Social media influences musical tastes
Junior Liam Butler makes a Tik Tok Before school in
October 21, 2022
Most students do not remember life before social media. In fact, most of student were not even born before the development of the world’s initial forms of social media. Being integrated into students’ day-to-day, social media has become the backbone of teens’ lives, and according to SOVA, “social media is one way of connecting people over their taste in music.”
SOVA described how adolescents listen to more music than any other age group. Combine this with the instant ability to find and share music via social media and a surplus of creative possibilities, this bring limitless possibilities for students.
“I would say it [social media] introduced me to a lot of new songs, new sounds, and new artists that I probably wouldn’t have listened to,” junior Ethan Stabenow said.
Alumni Connor Quaderer, a popular local rapper, defines social media as a “community.” Quaderer believes it is a place where students and other teens can share their new interests, ideas, and current music obsessions.
Choir teacher Katelyn Larson shares her admiration for social media’s ability to introduce people to new artists and genres to all those interested.
“I think social media is really good. It exposes new artists,” Larson said.
Social media is also a way for said artists to market their music. Sharing music on apps like Tik Tok, an app used by 67 percent of teenagers, Youtube, used by 95 percent of teenagers, and Instagram, a platform used by about 62 percent of teens, executes the repetition side of music marketing.
“These reels, these shorts are the extreme repetition of their brand and their music. They’re intended to get stuck in your head,” Quaderer said.
The mentality of needing a constant trend and new sound leaves content creators in a perpetual state of exhaustion. These creators are pushed to produce the newest fad to appease content consumers.
“People want what’s now,” Quaderer said. “The best artists in the world would be nothing if they couldn’t market their music properly… music needs social media.”
There are many positive aspects of social media for the music world. Social media gives users the ability to put essentially anyone they choose in the spotlight. This capacity to highlight creators some believe should not have a platform.
“I feel the same way about social media that I feel about a credit card… it is a dangerous, dangerous tool,” Quaderer said.
With that, many people explain the seemingly never-ending amount of content, with features like the “For You” page on Tik Tok creating an algorithm catered to your likes and dislikes, users feel as though it is almost impossible to close the app and revert back to their day to day lives.
Though known for its addictive nature, Tik Tok and other forms of social media are necessities for many teens, because in today’s day and age, the lack of social media is the lack of knowledge and virtual community.
Coral Lariviere • Nov 29, 2022 at 7:59 pm
The article gives the important balance of both quotes from students and teachers. However, in the first paragraph, I wished you explained what SOVA is and why it is important enough to quote. Regardless, I think the article covers a lot of good points, especially the parts talking about the mental goods and bads that music and music trends can do.
Margaret O'Brien • Nov 25, 2022 at 1:33 pm
This article is great and explains very well how social media is such a constant in teenagers lives these days and how it has an impact on music. I like how people who make music or whose lives are surrounded by music were interviewed for this article, too. Also, the lead is really good. How most teenagers these days don’t know life without social media is really an attention grabber.
kallie fahs • Nov 14, 2022 at 8:24 pm
Something I enjoyed about reading this story was getting the positive side of social media. Social media can be very addicting for people but like the writer mentioned in their story it is how we communicate a lot of things nowadays. I like the content that the writer chooses because I think that music is a big part of the younger generations right now. I liked the quote by junior Ethan Stabenow and how he talks about how social media introduced new music and different styles of music. Social media can show music that stretches you in what you want to listen to. I liked how the writer mentioned how social media can be very addicting but also looked at the side of how social media can introduce us to things that we never would have found out without it. I liked how alumni Connor Quaderer talks about how social media can be a community where people share things that make themselves as a person with others. Reading this story I can tell the writer was very intentional about how they worded things.