Kyohn W. Page
Foundations of College Writing
M. Perakovich
May 10, 2012
Music’s Self Portrait
When looking around my room trying to decide which object mostly describes my
consumer habits I actually narrowed it down to a single object, my cell phone. Now not the
actual phone its self but the music purchased inside my Sprint Evo and how it tells a lot about
who I am and also gives you an idea on what I would go out and buy. This essay will explain
how the music an individual listens to can show you their actually in a way tell you not only their
personality but whaat they would likely concume.
People might be wondering how in the world can music tell about what an individual
would buy or consume but in reality much of what we buy today is actual a symbol of our
personality. “We stamp our visual taste on our things making the totality resemble us” Joan
Kron’s The Semiotics of Home Decor (133). This quote is the reason I picked my phone’s music
as something that best represents me and my taste. I listen to all types of music ranging from rap
to pop but as I listen to the type of songs the trends I notice are that all the songs have a modern
day introspective, rebellious, fashion type of feel which is exactly how my room looks. I listen to
a lot of different music so I If you look around my room you see things such as a teddy bear, 50
Cent poster and even business books. To get a better understanding of all this you have to realize
my influences, which is in the music. An example is how I listen to Kanye West. In his song
can’t Tell Me Nothing he says “I’m way more fresher with way less effort”. This speaks a lot as
Kanye is known to be a Hip-Hop fashion icon ; he wears whatever he wants and it tends to look
right. Not that I’m copying his style but he becomes sort of an role model as I tend to wear
whatever I want while also emulating his reckless dress attire. You might see me wear more slim
fit pants but then have a gold watch on. The gold watch would be from a rock n roll artist but as
you see the influence the music had on me actually changed my consumer habits. An even bigger
example of this is how rapper 2 Chain made an mixtape called True Realigion and soon lots of
teenagers into hip-hop music began purchasing true religion jeans because of their new found
popularity.
“Décor as Symbol of Self” Joan Kron’s The Semiotics of Home Décor (135). In my
opinion this is absolutely true. When you walk into a room you see what a person is like for
example if he has posters of the eagles or Jay Z you would know he or she is a fan and if
everything is a specific color then you can assume that’s their favorite color, same goes for
music. Say if someone listens to all gothic music, you would expect them to dress gothic, act
gothic, for example they would wear black nail polish, dye their hair black with blond streaks
and have lots of pericings. This is usually true and the case in a lot of people. I know from
experience that most of the music I listen to has some ties to my personal life for example me
being an track athlete I have a lot of motivational songs and songs that pump you up but I know
people who play instruments such as piano and violin listen to more mellow and calm music to
relax them before they go out.
I listen to a lot of up to date and new music so as a consumer I am very trendy and
usually wear the most up to date and fashion stuff. While being up to date and trendy I also listen
to old school music like Tupac and Rolling Stones so when you see shirts in my house with
Tupac face on it or the Mouth with the tongue hanging out you would understand. Music in a
way is marketing tool as the many things I buy is usually heard in songs such Rick Ross saying “
Snap Back Fitted Cap” next thing you know everyone began wearing it including me. When I
hear my favorite rappers saying something in their rap regarding clothes I want to buy it because
I inspire to be like them. By saying that I’ m basically representing myself in the way I want
others to see me. In the book it says how we use what we buy as a symbol of status and this is
right on point. Just by the device in which I listen to my music in can give you a sort of status
symbol of me. If I listen to music on an old fashion cd player you would think Oh he isn’t that
fortunate, but if I use an IPod or new high tech phone one would think I have some money. I
think it’s just all in others opinions. In my phone there are a lot of different blends of songs and
playlists for occasions so someone could get an idea on what I like to do and don’t. For example
if I have songs talking about baseball a lot, someone would consider that I must love baseball but
without having specific songs referencing it you would not notice. This would explain reasons
why I have a lot of baseball shirts and hats.
Another way how I think music describes how and what you consume is how when you
go into certain stores and they play a specific type of music. Examples are how in malls when
you walk into the stores you hear music playing that goes with the outfits displayed. For example
Hollister and American eagle will play relaxing beach type music that make the clothes seem
more comfortable but walk into Zumes, or Hot Topic and you will hear something in the line of
Heavy Metal or Tyler the Creator. I think by you hearing artists make songs about certain items
will attract more customers to that store so like many other people I fall into that trend. Skinny
jeans for example were made more famous by The New Boys and next thing you know every
store that sold skinny jeans played their song. This shows exactly how influential music and what
you consume are related. Some other real life examples is how Lil Wayne went from dressing
like a rock star when the clothing trend was popular to now rapping about skate boarding and
even dressing like one to appeal to the youthful fan base.
So in conclusion not only can music tell me about what I consume and like to buy but. It
also represents a social status and can even tell you about someone’s personality. Another thing
is how not only music can tell you about what you consume but how it can be used as a
marketing tool.
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