Expensive wine.
While reading the fifth chapter of Tia DeNora’s Music in Everyday Life, one particular anecdote really shocked me - perhaps without warrant. It was in the section concerning music in a retail context and presented a study that found people would buy more expensive wine and liquor items when “classical” music was playing in the store. This was just one example of the profound psychological, social and emotional impacts music that serves seemingly as “background noise” can have on its listeners.
It may seem like a bit of a stretch, but as I pondered this I realized that this idea of people being influenced by what they process aurally has, at its heart, a key concept from Critical Pedagogy - giving perspective. Hearing music in an elevator or store is such a passive activity and for it to have the power to influence purchases, one can only imagine the impact that music which is actively processed in a music classroom can have on students. Think then of the social impact music performed in an educational setting can have on its audience. All of this leads me to believe that music education and performance can be a tool for social change. It is staggering to think that if Mozart can affect what kind of Pinot I buy what a greater effect music can have on social attitudes.
So if this strong relationship can potentially exist between music in education and social change, why aren’t more people “buying the expensive wine”? The key problem, as I see it, lies in the repertoire chosen by music educators. There is very little music being performed in schools today that people will think deeply about when they walk away from a performance. There are plenty of cheap and disingenuous “best sellers” which leave people humming and feeling good. I am reminded of John Lennon’s Imagine - a thought-provoking song in the popular vein which is capable of giving people a perspective for social change.
