How Music Relates to your Life

A song plays on your earphones and suddenly it strikes you - that instant connection. That spark of clarity when you know the sound you're hearing amounts to more than musical notes and rhyming words and assorted instruments. Our music represents our culture. The music you plays speaks to everyday life experiences - struggles, relationships and cultural identity. Across all genres, music's magnetic field encompasses the clothes fans and musicians wear, the places they hang out, where they spend their free time and how they spend it. Die-hard devotees of certain musical styles usually share much more than a common fondness for a particular song or CD. They share a collective belief system that creates a collective identity. Each genre of music holds certain values and beliefs that remain consistent both with musicians in that genre and fans. Those values effect not only their perception and enjoyment of their music, but how they interact with the world as a whole.