Music is not to blame for violence. Many years ago, the theme of culturally incorrect music began. It began with one of the biggest controversial writers of all time, Marilyn Manson. The heinous attacks on Columbine in 1999 were attributed to Manson’s career as his dark themes were accused on planting a dark image within the shooters. However, we as man have been accusing music of doing this for years.  

In the early ’80s and ’90s, music hit its peak in popularity. That’s not to say that it died off at all however, but it is to say that it was at that time the most influential thing in everyone’s life. Anything from a school shooting to a gang killing were blamed on a song or record, which, in my opinion, is disgustingly inappropriate as the self-proclaimed “Gangster Rappers” only display the lives they had as a kid, in the hard streets, and not the people they are today. This is a similar theme to Marilyn Manson; you see his onstage presence, however that is not who he is. In all reality, Manson is a hard-working artist who struggles just like every other man. There is nothing strange or unnatural about Manson, as he is just displaying his own philosophy through the sounds he produces. 

Music in a societal standard is one of the most important features. You see and hear different sounds from different countries, and you must have noticed that you can almost feel that it came from there. And the reason for that is because it nearly perfectly reflects the people within the country, and that’s the point of it. We indulge within our communication and quite fortunately music is a very big part of communication. And because of that, we can determine the sound and place the song is assigned to. 

Music is very personal, as it is for an audience, or it is targeted at a specific set of people. When people grow up, for example, they live way different lives than one another. Because of certain occurrences throughout the length of life, we find our way through music. What we experienced can almost directly associate with taste. Music is very personality influenced, as if you are normally sad or depressed, you are going to find the sound that associates to that feeling. And because of that, people like Marilyn Manson are always out there, as they express darker themes to attract that exact audience so they are no longer voiceless. 

Music impacts society. Within a society as large as ours, there are bound to be different people who think much differently. And this should also apply to musicians, causing them to reflect the opposite of the norm, and in doing that they attract the opposite of the norm, means by making darker or lighter themes, you attract that audience to your music, and that, in turn, proves that music is very socially oriented and will remain that way.