he blogs that I read through mentioned, to some degree, how many of the recent concerts being put on by various musicians have been extremely political in nature, with the acts publicly endorsing one candidate or another during the show. This recent development got me thinking about the history between politics and popular music. From Woodstock, to Bob Dylan, to Bruce Springstein, to Rage Against the Machine, it has truly had a strong impact on the democratic process within the United States for several decades now, and 2008 is no different. Keeping this in mind, I decided to explore the ways in which popular music has been used in this particular election, and how it may ultimately affect its outcome.The largest issue concerning popular music and the current campaigns of both political candidates is the accusation that McCain (and the Republican Party) has been using songs against the wishes of the artists whom created them. As reported in the article "John McCain and Sarah Palin: Music Thieves" on the Evolving Music Blog, McCain's camp has now used, "without permission and frequently with strenuous objections by the performers, songs by Heart, Foo Fighters, Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, [etc.]. What's worse is that they aren't limiting this illegal use to just playing the songs on campaign stops... they've gone so far as to include a few in television ads." The most famous of these incidents occurred in August when Browne not only demanded that his 1977 hit song "Running on Empty" be removed from a pro-McCain advertisement, but even went so far as to sue McCain for copyright infringement. As the Senator from Arizona struggles against the disapproval of these artists, however, Obama not only seems to have many of their support, but several songs have even been created by popular artists to promote him as a candidate. In his article, "Trying to Make a 'Change' Through Music," Michael Ventre, (a frequent contributor to msnbc.com) quotes Steve Appleford, a music critic who has written for publications such as Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times, speculating that this could have "something to do with Obama being a fairly young candidate who speaks the language of some of these young artists."
The question is, does the political stance of such popular musicians affect the campaigns of these presidential hopefuls by influencing public opinions? One could argue that the way in which public figures, especially those that are revered as many of these ar
tists are, interact with the candidates in question could have a very important impact indeed. The public perception of the McCain campaign may become somewhat tarnished, for example. Not only because people like the musicians that disapprove of his usage of their songs, but also due to the aesthetical incongruity felt by voters that the principles which McCain's campaign are based on are undermined by his careless thefts. As the Evolving Music Blog puts it, "They've run their campaign on the idea of honesty, transparency, and a return to basics... then why are they blatantly, without permission and regardless of the wishes of the musicians, using songs they have no right to use throughout their campaign?" Also, during a recent speech given by McCain in Woodbridge, VA, he made yet another musical blunder. Before taking the stage, the Republican candidate played the song "Only in America" by Brooks and Dunn in order to "charge up" the crowd. As Bob Greene reports for CNNPolitics.com (in his article, "McCain's Mystifying Music List"), however, this is "The song Sen. Barack Obama has been using at his rallies all year. [And] It has become inextricably identified with his campaign." So, as McCain takes the stage, many of those in attendance at his rally are either blatantly or subconsciously reminded of his opponent. As for Obama, his good name within popular music should help him to solidify America's voting youth. Presumably less concerned with dry, political issues, the younger age bracket may find themselves inspired by the message within a song that encourages them to go out and vote. As Appleford puts it, "It might reach a few people that would not otherwise be engaged in politics... But the main purpose is to give a rallying point for people. A song, whether it's about politics or something else, emotionally connects with people. A song comes out and people feel that it reflects how they really feel."
2 comments:
Thanks for taking the time to read my post over at Evolving Music and use it to link here. I think the issues involved in this campaign, and specifically the uses of pop music are important to grasp. Each candidate is attempting to portray themselves to the media and general public in a certain way. However, in the case of Obama, who is supported by artists and hasn't had one tell him to stop using a song, the portrayal is generally correct. In McCain's campaign the use of popular music and the artists' objection to it only further serves to illustrate that McCain feels he can do what he wants when he wants regardless of what the outside legal factors and individual wishes are.
I was having a conversation about this the other day with someone who lamented that McCain shouldn't get a bad rep for this, as he isn't picking the music that goes into his campaign. But the basic fact is that he does control who works for him, and this issue has happened continually throughout the campaign, so they obviously aren't doing anything to attempt to fix the problem. In my mind, it's a real mess. How do you expect someone to act as President if they won't even respect the intellectual property of prominent American citizens?
On a side note, I was Program Director for KSCR down at SC when I was there. Fight on Trojan!
You have a nice timely subject here as the campaign is forefront in many peoples' minds. The title and pictures are fitting and the links are excellent, authoritative sources. I like how you have quoted from the sources as well. You have an very good foundation here, though I definitely see some things that could be improved.
Just to start out nitpicking, the second picture should be linked to its main page source, like you have done with the first picture. Also I feel that the first paragraph is a bit repetitive and could be consolidated. You start the second paragraph with a very absolute and pretty obvious statement, "The largest issue concerning popular music and the current campaigns of both political candidates is the accusation that McCain (and the Republican Party) has been using songs against the wishes of the artists whom created them." Are there any other issues concerning music and the current election?
I think the main thing missing from the post is your own voice. This is mostly a repetition of news we have already heard. You do not seem to add anything new to the blogosphere concerning this topic. Perhaps a counter argument could enhance the post. Does McCain's camp offer any explanation as to the use of this music? Also I think you might be belittling the intelligence of younger voters by saying that they are "presumably less interested in dry, political issues," and more concerned with what musicians are supporting the candidates. Or perhaps I personally do not want to believe such absurdity despite the fact that is could be true.
Anyway, good job, but there is definitely room for improvement here.
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