Sociomusicology (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''socius'', "companion"; from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th subfield of sociology">Subfields of sociology">subfield of sociology that is concerned with music">sociology.html" ;"title="Subfields of sociology">subfield of sociology">Subfields of sociology">subfield of sociology that is concerned with music (often in combination with other arts), as well as a subfield of

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

that focuses on social aspects of musical behavior and the role of music in society.

Sociomusicological issues

The work of scholars in sociomusicology is often similar to [ thnomusicology in terms of its exploration of the sociocultural context of music; however, sociomusicology maintains less of an emphasis on

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

and

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

and is not limited to ethnographic methods. Rather, sociomusicologists use a wide range of

research methods Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

and take a strong interest in observable behavior and musical interactions within the constraints of

social structure In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...

. Sociomusicologists are more likely than ethnomusicologists to make use of surveys and

economic data Economic data are data describing an actual economy, past or present. These are typically found in time-series form, that is, covering more than one time period (say the monthly unemployment rate for the last five years) or in cross-sectional dat ...

, for example, and tend to focus on musical practices in contemporary industrialized societies. For instance, proposed the hypothesis of "Biliterate and Trimusical" in Hong Kong sociomusicology. Since the field of

has tended to emphasize historiographic and analytical/critical rather than sociological approaches to

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

, sociomusicology is still regarded as somewhat outside the mainstream of musicology. Yet, with the increased popularity of [ thnomusicology in recent decades (with which the field shares many similarities), as well as the development and mainstreaming of "New Musicology" (coinciding with the emergence of interdisciplinary cultural studies in academia), sociomusicology is increasingly coming into its own as a fully established field. The values and meanings associated with music are collectively constructed by both music listeners and performers. When listening to a piece, they reflect upon their own values and use the music to make connections between their own experiences and what the piece is perceived as communicating. The sociology of music looks specifically at these connections and the musical experiences tied to the person and the music itself. In addition, the act of making music is a social production as well as a social activity. Even if the music artist is a solo performer, the production of the music itself, took a level of social effort. From the instruments that were created to make the music, to the final production of generating a way to listen to the music, also known as the product. Furthermore, one can argue that even the distribution of the music is a social act. Some teachers are trying out more non traditional ways of teaching material, by using music to connect with their students on levels that the student can relate to, as well as "to draw illustrations of sociological concept". Among the most notable classical sociologists to examine the social aspects and effects of music were

Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach ...

(1858–1918), Alfred Schutz (1899–1959),

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

(1864–1920) and Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969). Others have included Alphons Silbermann, Charles Seeger (1886–1979), Howard S. Becker,

Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German-Jewish sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Life and career Elias was born on 22 June 1 ...

, Maurice Halbwachs, Jacques Attali, John Mueller (1895–1965), and Christopher Small. Contemporary sociomusicologists include Tia DeNora, Georgina Born, David Hebert, Peter Martin, Timothy Dowd, William Roy, and Joseph Schloss.

Alternative definitions

In the entry for "Sociomusicology" in the ''SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture'', David Hebert argues that recent use of the term suggests four definitions: sociology of music, any kind of social scientific research on music (e.g. economic, political, etc.), a specialized form of [ thnomusicology focused on relations between sound events and social structure, and a prospective replacement term for ethnomusicology.

References

Sources

* *

* Adler, Guido (1885). Umfang, Methode und Ziel der Musikwissenschaft. ''Vierteljahresschrift für Musikwissenschaft'', 1, 5–20. * Beaud, Paul and Alfred Willener (1973). ''Musique et vie quotidienne, essai de sociologie d'une nouvelle culture: electro-acoustique et musique pop; improvisation'', in series, ''Repères''. .l. Éditions Mame. 272 p. * Becker, Howard S. (1963). "The Culture of ... ndCareers in ... a Deviant Group: the Dance Musician", in his ''Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviants'' (New York: Free Press, 1966, cop. 1963), p. 9��119. N.B.: The results are of a study undertaken in 1948–1949. * de Clercq, Jocelyne (1970). ''La profession de musician: une enquête'', in series, ''Études de sociologie de la musique''. Bruxelles: Éditions de l'Institut de Sociologie, Université libre de Bruxelles. Variant title on half-title page: ''Le Musicien professional: une enquête''. 165, p. Without ISBN or SBN * Devine, Kyle Ross & Shepherd, John (ed.) (2015). ''The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music''. Routledge. . * Hildegard Froehlich and Gareth Dylan Smith (2017). ''Sociology for Music Teachers: Practical Applications''. Routledge. . * Hill, Dave (1986). ''Designer Boys and Material Girls: Manufacturing the 90s Pop Dream''. Poole, Eng.: Blandford Press. * Honing, Henkjan (2006). "On the growing role of observation, formalization and experimental method in musicology." '' Empirical Musicology Review''
1/1, 2-5
* Kerman, Joseph (1985). ''Musicology.'' London: Fontana. . *Martin, Peter J., (1995). ''Sounds and Society: Themes in the Sociology of Music and Society. '' Manchester University Press. *Martin, Peter J., (2006). ''Music and the Sociological Gaze: Art worlds and cultural production.'' Manchester University Press. * McClary, Susan, and Robert Walser (1988). "Start Making Sense! Musicology Wrestles with Rock" in ''On Record'' ed. by Frith and Goodwin (1990), pp. 277–292. . * Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music''. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . * Pruett, James W., and Thomas P. Slavens (1985). ''Research guide to musicology.'' Chicago: American Library Association. . * Sorce Keller, Marcello (1996). ''Musica e sociologia'', Milan: Ricordi. * Daniela Stocks: ''Die Disziplinierung von Musik und Tanz. Die Entwicklung von Musik und Tanz im Verhältnis zu Ordnungsprinzipien christlich-abendländischer Gesellschaft.'' Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2000, . * Voyer, Pierre (1981). ''Le Rock et le rôle'' 'sic'' ontréal, Qué. Leméac.

Sociomusicological issues

Alternative definitions

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links