not regarding to the
ages of the listeners, music is believed that it contribute to the changes of behavior and emotions
of the active listeners.

Impact of Popular Music

Effects of Lyrics
Lyrics of certain genres, like rock, heavy metal, rap and some new coming genres
such as reggae ton have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence
over the years.
A content analysis of the top 10 CDs performed by the National Institute on
Media in 1999 revealed that each of these CDs included at least 1 song with
sexual content. Forty-two percent of the songs on these CDs contained very
explicit sexual content. Some rap music, uses explicit sexual language in its lyrics
also messages of violence and hatred toward women. Drugs, tobacco, and alcohol
also tend to be glorified in these songs.(American Academy Pediatrics, 2009)
Some have argued about the effects of lyrics to the children and adolescents. Some say
that teenagers use music only for entertainment, that theres need not to give attention about the
words used in the song, and if any attention is given, understanding tends to be limited and
related to the experiences lived by the listener.
However, other studies have demonstrated the contrary. Approximately 17% of male
adolescents and 25% of female adolescents expressed that they liked their favorite songs
specifically because the lyrics were a reflection of their feelings. Also, it has been found that the
more importance adolescents give to a certain type of music, the more attention they will pay to

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the lyrics. Furthermore, Knobloch Westerwick have stated that although young listeners might
not understand all the details in lyrics, they recognize enough to obtain a general idea of the
message they bring.

Effects of Music Videos

Research related to music and its effects on children and adolescents has been expanded
into another expression of popular music: the music video. Music videos are appealing to
children and adolescents. Considering that music videos are attractive to youth, it is important to
study their effects on a young audience and to be concerned about the messages these music
videos promote.

Two Kinds of Music Video:

Performance Video It is an artist or a group filmed during a performance, usually

during a concert.
Concept Video Tell the viewers a story about the song. This story may sometimes
add content to the lyrics and provide a particular interpretation that is reinforced
every time the viewer hears the song.

As with popular music, the perception and the effect of music video messages on children
and adolescents is related to the age and developmental stage of the viewer, as well as the level
of exposure.
Research on music videos has been focused mainly on content analyses.

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An analysis of 518 music videos on 4 television networks (MTV, VH1, CMT, and
BET), this study revealed that the percentage of violence in music videos ranged
from 11.5% to 22.4%, with the most violent videos having been presented on
MTV. When analyzed according to type of music, rap videos had the highest
portrayal of violence (20.4%), closely followed by rock videos (19.8%). Using the
same sample, another study revealed that although the percentage of videos that
portrayed alcohol use showed no significant differences among networks, the
percentage portrayed was still significant, ranging from 18.7% to 26.9%. Of the
networks, MTV had the highest percentage of alcohol representation and also the
highest percentage of videos that portrayed smoking behaviors (25.7%). Of these
videos, rap music videos showed a higher content of alcohol or tobacco use than
did other types of videos. (Smith & Boyson, 2002; Gruber et al, 2005)
Music videos contribute a lot to the negative effects of music to the young audience. The
percentage of negative themes has increased. The highest percentage of violence portrayed is in
the rap videos, followed by the rock ones.

Popular Music Artists

Popular music artists are considered as icons, with teens often imitating the fashion styles
they see worn by their favorite artists either in real life or through music videos. The Berg
Fashion Library makes note of this examples of the throughout the history, including Madonnas
influence on trends geared toward skimpier outfits in the 90s. Another, more recent and
controversial trend in which music affects style, especially in the teen demographic, is the
sagging-pants trend made popular by hip-hop artists.
The teenagers choices of music can be a reflection of his overall mood or state of being.
This can become reciprocal relationship, with teens gravitating toward music artists who reflect
their tastes, while also adopting some of the attitudes portrayed by artists in their music and real
life. At this age, teens are likely forming a preference for artists that they identify with,
according to Kimberly Sena Moore, board-certified therapist. And as they begin looking to

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musical artists for cues on how to cope with certain life issues in their lives, they will begin to
emulate the feelings and moods theyre seeing on a stage or hearing on their iPods.
It is unnecessary to blame the teens music icons for their actions. While some music
artists may have a negative effect on a teens behaviour, they are not directly responsible for that
behaviour, according to licensed psychologist Dr. Gail Gross, nationally recognized family and
child development expert. Moore recommends setting boundaries on the artists that you feel are
inappropriate while looking at the childs musical influences as a way of better understanding
who he is and what he is currently experiencing in his life.

International Popular Artists

Today we have international famous artists whom teenagers idolize and emulate. One of
them is a Filipina, Charice Pempengco.
*Peter Gene Hernandez, known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singersongwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, by a family of musicians,
Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his
hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles
to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, joining production team The
Smeezingtons. One of his songs is Just the Way You are, which sold 12.5 million copies and
contributed to Mars becoming the best-selling digital artist in 2011. In 2011, Mars was named
one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
*Taylor Alison Swift, an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Wyomissing,
Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue a career
in country music. She signed with the independent label Big Machine Records and became the
youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of

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Swift's eponymous debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her
third single, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one
song on thecountry chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy
Awards.
*Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an
American pop-singer, songwriter, activist, record producer, businesswoman, fashion designer,
philanthropist, and actress. Born and raised in New York City, where she lives, Gaga primarily
studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University'sTisch
School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She soon began
performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side. By the end of 2007, record
executive and producer Vincent Herbert signed her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint
of Interscope Records. Initially working as a songwriter at Interscope Records, her vocal abilities
captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who also signed her to Kon Live Distribution, his
own label under Interscope.
*Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, popularly known by the mononym Charice, is
a Filipina singer who rose to popularity through YouTube. Dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as "the
most talented girl in the world", she released her first international studio album Charice in
2010. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number-eight, making Charice the first Asian solo
singer in history to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart. Just months ago, she
announced that she is a certified lesbian.
Pinoy Popular Artists
We have also here in the Philippines whom Filipino teenagers look up to.

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*Josephine "Yeng" Constantino, a Filipina pop-rock singer and host. She won as "Grand
Star Dreamer" of Pinoy Dream Academy, the Philippine edition of Endemol's reality TV
show Star Academy. One of her songs is Chinito which is always being heard on the radio all the
time.
*Sarah Geronimo, a Filipino recording artist, songwriter, producer and actress. Born and
raised in Sampaloc, Manila, she rose to fame after winning the Star for a Night singing
competition in 2003. Her debut album, Popstar: A Dream Come True, reached quintuple
platinum status and made her, at age 16, the youngest multi-platinum recording artist. Following
the success of her debut album, she had her first major-solo concert at the Smart-Araneta
Coliseum at the age of 17, making her the youngest solo performer to have filled the Big Dome.
*Daniel John Ford Padilla, popularly known as Daniel Padilla, is a Filipino actor and
recording artist, bassist of Parking 5. A nephew of the well know action star Robin Padilla,is a
talent of ABS-CBN and Star Magic and was chosen as one of the Original Pilipino Music Junior
Ambassadors in promoting local music to the Filipino youth. Because of his influence and appeal
to the teenagers, you could see him on the TV commercials oftentimes..
All give influences and impacts to the teenagers of today especially here in the
Philippines. Theres the inclusion of how they dress, oftentimes, you would see bunch of
teenagers dressed up as if theyre Daniel P. or Yeng Constantino.

Conclusion

It is affirmative that music contributes a lot to the teenagers psyche, either positive or
negative. The way they dress up or the kind of make-up the girls use as what they have seen on

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their music icons. Moreover, through music, it is possible to figure out what is happening to a
child and could give a relevant reason for his behaviors.
It depends only to the person who listens to a certain kind of music if he understands the
difference between the reality and the lyrics within the song. Furthermore, teenagers should be
taught the difference between reality and the messages imparted by the music.
Everyone knows the importance of music. Since this is now a modern world, through the
use of technology, one could know and listen to the music he wants to listen to in an instant even
though the music is from another country. Because of technology, western world influence us a
lot, the way they think, the way they dress-up and the themes of music they do are imitated by
us.

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Bibliography

Books
Bustos, A. (1985) Introduction to psychology. Quezon City, Philippines: Katha
Publishing Co., Inc.
Steinberg, L. (1996). Adolescence. Sydney, McGraw-Hill.
Journals and Magazine
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Communications (2009). Impact of music and
music video on children and youth. Pediatrics. 1219-1121
Wells A, Hakanen EA. The emotional use of popular music by adolescents. Journal Q.1991;68
(3):445 454
Dictionary
Music. Websters Dictionary, 1992. USA: Ferguson Publishing Company. Vol. p. 781
Wikipedia

Encyclopedia
Popular Music. Microsoft Encarta Premium 2009

Internet
Campbell, Leah (2008). The influence of music artists on teenagers. [Web log post]. Retrieved
from http://www.demandmedia.com/leah/2008/1/23.php
Census data revisited. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2013, from
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