A team of music psychologists has been researching how people relate to music.
Dr Adrian North (Leicester), Prof David Hargreaves (Roehampton) and Jon Hargreaves (York) conclude that the development of mass media in the twentieth century (which resulted in music becoming much more widely and readily available) led to music losing its ‘aura of automatic aesthetic value’. In other words, it came to be viewed as a commodity that is produced, distributed and consumed just like any other.
Dr North makes a direct comparison with the 19th century, when the only music you could hear was live music which was ‘more highly valued and prized than today’.
Rapid technological change in the last 20 years has led to greater levels of music accessibility and choice. But, says Dr North, this ‘has arguably led to a rather passive attitude towards music heard in everyday life.’ He adds that music was rarely the focus of his research participants’ concerns and was taken for granted; consumed whilst undertaking other activities. ‘Our relationship to music in everyday life may well be complex and sophisticated,’ he says, ’but it is not necessarily characterised by deep emotional investment.’