Forum | Week 1 | Music and Society

Just like old times. Our first forum for this last-for-some-but-not-for-me semester somewhat centred around the role music plays in our society. Personally, music is generally used as a tool for boredom alleviation or experience augmentation. For example, today I spent 2 hours catching buses and trains from Modbury to Gawler, during which I listened to some 80's classics, such as:

Hall & Oates: Out Of Touch
Wang Chung: Dance Hall Days
Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
Go West: Call Me
INXS: Kiss the Dirt
Yes: Owner of a Lonely Heart
Aneka: Japanese Boy
Talk Talk: Life's What You Make It
Joe Jackson: Stepping Out
The Fixx: One Thing Leads to Another

I know what you're thinking: "What are you, gay?", but no, these songs were in fact a part of an hour-long MP3 which I ripped from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City game disc. You may know it as "Flash FM", and it even features all the adverts and DJ banter. In this instance I was listening to music to alleviate boredom (and it should be noted that this music could not be used for much else). As for 'experience augmentation', this often occurs when in a moving vehicle (eg. RATM), walking (recently Earth, Wind and Fire for some reason) or dancing (Parliament or funk in general). Word count w00t!

1. Stephen Whittington. Music Technology Forum, Semester 2, Week 1. "Technology Theory & Culture." Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 31/07/2008.