Soul Artists and the Success of Motown Music

Thoughts in relation to Vaidhyanathan, S., The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (2004):
Anarchist theory influenced the rise of punk rock in the United States and England, and anarchist practice influenced the rise of hip-hop culture. Anarchy, according to the reading became a youth phenomenon by the end of the twentieth century. Despite the common misconception that anarchy should be feared and it merely involves rebellious violent acts, I think anarchy contributed to heaps of popular culture worldwide. Back in the earlier days where the blacks are discriminated and apartheid structures are widely implemented, anything that is associated with the blacks was considered wrong and was taboos to the whites. Consequently, people started to realise the oppression against the blacks should be condemned. Radical movements to fight for the equality of the blacks and to go against the structured social system in the United States was soon widespread. “The soul of anarchism—spontaneity, theoretical flexibility, simplicity, local autonomy, and hedonism—appealed strongly to these young people.” Young people were appealed by the idea of anarchism and were the driving force behind many demonstrations and protests to get the support and attention they need to impose change. We could see how young people lead protests to spread the word out. This is especially evident in HairSpray when demonstration to fight for the rights to air jazz music in public broadcasting stations were held. In the movie, we could see how jazz and blues were initially enjoyed among the minority and they had to resort to seclusion in order to express themselves musically in basements. It was the influence of anarchy that finally made jazz a celebrated genre throughout the USA. Another example would be the rise of Motown Music, a blend of Blues, Jazz, R&B, Classical, Pop and Soul which became a popular phenomenon worldwide in the early 80s. This daring bold experimental genre would easily not being accepted as it would be considered a deviant style to the American music culture. However, the persistence and endless determination of the blacks and music enthusiasts in spreading Motown inspired music generated the popular rise of soul artists. Therefore, anarchist theory is exceptionally effective in terms of generating new creative ideas and should not be oppressed. Public noises turned public nuisances are not entirely disadvantageous.
In today’s context, file sharing and peer to peer theory should therefore serves as a platform to foster creativity with boundless limits. We should have the freedom to express our views for the consumption of the mass public and consume what we consider as meaningful and useful.