Music and Democracy: Reciprocal Rescue

(Image by ArtsEngine)

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump brings to mind the Dion song “Abraham, Martin and John” of 1968. It’s not because there’s any equivalency to be drawn to those exalted historical giants who met an untimely demise (in fact, there is none whatsoever), but because it’s a reminder of how ignorant hate and violence, left unchecked, can abruptly change the societal trajectory and endanger our fragile democracy. Whether you support him or think the chickens have come home to roost, we all must tone down the angry, unproductive rhetoric, and instead understand the power of advancing our positions with our vote. There’s no single solution to lowering our country’s raging political temperature, but there is one that has proven beneficent influence.

Music and politics can be complementary and demonstrate the efficacy of collaborative democracy.

Our current societal fraught times are even more conducive to music for a purpose, and yet there is a dearth of music lyrics that addresses any of a voluminous menu of issues that it can illuminate and thus ignite advocacy and/or activism. Those current artists’ whose recordings are indeed socially conscious struggle for attention at scale, and the well-intentioned special events that occasionally occur for a cause are “one and done” with questionable follow-up out of the public view. Even the highly commendable non-profit foundations and causes created or publicly supported by major artists generally seem under the radar. What is ironic is that the myopic music industry’s latest mantra for success is a focus on attracting “super fans,” with the labels nonplussed and hopelessly scrambling to build portals to convert regular fans. But they’ve yet to grasp that an artist can only accomplish genuine super fans with authentic passion about shared experiences and concerns, and not with self-aggrandizing event shows and special offers.

There is a clear pathway to a new music renaissance that generates robust, unparalleled social interaction and influence…and super fans:

Consider the recent July 4th, Memorial Day and Veterans Day holidays. The purpose of these national recognitions should give us all pause, amidst the celebrations, and soberly remind us of our citizen responsibility to honor and preserve The United States democracy with our objectively informed votes. We all recognize that our society is more polarized than it’s been in recent history, and being fueled by hyper-partisan politics and media which results in a Pavlovian rejection of the other point of view. Healthy debate is the bedrock of a flourishing culture, but when facts are subsumed in a blizzard of misinformation and disinformation in support of an ideological platform, truth is sacrificed to confusion and apathy. The consequence of this is a cavalier vote, if any, mirroring one’s family’s traditional political allegiance or the mistaken belief that one’s single vote won’t matter. This is antithetical to the values that “The Greatest Generation” of WWII and all veterans fought to protect and which we must honor.

In the not too distant past, the 1970’s and 1980’s were noteworthy for major upheaval and transformation in American society. We can recall how music informed and energized us. A prime example is Paul Simon’s prescient masterpiece, “American Tune,” released in 1973 and perhaps even more relevant today!

https://youtu.be/rw8kun8ccCk?si=8gFFkPyEO7txiSkp

An essay titled “Music: It’s About Purpose, Stupid” linked below posits that, in addition to whatever other subjects, music needs to include a return to messaging about important aspects of our lives to reflect a depth that is distinguishable from the disposable, insipid and repetitive subject matter generally found in traditional variations of love song themes. When effective, music permeates one’s being, affects sensibilities and is a forever reminder of persons, places and things. Music that touches the listener’s psyche can also elicit a personal, long-lasting and organic connection between the artist and fan, especially when it animates a call-to-action.

The major music label’s latest epiphany and mantra that artists must acquire “super fans” is a roadmap without a destination. It will be a meaningless pursuit without including a purpose, a reason for the relationship.

So, the secret sauce to acquiring super fans is a shared empathy catapulted by music, resulting in taking action together around a social cause which creates an ongoing interactive relationship between artist and fan that includes an element of direct, interpersonal communication. This will also intrinsically serve to organize and catalyze the objectives, be it within groups in platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, communities like Discord, among many others, and especially IRL.

Sometimes Music Reflects Society, Sometimes It Leads It!

Music can raise awareness and affect change in diverse, challenging issues, including Democracy, Discrimination, Climate, Mental Health, Bullying, Substance Abuse, Anti-Semitism, Equality, Homelessness, Veterans, Suicide, Terrorism, Gun Control, Reproductive Rights, Food and Clean Water Insecurity, Cancer and other illnesses, Animal Rights Advocacy, Environmental Justice, Oceans, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.

Each of these social impact initiatives comprise a large, passionate community which includes music fans who are energized when descriptive, compelling music speaks loudly (emotionally) to them. Large-scale visceral reaction to music with a purpose influences the zeitgeist and can be the impetus to political collaborative action and wholesale constructive change.

Music and politics can be complementary and demonstrate the efficacy of democracy with non-partisan socially poignant music that moves us and implores us to join in a call-to-action in support of whatever our chosen constructive cause. Politics will inevitably impact the success level of any social cause. A cause for good embraced by fans and artist partners is a natural alliance with political figures, as it provides attention and a tangible and potent actionable example writ large of how this collaboration utilizes and helps to safeguard our very democracy that underpins these social good initiatives. Having to prioritize democracy as we know it as an issue is an anomaly in America, as we’ve always presumed its immutability, but it’s not hyperbolic to state that it’s at serious risk in 2024 if we remain complacent. And it’s axiomatic that a contraction of democracy will curtail social impact pursuits. It’s imperative that we all engage in the political process and that voting decisions be based on thoughtful analysis. It’s well past time for music to regain influence, speak to current events and support politicians who bring forth fresh ideas with veracity, civility, energy and determination that benefit our common interests.

Further, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) permeating everything, a corollary benefit is an obvious opportunity to create music and video of substance to parody and diminish the impact of “Deepfakes,” which obfuscate truth as they confuse the public about their authenticity, and impact both music and political careers (and others) with disingenuous, false representations. Politics will intersect with music again in this realm, as it will prove integral to integrating AI and preserving human creativity. Successful AI implementation will require us to elect educated lawmakers to enact policy to assure its proper use (and restrictions) to sustain intellectual property and ensure rightful earnings from music careers.

Where is the Music Industry?

So, who are our independently thinking politicians, where is our thought-provoking music, and how do we connect the dots to social initiatives to activate positive change?

1. We start by having political campaigns identify their candidate’s priority social causes and listing those organizations in their jurisdictions.
2. We continue by having the local social organizations, philanthropies, community organizers, etc., reach out to their constituencies who are music fans for their lists of emerging and established music artists originally from within their localities who they believe share their social interests and with whom they would like to collaborate on furthering their missions.
3. We ask other fans to identify emerging and established artists from their localities who they’d like to work with.
4. Conversely, local emerging songwriters and music artists are encouraged to contact Socially Driven Music with their wish lists of established music peers and causes and local politicians with whom they’d like to collaborate on furthering issues important to them.
5. And with which artists originally from their area (emerging or established) would local political organizations and candidates like to connect?
6. Next, the Socially Driven Music organization functions to facilitate connections to supportive local businesses.
7. We’ll then get to work connecting artists, fans, social impact causes and supportive brands with local political representatives who share a passion for action and perseverance over despair.

Socially Driven Music, the consultancy organization and music industry de facto activism group, is rooted in determination to extend its history of improving music creators’ livelihoods by developing and monetizing potential evergreen copyrights. Music that affects lives is not a commodity and will be noticed when its lyrical purpose is meaningful. Join us in using our universal language of music as a strategy against divisiveness while fostering collaboration towards positive change: #Music4APurpose. The Coachella Valley (particularly District 41, where Congressional Candidate Will Rollins is a champion of the above-listed causes) is an ideal microcosm of this plan and a template for parlaying the activation of nationwide voting on steroids.

Use our survey, below, designed for Socially Driven Music to facilitate connecting artists, fans, philanthropies and supportive politicians with each other (and which can be initiated by any of these categories). And let us know if you are a music artist who would like to perform, or a fan who would like to recommend your favorite local artist to participate at a rally nearby in support of democracy. Political campaigns and organizations from around the country, and supportive business brands, are invited to contact us at: info@sociallydrivenmusic.com

Music: It’s About Purpose, Stupid!

https://bit.ly/Music_Activism_Survey

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