Music can be defined as a sound that is pleasant to the ear. It plays a vital role in the lives of many individuals regardless of the class of music. Music also fulfills the emotional needs of people depending on the tone and the words. It has been there in the past centuries, and it’s still there nowadays although a change in the production and other many implements. Indeed music has developed a great deal from the olden days. Technology is one of the many factors that have influenced the development of music. Different types of music fulfill different kinds of purposes and intentions. There are classes of music produced to educate, and there are those of entertainment and enjoyment. Music talks and communicates about many things to a particular audience depending on the intention. Secular music tends to capture the audience that is full of the world whereas gospel music is majorly for the church going people. Many people worldwide and other musicians acknowledge and value music that is true, clear and original hence authenticity in music. The realness and originality in music are what matters than other factors analyzed in music. People look out for the uniqueness in a particular piece of music, and that is what ranks the best and reduced production of music. Cases of musicians being criticized because of the lack of originality and realness in music are prevalent nowadays. You find that music beats are similar in two different types of music. The words and phrases used may also be identical to another piece of music. This is what we refer to fakeness and stealing of other people’s ideas and information. My Knowledge of authenticity in music has shaped and trimmed my relationship with the classical music piece in my country NewZealand.
My first approach to authenticity in music was that it’s just a concept in music that does not influence or affect musicians in their song productions. I viewed authenticity as a choice of the individual to decide whether to play fake music or initially provided the music is listenable. I was so ignorant to analyze or counter check whether music was fake or real because I did not care about the works of the musician rather than the beat and the melody pull excitement. It had never occurred to me that music was supposed to be real and original until I stepped into a music class. Lack of knowledge of music concepts is what made me view music generally because of the purpose of just listening. Peer pressure also influenced me in the judging of music according to the beat and how the audience and fans receive it. If special music was received joyously with the fans and is played in many TV and radio stations, then I could consider it authentic and rank it best. All this propaganda on music changed as soon as I stepped in a music class. Understanding of various concepts of music including authenticity changed my perspective on music forever. Nowadays before listening to any music I have to analyze it critically in terms of originality and realism.
People view authenticity in various ways. Some believe that authenticity is a concept in music that means an artist should sing or produce music according to or limiting to his culture and upbringing. This suggests that one cannot sing music that is out of their boundary of his area or community. Some researchers argue that authenticity is singing in only one particular style of music and not interfering or exploring other musical styles. All these arguments are trying to explain one point which is uniqueness in music, and that is authenticity. The uniqueness of a particular music piece is what allows it to be authentic. Many people have started analyzing music from a factual perspective, and this has influenced their choice of listening to certain types of music. They believe that authentic music is of quality and accuracy. This has led to some people listening to the music, and the artists that they think are authentic and despising others. For instance, one will come across a group of people who like a particular band than the other because of the uniqueness of their music. Most playlists of individuals are flooding with a good number of music from a specific artist that they consider authentic. When artists make original and unique music, fans are attracted to the songs. This develops and builds the musical career of the artist through the downloading of his or her songs thus promoting the individual financially. Owning your music helps fans to identify it even in a mass group of other songs of artists because of the uniqueness it comes with. Many artists around the world are utilizing the aspect of authenticity in the production of songs because of the foundation they began with and the money they are making in selling their music.
South Africa is a perfect example of a country that has artists who take authenticity in strict terms. Music in South Africa is identifiable by its beats and the cultural inclusion of dance in their video production. For instance, there is a musical piece that was trending Last Year of King Monada titled’ Malwedhe,’ this song although in South African language was received by many fans worldwide despite not knowing the language. The uniqueness of the dance and the meaning of the song is what attracted and interested most people to download and listen to it. This was advantageous to the Artist because it promoted his fame and also increased his money through the more than a million views. Another piece in South Africa by Mafikizolo,’Love portion’ was also received well by the fans despite the use of their language. Nigerian music is also another example of pieces in Africa that use authenticity.
New Zealand music consists of several genres such as classic, hip hop, jazz, country music, rock, indie, reggae, and blues. Just like many other countries these classes of music are also available in New Zealand (McRae, 2017). This music is generally influenced by the culture of New Zealand and hence the authenticity in the song’s production. Most musicians and artists in New Zealand have succeeded to produce music internationally with a million numbers of views such as Lorde pop royalty. Most of her musical pieces indicate honesty and reality which distinct her music from others because of uniqueness hence the rise to international level. Lorde released an album titled ‘Melodrama’ that depicts realism in it. The Melodrama piece is about the struggles and pain one goes through when heartbroken and you have to face the consequences alone as a young teen adult (Lars, 2015).
Heart breaks are real and prevalent in everyday life especially to young adults who are joining the love life for the first time with high expectations. Most of us have experienced heartbreaks here and there in our daily lives whether personal or our relatives and friends. The pain of losing someone you love is what entails heartbreak. Lorde in her piece of Melodrama is trying to memorize the events of the heartbreak with her ex-boyfriend. It’s a true story because she was dumped by her boyfriend when writing the album and that’s what pushed her to include the heartbreak in it. The realism in the piece is seen, and many artists have started including honesty and truth in their music. It has influenced many pop stars worldwide to produce authentic songs with original ideas and actual happenings of the events. Lorde is a perfect example of artists who use authenticity in music production and earn benefits of selling their music worldwide. People were attracted by her originality and accessibility and that why her albums started selling at a higher rate because of the uniqueness in them. She presented her ideas from naturally occurring events in the Melodrama piece which was so personal that some artists cannot be able to handle such and this is what promoted and increased her sales on that album and others that followed. Artists aim to produce original songs but few can include real experiences in their songs, and that’s what makes Lorde unique in her piece ‘Melodrama.’ The album does not only focus on heartbreak but teaches and educates teens on the experiences of early adulthood in relationships. It advices teens on what growing up entails and prepares them for such instances in the future. Lorde in her piece ‘Melodrama’ strives to encourage that heartbroken soul that things will be better and that the future is great. She wants listeners who have not yet encountered the adult life to oversee or get prepared for what’s awaiting them. In her lines in the musical piece, she talks about not being afraid of her fears and moving on with life despite the heartbreak. This is an encouragement to people undergoing the same situation and also for the youths who are yet to succumb to the stumbling blocks of growing up. Melodrama album was a great turn for New Zealand and authenticity in music. Many artists began producing songs worldwide that were unique and original. This album led to arise of other authentic albums by major artists, but it also caused criticism and accusation to some pop artists like Katy Perry, Iggy Azalea and many others. It also influenced many people to start analyzing songs that were original and fake. Before learning about authenticity in music I perceived ‘Melodrama’ album by Lorde as dull and sorrowful, but now my view and perspective have changed knowing that authenticity is an important aspect of music production. I now analyze every song whether it’s authentic or not before listening to it.
The learning of this new concept of authenticity and its relationship to music has both positive and negative impacts in my music journey. I have gained knowledge and a deep understanding off the perspective of music and production. At least now I can relate authenticity to any music if asked by anyone. I can differentiate between music that is based on fundamental facts and fake facts; I can also differentiate between music that is of real happenings and that of false events. The learning of the new concept has changed my overall view of music entirely. My respect for artists like Lorde and their music has increased on another level because of the production of authentic songs. I will always support the young talented artists who use authenticity in their music rather than the famous one who rely on fake occurrences for their music production. The knowledge of authenticity in music has improved my learning and hence passing of exams when any related question emerges. It has developed my passion for being a content music writer in the future because now I understand why most music is ignored due to lack of originality. I can even reconsider taking music as my carrier in the future due to my understanding of the concept of authenticity and many others.
The negative impact of learning this concept of authenticity is that I will start judging all types of music and artists. The nonauthentic music will never be part of my play list, and hence I won’t be able to support those artists. I will also discourage my friends from listening to music that is not original, and this can cause disagreements because some are great fans of their so authentic artists. It will also limit me from listening to a good and famous artist who has been in the music industry for so long but lack uniqueness in their songs.
To conclude I would like to emphasize authenticity which has shaped my relationship with music on a more important note. The originality and realness of music are what makes it unique and authentic to listen to hence attracting fans. Artists should apply this concept of authenticity to sell their music internationally and gain profits like Lorde with the Melodrama album. Many artists are benefiting from originality in their music production of quality songs which are received by people and thus the number of million views.
References
Brandle, Lars (23 February 2015). Lorde to Return to the Studio ‘Within the next month or so’. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6480275/lorde-to-return-to-the-studio-within-the-next-month-or-so
Harper-Scott, J. P. E. and Samson, J. (2009a) An introduction to music studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lorde. (2018). Lorde—Melodrama. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwdfFRGQaSs