Start supporting music for the right reason

Research shows that music benefits brain development and academic performance. Common arguments today would have you believe that this is a reason to support music and music programs. However, this reasoning devalues music by placing an emphasis on its extraneous benefits, rather than its intrinsic merits.

Music is unique in that it connects to human emotions. One person finds a song saddening, another finds it hopeful. In this way, listeners actively participate in music-making through their own interpretations of what they hear. Music is also like a time machine; it reflects ideas developed throughout history and, in turn, brings back old memories and creates new ones.

Even in today's STEM-oriented world, music plays a prominent role. According to a 2014 Edison Research survey, Americans listen to music around four to five hours a day with radio and purchased music being the most popular way of listening. Beyond this, marketing uses music all the time. There is a reason why jingles exist and why soundtracks exist, and it has nothing to do with music influences within STEM programs.

So, by solely relying on the idea that music benefits other fields of study, we are setting music up for failure. Music might as well cease to exist if we base our reasoning on this line of thinking. STEM programs and other related fields are supported not by musicians, but by the people who study in those fields. They, along with all other academia, will thrive either way out of necessity.

Music deserves attention because it addresses new concepts not taught in strict core curriculum. Academics will always exist for one reason or another, but music will exist only if people decide to value it for its own merits, and it's time we start doing this.

Emma Blackwell

Glendale Heights