The BBC suggests that music taste is linked to drug consumption. This is a prime example of what Cohen (1980) calls a moral panic. The dance music scene has often been at the receiving end of moral panics where by the media distorts the behaviors of the people attending dance events, demonising them and subsequently there is increased policing and in some cases the closure of these events. This is evident in England in the 1980’s when legislation was changed so raves were not allowed to be held (Critcher 2000 p. 149-150).
Whatever suggestions the British tabloid newspapers may make, not all ravers are drug users according to Martin (1999). Hutson (2000) similarly found that there are ravers who attend dance parties and do not take drugs to enhance the experience. The music alone is enough to induce a heightened sense of being, one raver is quoted, “it’s the only music that lifts you out of your body without putting something down your throat first” (p. 39). There is a spiritual element to listening to dance music that does not require drugs to enhance it, it just is because of the music.
This link between dance music and drug taking has been shown in academic research by Forsyth and Barbard (1998). What they found was that nearly half the teenagers interviewed in their research who stated rave music or its sub-genres as their favourite type of music had taken illegal drugs. The interesting thing about their results was that the most likely group to have used illegal drugs were the group who chose popular music from past decades as their favourite music. So evidently the media hype, as exampled above, is a modern day moral panic that is trying to discredit dance music and its culture.
References:
Cohen, S. 1980 Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers, 2nd Edn, Martin Robertson: Oxford.
Cricher, C. 2000 ”Still raving’: social reaction to Ecstasy’, Leisure Studies, Vol. 19. pp.145-162.
Forsyth, A. & Barbard, M. 1998 ‘Relationships between popular music and drug use among Scottish schoolchildren’, International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 9. pp. 125-132.
Hutson, S. R. 2000 ‘The Rave: Spiritual Healing in Modern Western Subcultures’, Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 1. pp 35-49.
Martin, D. 1999 ‘Power Play and Party Politics: The Significance of Raving’, Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 32 , No. 4. pp. 77-99.
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Hurra! Studies have shown……….. I’m a saint!
That’s a great Link Ramona!
It says “studies have shown” that people who like musicals are more likely to be lovely people who do charity work…. Well, I’m wearing a Rocky Horror Tee Shirt right now! Coincidence?! I think not! :p
I found it rather predictable that club music was demonised in the popular media as always; what did surprise me was the article mentioned Hip-hop, Blues, Classical, Opera, etc – but no mention of Metal, Folk, Punk, World, etc styles. But it seems standard sensationalist fare, crying out over the hardcore substance abuse and corruption of the younger generations through ‘Doof Music’ and Ecstacy – like one of your earlier posts, not all ravers are walking chemical equations.
“The study did reveal links between education and musical preferences.
People with a PhD or Masters degree are more likely to enjoy opera, jazz, blues or classical music.
Hip-hop fans were the most likely to have attended a fee-paying school. ”
I found this a most amusing and elitist social comment; it seems conceited to suggest that ‘academics’ would appreciate music with a supposed/perceived higher cultural capital befitting the intellectual elite than any other demographic in society, gut anecdotally the research rings true. I found it intriguing that Hip-hop, a genre that arguably rose as a form of social awareness bred by years of oppression, poverty, and racial violence in the ghettoes and slums of America, is favoured by middle to upper class private school students… poor little rich kids lashing out at society or brainwashing via the electronic teet of mainstream music marketing?