Music From Around The Globe

(Google Images)


Looking back at my high school years, I remember how much I had changed. Not only did I go through a physical change, but I developed a sense of self and discovered who I was and what my interests were. Music was always a favourite hobby. I have always had a particular like for rock and roll music, but I remember going through a phase where I was introduced to a new genre of music. Korean pop. How did I come across such a foreign music genre? Like Swanwick (1988) says, ‘Different musics have their own audiences, their own radio channels and their own classificatory sections in record shops’ (Swanwick 1988, p.17). I discovered this from a friend who introduced me to a few songs that he liked. Little did I know that it wasn’t a common interest amongst people from Asia, their music was spread all over the world. I discovered this by watching Youtube videos, reading comments on these videos in different languages and talking to many others who I discovered had interest in this genre too. Without the concept of global ‘flows’, I would have never discovered this type of music. The process of discovering this music related closely to cultural flows as the spread of various media such as videos and music were involved. It is thanks to global flows that I was able to discover a different culture which I didn’t know much about. I began to learn the meanings of words, I discovered its location on the globe and became very involved in Korean fan pages and news sources. Being Greek, it didn’t take much to discover Greek music as it was part of my life from a young age, being influenced by my mum and grandparents. Listening to Korean music was a choice. And to be honest, the music is great! Being a dancer, I also enjoyed learning the dance routines in my spare time (yes, im a bit daggy). And just for your added entertainment, the following clip shows the top 60 Korean pop songs. Personally, my favourites from the video are number 59, 24, 23, 20, 19, 14, 13, 10, 8, 4, 3, 2 and 1!

But there are planet more songs I adore. Until next time, listen to a music genre you would never consider. You will be surprised!

Swanwick, K 1988, ‘Music, Mind, and Education’, Routledge, London; New York
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=kpop&rlz=1G1ASUT_ENAU471&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=BFAdUr_lEIOplQWckIDoCQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1241&bih=545#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=QAyc5GlSoJAUKM%3A%3BK8_NkOqbYrxveM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages2.wikia.nocookie.net%252F__cb20130318004459%252Fwhatever-you-want%252Fimages%252F0%252F01%252FKpop-kpop-30312726-1280-800.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwhatever-you-want.wikia.com%252Fwiki%252FKPOP%3B1280%3B800

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs_akJbNh0M

Can We Hide From Globalisation?

(Google Images)

After reading the works of Rantanen (2005), I conducted an interview with my mum, asking questions about how globalisation has changed her way of living. Being fourty-six years old, her generation grew up with a certain lack of technology or mediums unlike my generation. At first I asked her what she thought the term ‘globalisation’ meant. Naturally, she had no idea. So to help her understand the basis of the interview, I gave her my own definition. I told her that globalisation is the movement and changes of people as well as other factors such as technologies, culture, politics and economics, to name a few. To be more specific, a common definition of globalisation is that it ‘refers to the growing interconnections of different parts of the world, a process which gives rise to complex forms of interactions and interdependency’ (Rantanen 2005, p.7).  I then asked her what topics amongst her and her friends were most influential on the personal choices they made. She told me that fashion and music choices were top priority. Sounding like titles coming under the ‘cultural flows’ heading, I asked my mum a few questions to further test if cultural flows seemed to be the most influential flow in her generation. Firstly, a cultural flow refers to exchange of matters such as food,

religion, fashion, music and cinema across borders. So,  question number three was ‘since you grew up in the Greek community, was there a pressure to remain the Greek Orthodox religion and speak Greek, or did the other nationalities living in the neighbourhood influence you to open up to different cultures?’.  She told me that her Greek culture was basically the only thing she followed. However, eventually cuisines, music, even dance styles became an interest and naturally became part of her life. Curious as to why it took so long for her to allow the influence of other cultures to become part of her everyday life, I asked why that was so. She said that because she was heavily influenced by her parents that were born and raised in Greece, she never has much of an opportunity as a child to mingle with other cultures. Although her parents knew that Australia was a multicultural country, they were closed- minded and strict into allowing foreign cultures into her friendship circle. I find it strange though that my grandparents worked in a factory which no doubt shipped their goods around the world. But they had no idea about the concept of globalisation and that they live in a world where most of the things they are consuming or are involved with have in fact been spread across the globe. At the end of the interview, I learned that no matter how hard you try, or how sheltered your upbringing was, everything you consume is a global product.

Rantanen, T 2005, 'Theorizing media and globalization, 'Media and Globalisation', Sage Publications, London 

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=globalisation+and+greek+orthodox&rlz=1G1ASUT_ENAU471&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9UsdUvXbMI3ylAXchYHgDw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1241&bih=584#fp=b4c7421d5d5e3b9b&q=globalisation&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=r7MgsOv3llDzpM%3A%3BkmZ2vzHVGTTNOM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.acclaimimages.com%252F_gallery%252F_SM%252F0110-0902-0603-3239_SM.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.acclaimimages.com%252F_gallery%252F_print_terms%252Fglobalisation.html%3B300%3B300