Music on my mind: Singer deconstructs why people listen to music

As I think about music and what it gives me  from a listener’s perspective, I see two things (for the sake of argument) – entertainment and  emotional contemplation.

Entertainment, of course, is when you find yourself at a gig motivated to have fun and let go. Maybe you will break a dance step or two or have that extra drink to keep things going. And then you go back home a happy person having had a great time!

At the same gig or another one, you may have found yourself among those dance steps, a song that  affected you on an emotional level. It may have reminded you of a special memory or a loved one.

Maybe, it simply made you stop, just for a moment. It reached out to you beyond the surface; not for what the song is about but for what YOU are. That is emotional contemplation.

An example for this is every favourite artiste of every single person on the planet. All kinds of music have these two qualities from a listener’s perspective albeit, in different proportions.

Some music is made with a vision to entertain and some to serve emotionally. This is what makes music so special. Neither of them are wrong. These are simply two of the qualities music is made of.

With every year passing by, the music industry is gradually (d)evolving itself into a pro-entertainment industry where money and profits decide the ‘kind’ of music that dominates.

Because of this, some people have come to the opinion that ‘good’ music doesn’t exist anymore and some are completely unaware of how emotionally powerful music can be. 

Gone are the days when the radio was *filled* with songs like Stevie Wonder’s Superstition or Michael Jackson’s Beat It which made people move and yet, was emotionally charged. But there is still hope.

The same way music does, we have to look beyond the surface of what is presented to us. There is a lot of good music out there, some that will change your life for the better like never before. Are you on the look out for it ye?

Mahesh Raghunandan
– The writer is a Bengaluru-based singer and songwriter with Mahesh and the Mix