Nine Musical Motivations By: Tommy Carroll
BY TOMMY CARROLL
I made a list of 9 reasons people make music or listen to music, which I'm provisionally calling 'Nine musical Motivations.' As someone who enjoys combining people from different musical backgrounds and forming numerous bands, I love thinking about and observing what makes individuals more or less likely to enjoy and thrive in a given musical setting. I also love learning more about how people who don't play music connect to the art form. From my experience so far, these are the big motivations I've observed first hand. Please note I think most people (myself included) operate with at least a few if not all of these motivations at almost all times, and I think it'd be a cool visual design project to illustrate the numerous crossovers in some sort of advanced ven diagram. I think it'd be cool to refine and expand this concept into some sort of literature at some point. Maybe a tutorial on band leading or perhaps some sort of guide for listeners on how to separate one's musical preferences from others' artistic intent to enrich the exploration process and demystify being a "connoisseur" of music in hopes of liberating the interested from algorithmic playlists. Anyone find this interesting? Or should I just go take a walk already?
The Nine Musical Motivations:
1. Entertainment: Music for escapism or a near-immediate good feeling. Music here is catchy and / or classic. Musicians with this motivation spend time either mastering cover songs and famous pieces to be able to impress event goers in all types of situations or boosting their skillset to be widely hirable. Creators focus on writing songs that are digestible and scalable in terms of quantity of streams and potential for use in and / or with other forms of popular media (I.E. writing songs for TV / movies). Listeners with this motivation either have an affinity for partying (just play something that feels good) or invest themselves in pop culture--often having strong emotional connection to pop stars. Musical situations that most align with this motivation range from weddings with live cover bands, to symphony halls, to stadium concerts.
2. Virtuosity / technicality: Music as a technocracy. Musicians with this motivation enjoy constantly refining their chops and performing the most physically challenging music. Creators seek to impress by pushing the envelope of expectation for what is possible to execute. Listeners often have an affinity for the finer things and take pride in dissecting musical form. Most music motivated by virtuosity and technicality takes place in concert halls, universities and modern jazz clubs. Prog rock, acts like Snarky Puppy and Thundercat*, and I would argue certain forms of highly-precise electronic music are some instances of this stuff breaking closer to the mainstream.
3. Physicality / visceral release: Music that prioritizes and targets the body. For musicians who like to hit hard and make bodies move. At the extremes you have all types of heavy metal, harsh noise, pounding EDM, etc. I would argue that funk and most mid to up-tempo pop hits here. Scenarios where it's most prevalent can range from small sweaty bars to arenas.
4. Emotional Catharsis: Music that helps you get out your feels. Unproven, and there is lots of crossover, but I'd say this tends to be No. 3 for people who like their music more sensitive. Lots of self-proclaimed sad acoustic songwriting and soft-spoken modern pop falls here, but the motivation extends all the way to the most masterful jazz balladry and mournful classical music. The rise of whatever you call the mashup of early 2000’s emo and hip hop (Juice Wrld etc.)that has taken place over the past couple years is an interesting new addition to this family.
5. Storytelling: Music that's all about the narrative. Golden era rappers and old country and folk singers are the kings of this realm, but it can apply anywhere. I think the best instrumental music is driven by this motivation.
6. Subversion: Music that seeks to surprise. Often with a strong political message, but subverting instrumental and compositional conventions counts too. This is where you find a lot of musicians from the punk family tree alongside people who fuse musical traditions in exciting and sometimes jarring ways (a list that is at least as wide as the distance between Bjork and the New York downtown scene, which definitely includes left-of-mainstream hip hop). Listeners are hoping to hear things they've never heard before and are quick to find common sounds corny or unsatisfying. You find subversive music everywhere from basements to big stages (though I think the qualifiers for subversion change as you scale up in terms of consumption). So many marginalized people find their identity while making music in groups driven by this motivation.
7. Interrogation: Music that studies itself. You could view this as a more overtly cerebral No. 6. This is where you find lots of process-based experimental music where the point of the piece is more for musicians and listeners to question conventional musical roles and customs than it is to be perceived as a fixed memorable piece. I think you see a lot of musicians moving from No. 6 squarely into this motivation (I.E. punk musicians going to the more wordy post punk and rock musicians going the way of ambiance and drone).
8. Spirituality: Music meant for strengthening connection with a higher power and / or establishing one's place in the universe. This is one of the oldest motivations for making music. It's the basis for all types of religious and ceremonial music, but oftentimes you will find interrogation and subversion-based music start reaching this point. Lots of free jazz (late John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, etc.) comes from this place and many of the great black Avant Gard composers (Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, etc.) have operated on this plain while most of the world perceives their music as wholly experimental. This section shouldn't go without mentioning the many songwriters who are heavily driven by faith even if their music is typically consumed in more secular circumstances.
9. Community: Music for strengthening the bonds between people. I'd argue this is the original purpose for music and something we're kind of in a process of socially rediscovering after a bit of a lapse over the past decade or two. This starts with indigenous folk musics from everywhere and continues right up into any music that people rally around.