StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Influence of Motown Era on Music - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Music is a way in which people express themselves and it brings with it a lot of social changes in the form of culture and personal behavior. The Motown era traces its origination back from the 1960s that was when it attained peak of its success…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.9% of users find it useful
Influence of Motown Era on Music
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Influence of Motown Era on Music"

Influence of Motown Era on music. Music is a way in which people express themselves and it brings with it a lot of social changes in the form of culture and personal behavior. The Motown era traces its origination back from the 1960s that was when it attained peak of its success. It did not only involve good music but also brought with it showmanship and style. The music in this era is characterized by songs with very deep lyrics. The name Motown emerged from a record company started by one Berry Gordy in the year 1960 in Michigan, United States.

The Motown sound mainly involved music in the genre in form of pop, rhythm and blues and soul. The major group of artists who emerged during this period consists of groups such as: Supremes, The Four Tops and The Temptations.(Perone 42) Even today there are artists who produce their music with the Motown influence in them; a good of example of such an artist is the group Boyz II Men. The group borrows its style of music mainly from the groups The Temptations and The Four Tops. They comprise of four artists as seen in the older groups.

Their way of singing is also similar as they sing together in harmonies. They have also copied their style of dancing from the older groups where they dance as a group in a line. The other current groups and artists who have taken up the Motown touch in their style of music are Babyface and En Vogue. Babyface is viewed by many to be one of the best producers and song writers who ever lived. However, the man believed to be heavily behind the musical success of the Motown era goes by name Smokey Robinson due to his ability to write and produce songs.

Actually he was the one who gave Berry the idea of starting up a record company. He is said to have written close to 4,000 songs. En Vogue is a group of women and is said to have taken after the Supremes as their lyrics mainly involved relationships and love. Motown still has a strong influence up to date since most of the songs produced today borrow their lyrics heavily from the songs of the Motown era. The R&B music of the current generation is perceived to be a subsidiary of the Motown music.

(Perone 73) In the 1950s, the black communities had not attained right to social freedom as the racial segregation was still prevailing. The establishment of the Motown Records in 1959 created a platform for fight against racial, economical, political and social discrimination as well as mass violence and police brutality against the blacks. The artists producing with the Motown Records during that period mainly black people produced song lyrics had messages in protest against the social injustices the black were subjected to.

In the early 1960s, the Motown became the most independent recording company. Through its processes of bringing together artists with talents from all sorts of races, the company managed to bring about substantial reduction in the racial and social obstacles that was highly spread initially. Way back before the emergence of the Motown Records black artists had managed to break through into the Billboard Top 40 chart on several occasions. Examples of such black musicians are Jackie Wilson and Ruth Brown.

During this era the socio-political setting was highly broadened thanks to the Motown Records which brought together all the talents under a single record label. Berry tried by all means to narrow the racial discrimination gap by producing songs that appealed all people irrespective of their skin color. (Perone 114) The greatest contribution of the Motown Records in the struggle for civil rights of the black people is the recording of a speech by Martin Luther King dubbed ‘I have a Dream’.

Therefore it would be in order to state that the music of the Motown era contributed significantly in the fight against racial discrimination towards the black people and attainment of liberation. The emergence of hip-hop in the 1970s which brought with it massive cultural phenomena also traces its origination from the cultural integration started off in the Motown era. The message behind hip-hop music advocated for social equality and called for an end to discrimination against African-Americans.

The music of the era also had a great effect on dressing styles among the people especially the black people as they tried to emulate the dressing styles seen with the popular artists during that period. The music also brought with it new dancing styles different from those seen in the previous periods. (Perone 214) Works Cited Perone, James E. Music of The Counterculture Era. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Influence of Motown Era on Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/music/1449347-pick-an-era-in-american-history-and-its-influence
(Influence of Motown Era on Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/music/1449347-pick-an-era-in-american-history-and-its-influence.
“Influence of Motown Era on Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/music/1449347-pick-an-era-in-american-history-and-its-influence.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Influence of Motown Era on Music

Role of Music in Computer Games

Computer or video game music involves the use of soundtracks that accompany the game while it is being played.... They used simple sounds and there was little distinction between 'noise' and 'music', or 'sound' and 'music'.... At the time, little concentration was given to the possibility of incorporating music into games.... More space in the memory has been focused on with more detail being added (images, sounds and music)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Techno Music in Detroit

The Detroit music scene was a unique phenomena during 80's among electronic music, which has just raised as a stand-alone genre.... Techno, although seen as the voiceless, computerized machine-music of the 1990s, actually originated in the mid-1980s in Detroit and Chicago where avant garde disco DJs were experimenting with minimalist ‘industrial' sounds (Reynolds 1998: 2), influenced in parts by disco, Philly soul, and European synth-pop (Hoffmann), Few people associate techno with its African American origins yet the three individuals most closely associated with the birth of Detroit techno as a genre are the "Belleville Three", Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

A Conjunction of Visual and Auditory Signals in Movies

In this paper the writer will attempt to give some details about music in silent movie period and in particular what role the jazz had played as part of the silent motion picture.... Furthermore, he will give try to illustrate the jazz music used by Chaplin for his films.... hellip; Movies have allowed artists and musicians to create an abundant and rich variety of music.... Yet, most of the researches done in this direction include music scores written in the era of talking movies....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Jazz Music - Its Origin and Development

He also improvised on music from opera to blues, which soon came to be known as "Hot Jazz", one of the first styles of the genre.... The paper delves into the origin of jazz music, and its formation over the years.... It also takes into account the various phases that marked its development and musicians who popularized the genre. … The roots of Jazz, popularly known as America's classical music, can be traced towards the turn of the 20th century in New Orleans....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

You should discuss some artworks in music from the 20th century

The advanced technology was greatly a part of the recording of music, distribution of music, as well as the innovations in several dramatic forms and styles of music.... music had taken… In the 20th century, gaining recognition and influence globally had become possible for most of the artists.... The 20th century was for music that brought freedom and One of the major developments in music artworks were in electronic music using several electronic instruments such as the guitar; and one of the best composers of this era was Edgard Varese who experimented with electronic music....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

History of Music: High Profile Decade

An essay "History of music: High Profile Decade" reports that Motown Record Corporation was launched which featured African American Artists.... hellip; The interconnection between music and events are also clear and obvious not only in terms of themes, anthems, and lyrics but also the way they are distributed.... The 1960s also gave way to Bob Dylan's legendary music and on the side, the greatest boxer of all time became a champion in the person of Cassius Clay or popularly known as Muhammad Ali....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

How African American Music Became Mainstream

This essay “How African American music Became Mainstream” tries to find out how jazz originated from the black slaves, has become so popular that it has become one of the major modern musical trends and is suggested to have healing properties for true connoisseurs.... hellip; “You must feel the music as well as hear it....  You will experience the best healing results when you open up to listen not just with your physical ears, but when you start to feel the vibration of the music with your whole body and spirit”....
17 Pages (4250 words) Research Paper

Influence of Traditional Folk Music on Songwriters

… The paper “Influence of Traditional Folk Music on Songwriters towards the Content of Music in the 1960s and 1970's”  is an inspiring example of an essay on music.... The paper “Influence of Traditional Folk Music on Songwriters towards the Content of Music in the 1960s and 1970's”  is an inspiring example of an essay on music.... Folk music comprises the traditional genre and music that developed in the 20th century....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us