Reflections on 'Music & Me'

In the lesson, we went around the room, and we all talked about our choices for the 'Music & Me' homework. It was really interesting to hear everyones choices, and why the song was relevant/meant something to them. I feel like I learned a bit about myself when doing this task, as we discussed the places our music influence comes from, whether it's our parents, friends, the media or the internet.


Most of the songs which were chosen for the beginning period of our lives, were influenced by family and friends. We decided that at a young age you are heavily influenced by the music around you in choosing what you listen to, and it is only when you get a bit older, that you're able to decide for yourself what you listen to, and your likes/dislikes become more unique. When we were young groups such as Steps, S Club 7 & The Spice Girls were all marketed directly to us as a 'brand' and could be seen everywhere. They were promoted as kid friendly which meant parents would be willing to buy the music for their children. We realised that when you're a child you are far more likely to go along with the group opinion rather than having/following your own, and so everyone is likely to listen to the same music.

The difference when you're older is that because you have different tastes to other people, and music is more readily available, music becomes more of a personal thing, whether it's listening to a song on your iPod on the bus, or playing music on your computer at home. It becomes something you like to do by yourself, rather than as a group all the time. I personally hear a lot of music (which i then go on and choose to listen to) on TV shows I watch. Most shows have a soundtrack, and I find it a great way to hear new music and for artists to be showcased.

Being able to go to live conerts and gigs also helped us define our individual tastes as you get to experience the music firsthand, rather than watching them over the internet. It is often these live experiences you will remember for a long time as the divide between the band and audience is removed. As technology is now far more prominent in our lives at a younger age, I think that the type of music young children listen to will vary far more greatly than my generation or above. They are now able to go and search for the music they like on sites/programmes such as YouTube, iTunes and Spotify from as young as 5, which means that they have a lot more choice in what they listen to before having their friends influence them, and in some ways I'm slightly jealous of that, but I'm also glad I was able to experience it differently when I was that young!