Why the Majority of Today's Music Revolves Around Sex, Violence & DrugssteemCreated with Sketch.

in music •  6 years ago  (edited)

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  • A. Part of the reason why a lot of America's Music (one of the most popular sources of Music in the world) revolves around Sex, Violence & Drugs is that a large majority of the U.S. population and indeed mankind, lives in the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (refer to the diagram above).

MUSIC ABOUT SEX:

Due to wage stagnation in the United States a massive amount of Americans are stuck in the first level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Food, Water, Sleep, Sex, etc.) or are at least struggling with the second Level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Security of Employment, Resources, Family, etc.). This prevents a massive amount of adults from being able to focus and achieve Love & Belonging in the 3rd Level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, where Human Beings start to seek Sexual Intimacy, instead of just plain sex.

Sex is different from Sexual Intimacy - Sex is a Physiological Need but Sexual Intimacy is a more advanced need and belongs in the 3rd Level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need (Love & Belonging).

So a lot of our Music is about Sex - Sex about Music sells, and it often sells better than Music about Sexual Intimacy because of the massive amounts of people who live, and are stuck in the bottom two levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

MUSIC ABOUT VIOLENCE:

People on the second level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs might express their need for Safety through the use of defense or offence (i.e. violence) and may unconsciously choose to remain aware of violence (i.e. listening to music about violence) in order to increase their self-perception of strength, awareness and Safety.

It takes a good position in life, a decent upbringing, income and a moderate amount of self-development before Human Beings can focus their attention on things like long lasting relationships, Sexual Intimacy (as opposed to just Sex) and the higher realms of Self-Esteem, Mutual Respect, Morality, Creativity and Good Judgement.

As long as the United States and other countries lack the resources and/or political will-power to ensure that each of their citizens has their basic needs for Survival and Safety met, Sex and Violence will continue to trend in the minds of the people.

So like Sex, Violence sells, and it sells because of the massive amounts of people who live in the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

MUSIC ABOUT DRUGS:

The common thought in the United States is that drug addiction is a mental illness, but this was refuted when a large majority of U.S. War Veterans returned from the Vietnam War and shook off their heroin addiction, literally overnight (refer to the link in my Sources).

Drug addiction is more a product of our environment, than it is a mental illness, and since a large amount of people in the United States and elsewhere are living in poor environments (i.e. struggling to meet and/or protect their Basic Needs), it should come as no surprise that drug addictions (i.e. illegal Drug use and the misuse of prescriptions Drugs) are becoming ever more rampant in the United States and elsewhere in the world (unfortunately, illegal drugs are being used to cope with hardship).

The people who use illegal Drugs, and misuse prescription drugs, provide a large market for the creators of Music that sing about the same type of things.

So like Sex & Violence, ideas and Music about illegal Drugs sell, and it sells because of the massive amounts of people who live (and are struggling) in the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.



  • B. The second thing to consider about the Music Industry are the people who are writing, singing and producing the Music. Personality type ESFP is called the Entertainer on 16 Personalities and this personality type represents a lot of the people that sing our popular music, like Adele, Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus and also includes celebrities like Jamie Foxx and Marilyn Manroe.

If you want to learn more about this personality type, you can click on the link listed in my sources, but in general, people with this personality (ESFP) are great at entertaining but they are not exceptionally talented at building long-lasting and deep relationships.

There are always exceptions, and it's possible to do well in spite of our weaknesses, but the Entertainers in the Entertainment Industry will not exactly be pushing us toward deep ideas, strong relationships, and contemplation or reflection.

Those are my reasons (A & B) why a lot of American Music (one of the most popular sources of Music in the world) in this generation, revolves around Sex, Violence & Drugs.

Source(s):


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The prevention, reduction and elimination of suffering makes the happiness we experience, more enjoyable, healthy and sustainable.

~ @chrisrice


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Music about Sex trends, in part because Sex sells, and it sells best to the groups of people that are focusing on Sex, and on their other Physiological Needs like Food, Water & Sleep.

Hmm, no wonder I like music so much. Food, water, sleep and sex...Sounds like the 4 basic needs of human life. 😂😉

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Yes @galenkp those (food, water, sleep & sex) are some of our most BASIC needs.

But if they are sufficiantly met, we can then focus on more Advanced Needs like:

  1. Self-Esteem
  2. Mutual Respect
  3. Creativity
  4. Good Judgement
  5. Morality
  6. etc.

I personally get much more satisfaction from the higher levels of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs than the lower ones, but Food, Water, Sleep and Sexual Intimacy as a Husband is still a part of my life.

P.S. I edit my comments and posts constantly, since I am not good at initial write-ups. I am much better at editing and rewriting than the initial write-ups I do (i.e. comments and the first drafts of everything I publish).

It is interesting, since Maslow's pyramid is applied in marketing and in other cases of mass manipulation

I wasn't aware of that until you mentioned it @buhodehope but I can definitely see why Marketing Specialists would use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to attract clients & customers.

I think the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is the "low hanging fruit".

Not only that, chrisrice, because with this pyramid many governments have manipulated thousands of people over time, some without knowing them and others with all the intention of the world

What you are saying is that Governments studied human psychology, and used their research and understanding (i.e. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs) to exploit and manipulate their citizens. @buhodehope.

Exactly, not only that, because we all use this Maslow pyramid unconsciously, think of:

  • The bad series or realitis of tv
  • Policies that promise easy security without saying How will they do it?
  • Merchants giving you false advertising
  • The news when talking to you about how you should support such a thing because it will bring you security

Children also use this but at a much less studied level.