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Booze, Drugs, and Pop Music: Trends in Substance Portrayals in the Billboard Top 100—1968–2008
Substance Use & Misuse
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a content analysis of alcohol and drug portrayals in the top 100 Billboard songs from each of the years 1968, 1978, 1988, 1998, and 2008, thus allowing both a characterization of substance portrayals in music generally and an analysis of changes over time. Of the final sample of 496 songs, 10.3% contained a reference to alcohol and 5.7% contained a reference to drugs. A substantial increase was found over the decades, and in particular over the last two: in 1988, 12% of songs referred to either or both classes of substance, compared to 30% in 2008. Marijuana was by far the most frequently mentioned drug. Both alcohol and drugs were much more likely to be portrayed positively than negatively, especially in recent decades. The results are discussed in terms of relevant theories of media processing and impact.
... Substance use is a particular behavior that has been associated with rebellious music choices (ter Bogt et al., 2012). The content of popular music often includes references to substance use, which may have influenced the listeners' decisions regarding substance use (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012;Diamond, Bermudez, & Schensul, 2006;Herd, 2008;Markert, 2001;Mulder et al., 2009;Primack, Douglas, & Kraemer, 2009;Slater & Henry, 2013). Studies have analyzed the content of popular music for trends of substance use references (Christenson et al., 2012;Diamond et al., 2006;Herd, 2008;Markert, 2001;Primack et al., 2009). ...
... The content of popular music often includes references to substance use, which may have influenced the listeners' decisions regarding substance use (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012;Diamond, Bermudez, & Schensul, 2006;Herd, 2008;Markert, 2001;Mulder et al., 2009;Primack, Douglas, & Kraemer, 2009;Slater & Henry, 2013). Studies have analyzed the content of popular music for trends of substance use references (Christenson et al., 2012;Diamond et al., 2006;Herd, 2008;Markert, 2001;Primack et al., 2009). In addition, researchers have found correlations between music choices and rates of substance use among adolescents and various youth cultures, both in the United States and in other countries (Furr-Holden, Voas, Kelley-Baker, & Miller, 2006;Lim, Hellard, Hocking, & Aitken, 2008;Lim, Hellard, Hocking, Spelman, & Aitken, 2010;Mulder et al., 2009). ...
... As music itself has changed in form over the past decades, so has its content. A review of the top billboard songs over the course of four decades showed substantial increases in references to substance use (Christenson et al., 2012). Substance use messages in rap music increased from being included in 11% of the songs in the early 1980s to 69% of the songs in the late 1990s (Herd, 2008). ...
The current study examined the relationship between substance use references contained in music lyrics and videos and the attitudes and behaviors regarding substance use of White non-Hispanic, African American, and Hispanic emerging adults from a cultivation and social norms framework by assessing 425 male and female college students. It was hypothesized that there would be ethnic variations in perceived harm from substance use and reported recent substance use and that exposure to substance use references contained in music could mediate this relationship. Results confirmed ethnic differences in perceived risk associated with substance use as well as reported substance use with White non-Hispanic college students reporting the least perceived risk and the most substance use. African American college students reported the most perceived risk associated with substance use and the least amount of reported substance use. Results of the Test of Joint Significance confirmed the mediational model in that participant ethnicity was associated with exposure to substance use references in music lyrics and music videos. Substance use references in music lyrics, then, was able to predict actual reported substance use of participants but not perceived risk associated with substance use.
... Thus, the potential exposure to alcohol portrayals conveyed in music lyrics is substantial. The portrayal of alcohol in the lyrics of popular music has been previously studied, and this work provides a picture of the prevalence of alcohol mentions and the context and associations of those mentions (Chalfant & Beckley, 1977; Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012; Herd, 2005; Primack, Dalton, Carroll, Agarwal, & Fine, 2008; Primack, Nuzzo, Rice, & Sargent, 2012; Roberts, Henriksen, & Christenson, 1999). However, there are two significant limitations of the existing literature. ...
... Second, we are not aware of any studies that examined popular songs within the past 4 years. The most recent analysis examined songs up until the year 2008 (Christenson et al., 2012). Patterns of consumption of specific types and brands of alcohol may have changed in the past 5 years, so it is important to have an up-to-date analysis. ...
... By compar- ison, Primack et al. (2012) found these percentages to be 21.3% and 5.2%, respectively, for songs on the charts from 2005 to 2007. Christenson et al. (2012) found that 19% of songs in 2008 contained an alcohol reference. Of note, we found a statistically significant decline in the proportion of popular songs with alcohol mentions during the study period (from 27% in 2009 to 18% in 2011). ...
This study aimed to assess the prevalence and context of alcohol brand references in popular music. Billboard Magazine year-end charts from 2009 to 2011 were used to identify the most popular songs in four genres: Urban, Pop, Country, and Rock. Of the 720 songs, 23% included an alcohol mention, and 6.4% included an alcohol brand mention. Songs classified as Urban had the highest percentage of alcohol mentions and alcohol brand mentions. The context associated with alcohol brand mentions was almost uniformly positive or neutral. Public health efforts may be necessary to reduce youth exposure to these positive messages about alcohol use.
... ). Music also has strong moodenhancing qualities that can energize, uplift, and comfort listeners of any age (Juslin & Laukka, 2004). Music Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2011)Selfhout, Branje, ter Bogt, & Meeus, 2009Mulder, ter Bogt, Raaijmakers, Nic Gabhainn et al., 2010). (ter Bogt, 2000). ...
... Favorable media portrayals of smoking, drinking, drug use, and more recently energy drinks can reinforce the viewers' general understanding that substance use is cool, socially acceptable, pleasurable, and not particularly harmful (see review from Spijkerman, 2005). No single media portrayal is likely to be persuasive, but the preponderance of favorable images may be, and it has been observed that popular music lyrics and videos contain an overwhelming number of positive references to substance use (Christenson et al., 2011). From the perspective of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), people learn through the observation of others, through which they obtain vicarious reinforcement . ...
... Pop music artists may be particularly potent role models because they are famous and adored by their fans. Musicians' actual or perceived substance use behaviors may be highly relevant to adolescents just when they are beginning to explore the use of tobacco and psychoactive substances (Christenson et al., 2011). In addition, music preference may be associated with substance use through selection processes. ...
This study examined relationships between music preferences and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis) among 18,103 fifteen-year-olds from 10 European countries. In 2005-2006, across Europe, preferences for mainstream Pop (pop chart music) and Highbrow (classical music and jazz) were negatively associated with substance use, while preferences for Dance (house/trance and techno/hardhouse) were associated positively with substance use. In three countries, links were identified between liking Rock (rock, heavy metal punk/hardcore, and gothic) and substance use; associations between Urban (hip-hop and R&B) and substance use were mixed. No substantial gender differences emerged in these patterns, and controlling for relevant covariates did not attenuate the predictive value of substance use. The findings are consistent with the conclusion that music is a robust marker of adolescent substance use.
... Other content analyses have found similar results, concluding that alcohol is common in popular music and increased since 1960 (Herd 2005, Hall et al. 2013, Herd 2014, Pettigrew et al. 2018) and alcohol-related brands are mentioned often in popular music (Primack et al. 2012). Additionally, research has also focused on the emotional context of alcohol (also referred to in the literature as sentiment or valence), finding that most references to alcohol are positive (Christenson et al. 2012, Hall et al. 2013. Understanding the emotional context of alcohol references (e.g. ...
... To identify alcohol, we compiled a list of 673 alcoholrelated words-including brand names, urban slang, beverage names etc.-from various sources including previous scientific research concerning alcohol-related words in music (Christenson et al. 2012, Siegel et al. 2013, popular culture (Levine 1981), and popular media (Litt et al. 2018, Riordan et al. 2021); Wikipedia lists (e.g. top brands, beverage lists, location lists, intoxication references); lists from the World Health Organisation (WHO 1994), and words used in alcohol-related harm scales (e.g. the Yong Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire; (Kahler et al. 2005)). ...
Background
Music is an integral part of our lives and is often played in public places like restaurants. People exposed to music that contained alcohol-related lyrics in a bar scenario consumed significantly more alcohol than those exposed to music with less alcohol-related lyrics. Existing methods to quantify alcohol exposure in song lyrics have used manual annotation that is burdensome and time intensive. In this paper, we aim to build a deep learning algorithm (LYDIA) that can automatically detect and identify alcohol exposure and its context in song lyrics.
Methods
We identified 673 potentially alcohol-related words including brand names, urban slang, and beverage names. We collected all the lyrics from the Billboard’s top-100 songs from 1959 to 2020 (N = 6110). We developed an annotation tool to annotate both the alcohol-relation of the word (alcohol, non-alcohol, or unsure) and the context (positive, negative, or neutral) of the word in the song lyrics.
Results
LYDIA achieved an accuracy of 86.6% in identifying the alcohol-relation of the word, and 72.9% in identifying its context. LYDIA can distinguish with an accuracy of 97.24% between the words that have positive and negative relation to alcohol; and with an accuracy of 98.37% between the positive and negative context.
Conclusion
LYDIA can automatically identify alcohol exposure and its context in song lyrics, which will allow for the swift analysis of future lyrics and can be used to help raise awareness about the amount of alcohol in music.
Highlights Developed a deep learning algorithm (LYDIA) to identify alcohol words in songs. LYDIA achieved an accuracy of 86.6% in identifying alcohol-relation of the words. LYDIA’s accuracy in identifying positive, negative, or neutral context was 72.9%. LYDIA can automatically provide evidence of alcohol in millions of songs. This can raise awareness of harms of listening to songs with alcohol words.
... Entre los contenidos de interés psiquiátrico abordados en los distintos artículos predominaron las referencias al uso de sustancias (Champney-Smith, 2003;Christenson et al., 2012;Connors & Alpher, 1989;Conway & McGrain, 2016;Diamond et al., 2006;DuRant et al., 1997;Gruber et al., 2005;P. Hall et al., 2013;Hardcastle et al., 2015;Herd, 2014;Markert, 2001;Marques Filho et al., 2004;Oksanen, 2011;Primack et al., 2008Primack et al., , 2012Sanders et al., 2006;Sloane et al., 2013;N. ...
... Jones, 1990) y la música country (Connors & Alpher, 1989;Stedman & Alpher, 1987). Tanto el rock (y subgéneros derivados) como el rap/hip-hop estuvieron usualmente incluidos en los trabajos que estudiaron múltiples géneros de la música popular (Champney-Smith, 2003;Christenson et al., 2012;DuRant et al., 1997;Gruber et al., 2005;P. Hall et al., 2013;Markert, 2001;Primack et al., 2008Primack et al., , 2012Sloane et al., 2013;N. ...
Introduction. The bidirectional relationships between culture and medicine are essential in psychiatry due to the nature of its endeavour. Thus, the relevance of the analysis of popular culture lies in understanding popular ideas about mental disorders and psychiatric praxis (the focus of this thesis) and identifying the social impact of the circulation of such ideas (an open field of research).
Objective. To describe the representations of psychiatric practice and mental disorders in Spanish punk songs (1981-2010). Specifically, the aim is to identify the uses, meanings, viewpoints, value judgements and emerging themes.
Material and method. A systematic review was conducted to assess the extent of the available literature and the methodologies employed in the field. It guided the selection of the most appropriate strategies for a systematic approach to the subject matter, which led to the qualitative analysis of the lyrics of Spanish punk songs (1981-2010) through an inductive process. First, the general notion of ‘madness’ was addressed, followed by psychotic disorders and psychiatry. Finally, the contents related to criminality and violence were explored, along with their links to mental disorders from a punk perspective. The methodological strategy included content analysis as an initial approach, providing information on the type and extent of the allusions; while, in a second stage, the thematic analysis deepened into the uses, meanings, viewpoints, value judgements and emerging
themes.
Results and conclusions. The songs under study reflected general observations, clinical, therapeutic and social aspects, references to other cultural representations, new meanings for the psychiatric language, and a seemingly elusive use of it (musically driven), thereby confirming the interdiscursive, polyphonic and polysemic character of Spanish punk songs.
The depictions of psychiatry were critical, characterised by their specificity and
immutability (the stereotype of social control). The restricted format of the songs,
intertextual influences and, perhaps more importantly, the connections with the allegorical function of the psychiatrist in the lyrical discourses of Spanish punk may explain these findings.
Psychopathological terms related to psychotic disorders did not allude to positive
meanings, showing a pejorative use in almost one-third of the cases. On the other hand, although most descriptions of psychotic symptoms or disorders were neutral, negative views reached almost 40%. The study of madness as a broader concept also showed a preponderance of negative depictions. Thus, most of the analysed songs reproduced the stereotypes prevailing in the general population, with an overestimation of the links between violence, criminality and mental disorders.
The negative appraisals of madness and the madman can be explained mainly by the attributions of dangerousness attached to them. Associations with crime and violence also appeared in songs depicting psychotic disorders or symptoms. Additionally, the study of songs alluding to crime within mental disorders confirmed an almost absolute representation of offenders as ‘mentally disturbed.’
The cultural construction of mental illness retains a stigmatised dimension, which would be determined, at least partly, by intertextual factors. Apart from intertextuality, identity factors were relevant in the songs under study. Thus, the identity affirmation of the punk subculture can be expressed through the figure of the madman, encompassing provocative dimensions that challenge social patterns by exalting madness.
The finding of a higher proportion than might be expected regarding the positive appraisal of the apparently negative attributes of madness was consistent with one of the hypotheses of this work; since it was expected to find either the same stigmatising views that are present in the general population but containing differentiated appraisal undertones or an idealisation of madness. Both cases were found in the songs examined, confirming the heterogeneity of the discoursive landscape.
... Early adolescents' attention to popular music with substance-use references Content analyses of lyrics from popular music have shown that substance-use references are disturbingly prevalent. For example, in 1988, 12% of the top 100 Billboard songs included substance-use references, which increased to 30% in 2008 (Christenson et al., 2012). Nevertheless, examining music exposure among early adolescents begs the question of whether early adolescents actually pay attention to the lyrics of music or if they focus on other aspects instead. ...
... Early adolescents' social and cognitive development may make them particularly vulnerable to music with substance-use references. Given that the consequences of substance use in popular music lyrics are far more likely to be portrayed as positive, than negative (e.g., Christenson et al., 2012;Primack et al., 2008), SCT would suggest an increased likelihood that early adolescents engage in substance use after exposure to such messages. ...
This study hypothesized that frequent exposure to and attention to music with substance-use references would be indirectly related to alcohol, cigarette, or marijuana use through pro-substance-use beliefs (e.g., norms, outcome expectancies, and refusal efficacy). Parent-child communication, however, would attenuate such associations, which would differ by ethnicity. Multigroup mediation and moderation analyses were conducted, using cross-sectional survey data from 253 Latino and 308 European American 6th-8th grades students. For Latino and European American early adolescents, best-friend-injunctive norms and weak refusal efficacy were significant mediators, but not positive outcome expectancies. Descriptive norms were a significant mediator, but only for European American early adolescents. Although targeted parent-child communication and parental mediation did not moderate the associations between the music-exposure variables and the pro-substance-use beliefs variables, targeted parent-child communication attenuated the association between listening to favorite songs and alcohol consumption. Parental mediation attenuated the association between attention to music and alcohol consumption.
... It tends to be clear that popular music (Salema, 2017) frequently incorporates themes related to licit and illicit substances and expresses references to these substances (Christenson, et al., 2012). In this sense, it was significant to verifybased on our interviewees' responsesthat the (psychoactive) consumption of legal and illegal substances is also a common practice among the participants of the Portuguese rock'n'roll scene. ...
This article tries to explore the applicability of the epitome 'Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll' to the Portuguese social reality, particularly in the field of rock music. Rock music took its first steps in Portugal in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and from an early age, it has been associated with risky conducts, particularly linked to sex, alcohol, and the use of other licit and illicit substances. So, in the same way that happened in the Anglo-Saxon reality, this epitome encloses a vast process of moral panic production/reproduction in Portugal. Considering the absence of scientific research exploring the association between rock music, substance use and/or abuse and occasional and/or risky sexual conducts in Portugal, we consider it crucial to develop this approach. This article is based on factual and current data, particularly interviews from some protagonists of the Portuguese rock music scene.
... Numerous studies have observed associations of certain music genres (rap, reggae, techno, R&B, punk, heavy metal, house, trance) with alcohol use [14,28,29,30] and drug use -marijuana, amphetamine, ecstasy, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, heroin and GHB [14,28,30,31,32,33,34,35]. Studies have confirmed that the number of drug references in the lyrics of popular music in recent decades has increased many times, while drug use is most often associated in these messages with splendor, wealth, mood enhancement, sexual activity, celebration, and social life [36,37,38]. Researchers of relations between music and behavior emphasize that even compositions without references to extra-musical reality can provoke strong psychological reactions in listeners [39], whereas texts transmitted through music can promote the popularization of the messages they contain [35]. ...
The use of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs is increasingly represented in mass culture content. Such representations can be seen in films, music, literature, and everyday products such as food, clothing, and cosmetics. Also important are the liberal attitudes of celebrities towards drugs and their admissions to the use of these drugs, and at the same time the impact of the positions presented on the attitudes of the audience; especially youth, for whom musicians, actors, and celebrities are considered authorities.
Mass culture is a specific form of symbolic culture, and an important feature of it is a characteristic message without direct contact between the sender and the receiver of the transmitted content. The carrier of mass culture are all means of mass communication (including cinema, television, radio, advertising, magazines), but first of all the content presented in them [1]. The popularity and dissemination of this type of messages is fostered by technical development, especially the availability of the Internet, which allows the diffusion of any ideas to an unlimited audience.
For several decades, positive messages about psychoactive drugs have been frequent in mass culture products. One can read about drugs or experiences related to their use in newspapers and books. There are also film productions that deal with drugs or have drug themes in them. Music works on this topic and Internet portals, created and run by people interested in drug issues, almost freely present positions and experiences after drug use, as do some youth idols and celebrities [2]. In addition, representations of psychoactive drugs can be encountered while shopping, in grocery stores, clothing stores, drug stores or gadget stores, as well as on city streets, especially on buildings decorated with colorful pro-drug graffiti.
... Drugs are also sometimes cited as an inspiration for an album [70]. Studies have confirmed that the number of drug references in popular music lyrics has increased manifold in recent decades, while drug use is most often associated in these messages with splendor, wealth, mood enhancement, sexual activity, celebration, and social life [71][72][73]. ...
Drug use has been increasing worldwide over recent decades. Apart from the determinants of drug initiation established in numerous studies, the authors wish to draw attention to other equally important factors, which may contribute to augmenting this phenomenon. The article aims to draw attention to the content of mass culture, especially representations of drug use in mass media, which may influence the liberalization of attitudes towards drugs and their use. The role of mass culture and its impact on the audience is discussed. It presents an overview of drug representations in the content of mass culture, e.g., in film, music, literature, and the occurrence of drug references in everyday products, e.g., food, clothes, and cosmetics. Attention was drawn to liberal attitudes of celebrities and their admissions to drug use, particularly to the impact of the presented positions on the attitudes of the audience, especially young people for whom musicians, actors, and celebrities are regarded as authorities. Indications for further preventive actions were also presented. Attention was drawn to the need to take appropriate action due to the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when many people staying at home (due to lockdown or quarantine) have the possibility of much more frequent contact with mass culture content, which may distort the image of drugs.
... For example, both Madanikia and Bartholomew (2014) and Christenson et al. (2019) find a significant increase (from the 1960s/70 s to the 2010s) in the proportion of songs with themes focusing on sex-related aspects of relationships, which likely reflects a cultural shift toward acceptance of sexuality outside of love relationships. Christenson et al. (2012) found an increase of songs referring to substance use, and in recent decades the use of alcohol and drugs were much likely to be portrayed positively. ...
In recent years, there has been a scholarly debate regarding the decrease in automobile-related mobility indicators (car ownership, driving license holding, VMT, etc.). Broadly speaking, two theories have been put forward to explain this trend: (1) economic factors whose impacts are well-understood in principle, but whose occurrence among young adults as a demographic sub-group had been overlooked, and (2) less well-understood shifts in cultural mores, values and sentiment towards the automobile. This second theory is devilishly difficult to study, due primarily to limitations in standard data resources such as the National Household Travel Survey and international peer datasets. In this study we first compiled a database of lyrics to popular music songs from 1956 to 2015 (defined by inclusion in the annual “top 40”), and subsequently identified references to automobiles within this corpus. We then evaluated whether there is support for theory #2 above within popular music, by looking at changes from the 1950s to the 2010s. We demonstrate that the frequency of references to automobility tended for many years to increase over time, however there has more recently been a decline after the late 2000s (decade). In terms of the sentiment of popular music lyrics that reference automobiles, our results are mixed as to whether the references are becoming increasingly positive or negative (machine analysis suggests increasing negativity, while human analysis did not find a significant association), however a consistent observation is that sentiment of automobile references have over time become more positive relative to sentiment of song lyrics overall. We also show that sentiment towards automobile references differs systematically by genre, e.g. automobile references within ‘Rock’ lyrics are in general more negative than similar references to cars in other music genres). The data generated on this project have been archived and made available open access for use by future researchers; details are in the full paper.
... Relatively little research has examined the emotional effects of listening to violent music or the motivations for listening to such music. This gap in the literature is surprising given that genres such as death metal often contain lyrics with depictions of extreme sexual violence, murder, decapitation, suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012). ...
Negative emotions are usually avoided in daily life, yet often appreciated in artistic endeavours. The present study investigated emotional experiences induced by Death Metal music with extremely violent themes, and examined whether enjoyment of this genre of music is associated with personality traits. Fans (N=48) and non-fans (N=97) listened to 60-second excerpts of Death Metal music and rated their emotional experiences. Compared with non-fans, fans experienced a wide range of positive emotions including power, joy, peace, and wonder. In contrast, non-fans reported uniformly negative experiences, including tension, anger and fear. Fans and non-fans were also distinguished by personality traits, with fans lower in conscientiousness and agreeableness, and in their motivations for listening to music. Results suggest that individuals with certain personality and music-listening motivations are drawn towards aggressive music with violent themes, and their enthusiasm for this genre promotes a range of positive emotional responses to this music.
... Often compelled by concerns that problematic musical messages adversely affect adolescent listeners, other researchers compare the Billboard charts to assess the lyrical themes that became more prevalent in recent decades-especially with the R&B/Hip Hop genre. Lyrics about alcohol and drugs in Billboard hits became more widespread in recent years (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012), and, of all the genres examined, R&B/Hip-Hop songs show the steepest increases in lyrical references to substances (Herd, 2005(Herd, , 2014. Hobbs and Gallup's (2011) lyrical analysis finds that the reproductive themes in Billboard hits remained relatively constant across the pop and country charts, although lyrics about sex, love, relationships, and so forth increased within the R&B/Hip-Hop songs that rose to the top of the Billboard charts. ...
Previous research shows songs on the Billboard charts and the artists who create them vary according to social and economic conditions. However, only country and pop charts have been analyzed thus far. In the current study, we assess the music and lyrics along with the sex and age of the artists who recorded 65 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop songs of the year between 1946 and 2010. Mirroring both country and pop artists, after the introduction of MTV in 1981, audiences gravitated toward more mature and therefore more comforting artists when the economy is sour and social problems are more prevalent. However, unlike pop stars but like country artists, female R&B/Hip-Hop artists are more likely to place songs atop the Billboard charts in difficult social and economic times. Still, like songs atop the Billboard Pop charts (but unlike country Billboard hits), when social and economic times become difficult, R&B/Hip-Hop songs are less likely to have lyrics about leisure or fun, and they are more likely to be longer, slower, and therefore sadder sounding. We hypothesize trends in the R&B/Hip-Hop charts are closely aligned to the pop charts because “black music” is, and always has been, more influential on pop than the more folk-oriented country music.
... For example, since the 1960s, popular music has become sadder-sounding (Schellenberg & von Scheve, 2012), as well as louder and less variable in pitch and timbre (Serrà, Corral, Boguñá, Haro, & Arcos, 2012). Content analyses of music lyrics have indicated increases over the past 30 years in self-focused and antisocial words (DeWall, Pond, Campbell, & Twenge, 2011 ) and in references to alcohol and other recreational substances (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012). However, just one study has examined long-term changes in the sexual content of popular music. ...
We explored themes related to sexual desire (lust) and romantic desire (love) in the lyrics of popular music over the past 40 years. We examined whether there have been changes in the prevalence of lust and love themes and changes in how these themes inter-relate in music lyrics over time. The study sample consisted of the top 40 songs of Billboard Year End Hot 100 single songs for every 5 years from 1971 to 2011 (N = 360). There was a linear decrease over time in the proportion of songs with a love theme and in the proportion of songs with a combination of lust and love themes. In contrast, there was a significant increase in the proportion of songs with a theme focusing on lust in the absence of love. Themes of lust in the absence of love were especially prevalent in hip-hop/rap music, although music genre did not account for the changing themes over time. These shifts in themes found in popular music may both influence cultural norms and reflect a cultural shift toward acceptance of sexuality outside of love relationships.
... With regard to alcohol use, another content analysis of movies found that 92% of contemporary movies contained depictions of alcohol use; even among G-rated films, 52% contained depictions of alcohol use (Sargent, Wills, Stoolmiller, Gibson, & Gibbons 2006). Across the last two decades, the proportion of popular music that contains substance use messages has dramatically increased (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork 2012). Youth are exposed to an estimated 84 references to substance use in popular music daily; the majority of the messages portray substance use in a positive light (Primack, Dalton, Carroll, Agarwal, & Fine 2008). ...
Media-related cognitions are a unique influence on adolescents' substance use outcomes even after accounting for the powerful influence of parent and peers. This cross-sectional study expands upon prior research by investigating the impact of media-related cognitions on children's alcohol and tobacco outcomes in the context of parental and peer substance use. Six hundred forty-nine elementary school children (M = 9.4 years of age, SD = 1.1 years; 51 % female) completed self-report questionnaires. After accounting for peer and parental substance use, children's media-related cognitions were independently associated with three outcomes: preferences for alcohol-branded merchandise, moral beliefs about underage alcohol and tobacco use, and intentions to use alcohol and tobacco. Children's perceptions of the desirability and realism of alcohol and tobacco ads-and their similarity to and identification with these ads-predicted greater intentions to use. Desirability and identification with alcohol and tobacco ads were associated with stronger preferences for alcohol-branded merchandise, and understanding advertising's persuasive intent predicted weaker preferences. Media deconstruction skills predicted stronger beliefs that underage alcohol and tobacco use is wrong. Peer and parental substance use were associated with stronger substance-use intentions among children and weaker feelings that substance use is wrong. The findings highlight the role of media influence in contributing to youth substance use and the potential role of media literacy education in the early prevention of substance use.
The role of artificial intelligence in daily life is constantly advancing and has become an important topic of discussion. With music and its lyrics being a vehicle to express topics of society, this paper investigates how artificial intelligence is perceived by musicians and reflected in their songs. By analyzing the lyrics of over 1200 songs over three decades, this work applies sentiment analysis to extract polarities and emotions. The results provide insights into how musicians view and reflect the impact of artificial intelligence on society and how this is reflected in their song texts. The findings show an increase in songs mentioning artificial intelligence-related terms, with a trend of more songs implying negativity, such as anger. However, minor increases in positive emotions indicate musicians’ ambivalent views on hopes and fear of artificial intelligence.
We investigated the content, consistency and accuracy (i.e., convergence with self‐assessment) of stereotypes about recreational users of common psychoactive substances. In Study 1 ( N = 470), participants rated a typical occasional user of one of seven substances (cannabis, MDMA, heroin, LSD, cocaine, amphetamine and alcohol) on personality traits, values and other attributes. Results revealed distinct and highly consistent stereotypes across substances. Study 2 ( N = 1163) assessed stereotype accuracy by comparing them to self‐reports from an international sample of substance users. Accuracy (based on overall and distinctive similarity) was generally low, with cocaine user stereotypes revealing the highest accuracy. Modest accuracy was also found for MDMA, amphetamine and heroin. These findings highlight the prevalence of consistent yet largely inaccurate stereotypes about recreational substance users in society. The discrepancy between stereotype agreement and accuracy is discussed in the context of the origins of these stereotypes.
This study explores the interplay between sexualization, emotional valence, and audience reactions to music videos in the rap and pop genres, focusing on the effects of genre, gender, race, and release year. The study employs the Linguistic In-quiry and Word Count (LIWC) and Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner (VADER) to quantify sexualization and emotional responses. Results indicate that rap music videos generate comments that feature more sex-related terms than pop. Female artists' videos elicited more emotional language, while failing to discriminate sexualized reactions compared to male artists’ videos. Additionally, videos by artists of color and more recent releases garnered heightened emotional responses, highlighting the influence of race and changing cultural norms. Correlation analysis revealed a positive association between sexual content and negative emotional valence, aligning with the negativity bias theory. These findings emphasize the need to consider the diverse audience reactions to sexualization and advocate for more sensitive portrayals in music videos.
Understanding the prevalence of alcohol references in music and their impact on alcohol drinking behavior is important given the increased accessibility to daily music listening with the proliferation of smart devices. In this review, we estimate the pooled prevalence of alcohol references in music and its association with drinking behavior. Systematic searches were conducted across four major databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and CINHAL). Articles were selected following duplicate checking, title and abstract screening, and full‐text review. Studies reporting the prevalence of alcohol‐referencing music and/or investigating its association with drinking behavior were included. Pooled prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using a random effects model. Of 1007 articles identified, 26 met inclusion criteria and 23 studies comprising 12,224 songs were eligible for meta‐analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of alcohol references in music (including lyrics and videos) was 24.0% (95% CI: 19.0%–29.0%). The pooled prevalence was 22.0% (95% CI: 16.0%–29.0%) for only lyrics, 25.0% (95% CI: 18.0%–33.0%) for only the visual elements of music videos, and 29.0% (95% CI: 21.0%–38.0%) for both the lyrical content and the visual components. Only three studies assessed the relationship between listening to music with alcohol references and drinking behavior, and all three reported a positive association. Whereas almost a quarter of all songs included references to alcohol, public health preventive measures are needed to reduce alcohol exposure from music. Future research is needed to understand fully the effect of music with alcohol references on drinking behavior.
A vast amount of media‐related text data is generated daily in the form of social media posts, news stories or academic articles. These text data provide opportunities for researchers to analyse and understand how substance‐related issues are being discussed. The main methods to analyse large text data (content analyses or specifically trained deep‐learning models) require substantial manual annotation and resources. A machine‐learning approach called ‘zero‐shot learning’ may be quicker, more flexible and require fewer resources. Zero‐shot learning uses models trained on large, unlabelled (or weakly labelled) data sets to classify previously unseen data into categories on which the model has not been specifically trained. This means that a pre‐existing zero‐shot learning model can be used to analyse media‐related text data without the need for task‐specific annotation or model training. This approach may be particularly important for analysing data that is time critical. This article describes the relatively new concept of zero‐shot learning and how it can be applied to text data in substance use research, including a brief practical tutorial.
Research on aggression usually aims at gaining a better understanding of its more negative aspects, such as the role and effects of aversive social interactions, hostile cognitions, or negative affect. However, there are conditions under which an act of aggression can elicit a positive affective response, even among the most nonviolent of individuals. One might experience the “sweetness of revenge” on reacting aggressively to a betrayal or social rejection. A soldier may feel elated after “shooting to kill” in the name of the flag. There are many factors that contribute to the appeal of aggression, but despite growing interest in researching these phenomena, there is still no unitary framework that organizes existing theories and empirical findings and can be applied to a model to generate testable hypotheses. This article presents a narrative review of the literature on positive-affect-related forms of aggression and explores the role of aggression in eliciting positive affect across diverse social situations and relational contexts. An integrative model that unifies existing theories and findings is proposed, with the objective to inspire and inform future research.
É amplamente conhecida e reconhecida socialmente a associação da música rocka comportamentos de risco, especialmente relacionados com o sexo, o álcool e o consumo de outras substâncias lícitas e ilícitas. Tal como sucedeu na realidade internacional, com maior ênfase nos países anglo-saxónicos, também em Portugal o rock abarca um amplo processo de produção e reprodução de pânico moral, que tem acompanhado o desenvolvimento da sociedade portuguesa. Neste artigo, pretende-se apresentar uma breve análise e reflexão das representações mediáticas acerca do epítome “sexo, drogas e rock’n’roll” em Portugal, em dois órgãos de comunicação e durante o período do boom do rock português, com o objetivo de ilustrar as representações sociais existentes a ele associadas.
Attention has become an increasingly scarce resource in societies filled with content from various communication media. Cross-sectional data from the Monitoring the Future survey from 1976 to 2016 found the average 12th grader in 2016 spent more than twice as much time online as in 2006, spending a total of 6 h a day in 2016 including time online, texting, and social media. Youth spent significantly less time on print media, TV, or movies as compared to those in earlier decades, and the percentage of 12th graders who read a book or a magazine every day dropped from 60% in the 1970s to 16% in 2016. The rise of digital media along with the decline of traditional media has profound implications for how adolescents use their time.
Introduction and objectives
The beliefs and opinions of the general population are based substantially on mass media, which often equates mental disorders with violence and criminality. These stigmatising depictions contribute to the development and persistence of negative attitudes towards people with psychiatric conditions. The objective was to examine, through popular music, the subcultural representations of crime and violence in the context of mental disorders, focusing on depictions of victims and offenders.
Methods
Strategy of analysis: Content analysis of Spanish punk lyrics (1981-2010) with references to violent and criminal behaviour associated with mental disorders.
Results
257 Spanish punk bands were identified. The discographies included 7,777 songs, of which 190 were related to aggression, violence, or crime. A predilection for violent crimes and descriptions of the perpetrator as “mentally disturbed” was observed. Although they were present, psychotic symptoms were not the main psychiatric symptoms associated with violent crime, but instead it was substance use, antisocial personality traits and paraphilic behaviour. There was less attention paid to victims than to perpetrators.
Conclusions
The relationships between mental disorders and criminality/violence are overemphasised in the analysed subculture. A positive connotation of social deviance and violent content (particularly serial murder) in service to the provocative nature of this type of music was observed.
A limited amount of previous research suggests that deteriorating socioeconomic conditions may be associated with greater popularity of music lyrics featuring negative emotional content and references to relationships. The present research considered this in charting popular music before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. A dataset based on the song lyrics of the top-5 charting weekly songs in the UK and USA from January 1999 to August 2020 was computer-analysed for interpersonal variables, such as satisfaction and human interest, and positive and negative emotional valence. Results indicated lower satisfaction and human interest in lyrics in the USA and UK in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the lyrics in charting songs in 2015-2019. The USA charting songs in 2020 also saw higher leveling and negative emotional content; and, when considering monthly data from 1999-2020, there was a positive association between economic misery and the number of negatively-valenced words. The findings broaden our understanding of the relationship between significant global events and trends in popular music.
In the United States, cocaine use and mortality have surged in the past 5 years. Considering cocaine’s reputation as a fashionable social drug, the rise of cocaine mentions in popular music may provide a signal of epidemiological trends of cocaine use. We characterized the relationship between mentions of cocaine in song lyrics and incidence of cocaine use and mortality in the US. Incidence of cocaine use from 2002 to 2017 was obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and cocaine overdose mortality rate from 2000 to 2017 was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control. Distributed lag models were fit using ordinary least squares on the first difference to identify associations between changes in cocaine lyric mentions and changes in incidence of cocaine use and mortality. A total of 5955 song lyrics with cocaine mentions were obtained from Lyrics.com. Cocaine mentions in song lyrics were stable from 2000 to 2010 then increased by 190% from 2010 to 2017. The first-order distributed lag model estimated that a 0.01 increase in mentions of cocaine in song lyrics is associated with an 11% increase in incidence of cocaine use within the same year and a 14% increase in cocaine mortality with a 2-year lag. Lag-times were confirmed with cross-correlation analyses and the association remained after accounting for street pricing of cocaine. Mentions of cocaine in song lyrics are associated with the rise of incidence of cocaine use and cocaine overdose mortality. Popular music trends are a potentially valuable tool for understanding cocaine epidemiology trends.
Background
During the last decade, drug abuse rates, particularly prescription drugs, have increased. Simultaneously, music consumption has dramatically increased, and the leading genre is currently rap music. While the casual relationship is debated, musical preference is related to substance misuse and other risky behaviors. There is a lack of studies examining rap music and references to specific types and forms of drugs. Objective: The present study seeks to broaden the understanding of the messages related to substance misuse within rap music over time. Method: A lyrical content evaluation of the top 25 most popular rap songs between 2006 and 2018 (n = 325) identifying references to alcohol, illicit, and prescription drug misuse. Results: 72% (n = 233) of popular rap songs contain references to one or more substances, with 947 references, which resulted in 63 references to drugs or alcohol after just one hour of listening. Further, 50% of songs included illicit drug references, including marijuana (38%), manufacturing or selling drugs (19%), cocaine or crack (17%), and MDMA (6%). Prescription drug misuse occurred in 20% of songs, including; prescription cold medication (13%), other types of opioids (4%), and various other prescriptions (e.g. Xanax & Adderall) (10%). Yearly trends indicate that alcohol lyrics are declining, illicit drug lyrics remain stable, and prescription drug lyrics increase. Conclusions/Importance: The rise in music consumption with rap music leading in popularity and 72% of songs celebrating drug usage is a concerning trend, especially as prescription drug misuse is rising in popularity within rap music.
This study examined if there are cross-cultural and cross-generational similitudes and differences between Canada and the United States through their famous songs across 5 decades. We used the software Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2015; Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, & Blackburn, 2015a) to analyze the evolution of lyrics for songs that were nominated at the Canadian Juno Awards and the American Grammy Awards from 1975 to 2017. We targeted songs that were nominated for “bestselling single/single of the year” at the Juno and “song of the year” at the Grammy as they represent some of the most popular and respected cultural products in their respective countries. We analyzed markers of self-focus, group-focus, social connectedness, emotions (positive and negative), religion, and explicit lyrics (swearing and sexuality). Results consistently revealed more cross-cultural similarities than differences between the lyrics of Juno’s and Grammy’s songs on all our markers. However, subtle generational variations unfolded over the years. Notably, self-focus words followed different patterns in the Juno’s songs compared to the Grammy’s songs, but reached similar levels in the 2010s. Group-focus words increased in Juno’s songs but decreased in Grammy’s songs. Social connectedness words were the most present in famous songs and remained relatively stable. Song lyrics became darker as emotional words became less positive and more negative. Religious words tended to remain rare in famous songs. Swear words and sexual words tended to remain rare and to increase slightly over the decades. Findings are discussed through a Cultural Generational perspective.
Background:
Chronic, non-communicable diseases are a significant public health priority, requiring action at individual, community and population levels, and public and political will for such action. Exposure to media, including news, entertainment, and advertising media, is likely to influence both individual behaviours, and attitudes towards preventive actions at the population level. In recent years there has been a proliferation of research exploring how chronic diseases and their risk factors are portrayed across various forms of media. This scoping review aims to map the literature in this area to identify key themes, gaps, and opportunities for future research in this area.
Methods:
We searched three databases (Medline, PsycINFO and Global Health) in July 2016 and identified 499 original research articles meeting inclusion criteria: original research article, published in English, focusing on media representations of chronic disease (including how issues are framed in media, impact or effect of media representations, and factors that influence media representations). We extracted key data from included articles and examined the health topics, media channels and methods of included studies, and synthesised key themes across studies.
Results:
Our findings show that research on media portrayals of chronic disease increased substantially between 1985 and 2016. Smoking and nutrition were the most frequent health topics, and television and print were the most common forms of media examined, although, as expected, research on online and social media channels has increased in recent years. The majority of studies focused on the amount and type of media coverage, including how issues are framed, typically using content analysis approaches. In comparison, there was much less research on the influences on and consequences of media coverage related to chronic disease, suggesting an important direction for future work.
Conclusions:
The results highlight key themes across media research of relevance to chronic disease. More in-depth syntheses of studies within the identified themes will allow us to draw out the key patterns and learnings across the literature.
Although the term ‘madness’ (a broader but less delimited concept than ‘psy- chosis’) has been abandoned in Medicine due to its pejorative connotation, it is still commonly used. The study of the social representations of mental disorders through the analysis of cultural material has previously been argued. In this way, as stigma and discrimination are barriers to psychiatric care, our aim is to identify the subcultural views about the theme of madness and value judgments associated. For this purpose, content analysis of 3,653 Spanish punk songs (1981-2010) was carried out. Through this process, we intended to delineate a subcultural portrait of the theme of madness. We hypothe- sized that some stigmatizing views of the general population might be present in the lyrical-musical discourses of Spanish punk, although their value dimension might differ from the dominant culture.
The city of Perth, Western Australia, has a long-running local popular music scene. Music is performed live in pubs and clubs, but it is often only a secondary reason for the running of these venues – consequently, the physical heritage of this music scene is often forgotten, with little memorialisation of the places and people involved in it. Archaeological investigation of one of these longer-running venues – the Fly By Night Club, a music venue from 1986 to 2015 – recovered a range of material culture that largely provides evidence of social encounters within the audience rather than of the many performers who have played at the Fly. The material evidence challenges the notion of modern music as capitalist commodity, including the idea of audiences as passive entities that exist in a subordinate position to performers, who occupy a privileged position within the paradigm of live music. Instead, the audience is shown to have considerable agency in the way it enhances its own enjoyment of live music, and to be an active participant in the social process of live musical performance.
The current study incorporates a radical feminist framework to analyze the portrayal of women in relation to both sex and alcohol in country music. Two coders analyzed the top 50 Billboard country songs for each year from 1990 to 1994, 2000-2004, and 2010-2014 (n = 750) for references to women in association with sex and alcohol. Seventeen percent of the songs referred to sex in relation to women, 20% referred to alcohol in relation to women, and 6% referred to both sex and alcohol in relation to women. Songs in the 2010s were more likely to refer to women in conjunction with sex and alcohol than songs in the 2000s and 1990s. References to women in association with sex and alcohol were more likely to be sung by men, not women, suggesting a pattern driven by patriarchy.
Popular music has been changing significantly over the years, with
clear audible differences between pop music songs in different eras. However, a pop music composition is normally made of two parts, where one is the tune, and the other is the lyrics. Here we use a digital humanities and data science approach to examine how lyrics changed from the 1950's to the more recent years, and apply quantitative analysis to measure these changes. To identify possible differences, we analyzed the sentiments expressed in the songs of the Billboard Hot 100, which reflects the preferences of popular music listeners and fans in each year. Automatic sentiment analysis of 6,150 Billboard 100 songs covering all the years between 1951 through 2016 shows clear and statistically significant change in sentiments expressed through the lyrics of popular music, generally towards a more negative tone. The results show that anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and conscientiousness have increased significantly over time, while joy, confidence, and openness expressed in pop song lyrics have declined.
While previous research has documented a relation between music and substance use among consumers, to date, there are no meta-analytic reviews of the literature, making our meta-analysis the first in this area. Results from 31 studies, yielding a total of 330,652, indicated that music had a significant effect on substance use, with both music format and genre being significant contributors. The effect of music on substance use also varied by substance type. In addition, participant biological sex and location of data collection were found to moderate the effect of music on substance use. Theoretical implications are discussed along with directions for future research.
In this review, we consider the story of cocaine from its humble origins in South America to its status as one of the most abused substances in 21st century society. The synthesis and biosynthesis of cocaine are discussed, as well as its pharmacokinetics, metabolism, pharmacology, and importance in modern neuroscience and molecular imaging.
Many content analyses have investigated the content of popular music, but as yet no one has looked for references to prosocial behavior in the lyrics. There are no quantitative content analyses of prosocial content in popular music, although we know that many musicians are concerned with social engagement, the environment, equal rights, and many other prosocial behaviors. To investigate which topics are the most prevalent in popular music lyrics and how frequently these refer to prosocial behavior, a content analysis was performed on 588 songs appearing in the German yearly charts from 1954 to 2014. The major interest of songwriters seems to be love, which was found in 57% of the songs; this was the most common topic found. References to prosocial behavior were found in 3.74% of the songs. Prosocial behavior usually appeared in songs dealing with social or political topics.
Dementia and delirium are common in medical and surgical inpatients. Neuropsychiatric symptoms can be challenging to manage. Non-pharmacological interventions such as music therapy have been used to manage symptoms in psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes but are not routine in general hospitals. We performed a systematic literature review to establish whether music therapy improves neuropsychiatric symptoms in adults with dementia and/or delirium in the general hospital. We searched CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO in November 2015. Search terms included music therapy, dementia, delirium. We screened 5054 titles, and read 142 full text articles. None of these met inclusion criteria for our review. To inform future research in music in general hospitals for people with dementia and/or delirium, we qualitatively reviewed 8 articles involving 239 patients. Music delivery was feasible and had a positive effect on some aspects of neuropsychiatric symptoms in various settings, but the studies were generally small, at high risk of bias, and did not use recognized frameworks for evaluating complex interventions. We found no robust published evidence for the use of music therapy in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia and/or delirium in the general hospital. Well-designed studies of this promising intervention are needed.
This study explored 19 themes embedded in the lyrics of 1,040 U.S. top-40 songs from 1960 through 2010, using R strucchange software to identify trends and breaks in trends. Findings reveal both continuity and change. As in 1960, the predominant topic of pop music remains romantic and sexual relationships. However, whereas the proportion of lyrics referring to relationships in romantic terms remained stable, the proportion including reference to sex-related aspects of relationships increased sharply. References to lifestyle issues such as dancing, alcohol and drugs, and status/wealth increased substantially, particularly in the 2000s. Other themes were far less frequent: Social/political issues, religion/God, race/ethnicity, personal identity, family, friends showed a modest occurrence in top-40 music throughout the studied period and showed no dramatic changes. Violence and death occurred in a small number of songs, and both increased, particularly since the 1990s. References to hate/hostility, suicide, and occult matters were very rare. Results are examined in the context of cultural changes in the social position of adolescents, and more specifically in light of the increased popularity of rap/hip-hop music, which may explain the increases in references to sex, partying, dancing, drug use, and wealth.
Introduction and aims:
This study examined references to alcohol and other drugs in top 20 songs over the last quarter of a century to explore the potential for popular music to constitute a barometer for changes occurring in youth consumption of alcohol and other substances.
Design and methods:
The online Australian Recording Industry Association charts resource was accessed to identify the top 20 songs for the period 1990 to 2015 inclusive. The lyrics of the identified songs were imported into NVivo11 for coding and analysis. Two coders analysed each song by line unit and a third coder assisted in resolving any coding discrepancies.
Results:
Of the 508 discrete songs, 74 (15%) featured references to alcohol, tobacco and/or illicit drugs. Substance mentions increased over time such that the second half of the study period accounted for three-quarters of all references. The peak period for mentions was 2008-2012, with 2010 exhibiting an especially high prevalence rate for alcohol references. There was a marked decline in alcohol mentions between 2010 and 2013. The rate at which female artists referred to alcohol increased sharply until 2010 and then decreased.
Discussion and conclusions:
Patterns in substance mentions in top 20 songs in more recent years may reflect broader social trends that influence youth substance use. As such, monitoring music lyrics may assist researchers to better understand forces underlying patterns of youth substance use.
The current study investigated the prevalence of multiple risk behaviors in popular music lyrics as well as the contexts within which they occur. We conducted a content analysis of the top 20 Billboard songs from 2009 to 2013 in the genres of rap, country, adult contemporary, rock, R&B/hip-hop, and pop, coding for the presence of alcohol, marijuana, nonmarijuana drugs, and sex as well as the contexts intoxication, binging/addiction, partying/socializing, disregard for consequences, and emotional states. The contexts relationship status and degradation were also coded for when sex was present. Of the 600 songs, 212 mentioned sexual behaviors, which were most frequent in rap and R&B/hip-hop. Alcohol was the next most frequent risk behavior, again with greatest mention in rap and R&B/hip-hop. Alcohol, marijuana, and nonmarijuana drugs were most often associated with positive emotions, and sex was most often described within the context of casual relationships. Alcohol and sex were associated with disregard for consequences most often in 2011, when the ?you only live once? motto was most popular. These findings are concerning because exposure to popular music is associated with increased risk behaviors for adolescents and young adults, who are the greatest consumers of music.
Background:
Heavy metal music is distinguished for its deep sound and lyrical fixation with dark themes including war, destruction, doom, and misery. Such subjects permeate the music of Black Sabbath, the band generally considered the pioneers of heavy metal. One theme-substance use-is recurrent in Black Sabbath's songs and personal lives of its members.
Objective/methods:
This study explored the band's relationship with substance use though a content analysis of all songs containing lyrics written and recorded in studio by Black Sabbath. The analysis included 156 songs across 19 albums recorded from 1970 to 2013.
Results:
Three key findings emerged. First, a minority of songs (13%) contained substance references. Second, the songs with substance references were overwhelmingly (60%) negative, a pattern that increased over time. Third, despite many line-up changes over the band's 43-year period, every song referencing substance use except one featured vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and lyricist Geezer Butler.
Conclusion:
Contrary to the notion that heavy metal music glorifies or encourages substance use (Record Labeling, United States Senate, 1985), Black Sabbath's lyrics as a whole weave a cautionary tale of how persistent substance use can hijack free will, become the dominant focus of the affected individual, and produce myriad forms of human misery. The insidiousness of chronic substance use depicted by the lyrics mirrors findings from natural-history studies of individuals with substance use disorders and aligns with neurobiological heuristics of addiction.
This paper investigates the effect of brand name repetition on brand attitude in the context of a fictional text. Furthermore, it tests the moderating impact of brand familiarity, narrative transportation, and individual differences in need for cognition (NFC). Participants in an experiment read the full text of a real short-story, which featured the target brand. Brand name repetition and brand familiarity were systematically manipulated. The results show that brand name repetition affects attitude towards an unfamiliar brand and readers’ narrative transportation and NFC moderate this effect: Attitude towards the brand improves with repetition only when both transportation and NFC are relatively high. No effects were found for the familiar brand.
This study investigated whether use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana may be predicted from preferential consumption of particular music genres. Undergraduates (257 women and 78 men) completed a questionnaire assessing these variables. Partial correlation analyses, controlling for sensation-seeking tendencies and behaviors, revealed that listening to conventional music (pop, country, and religious genres) was negatively correlated with cigarette smoking (p = .001) and marijuana use (p < .001). Additionally, listening to energetic music (rap or hip-hop and soul or funk genres) was positively correlated with marijuana use (p = .004). The only significant predictor of alcohol use was country music, with which it was positively correlated (p = .04). This research suggests an especially harmful influence of energetic music on marijuana use.
Context:
The role of a dynamic legal, medical, and social setting in affecting the perceived risk associated with smoking marijuana has not been well studied. We sought to determine whether there has been a change in the perceived risk associated with marijuana use over time.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted using the 2002-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Respondents were asked to classify the risk of smoking marijuana. Regression analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data.
Results:
A total of 614579 respondents were identified. Between 2002 and 2012, the percent of respondents who characterized regular marijuana use as being associated with "great risk" decreased from 51.3% to 40.3%, while the percent of respondents who characterized it as being associated with "no risk" increased from 5.7% to 11.7%. The percent of respondents who characterized occasional use as "great risk" decreased from 38.2% to 30.7%, while the percent of respondents who characterized it as "no risk" increased from 10% to 16.3%. There was a significant negative temporal trend in the perceived risk for both occasional and regular use of marijuana from 2002 to 2012 after controlling for age and gender (p < 0.001 for both). Increasing age was significantly associated with increased perceived risk for both occasional and regular marijuana use (p < 0.001). Males have a significantly lower perceived risk for regular marijuana use as compared with females (p < 0.001). Individuals who used marijuana during the preceding month reported a lower risk perception in both regular and occasional use.
Conclusion:
Between 2002 and 2012, there was a significant decrease in the perceived risk associated with occasional and regular marijuana use. Younger age, male gender, and past month use were also associated with decreased perceived risk.
This study examines the prevalence and context of alcohol references in rap music lyrics from 1979 through 2009. Four hundred nine top-ranked rap music songs released were sampled from Billboard magazine rating charts. Songs were analyzed using systematic content analysis and were coded for alcohol beverage types and brand names, drinking behaviors, drinking contexts, attitudes towards alcohol, and consequences of drinking. Trends were analyzed using regression analyses. The results of the study reveal significant increases in the presence of alcohol in rap songs; a decline in negative attitudes towards alcohol; decreases in consequences attributed to alcohol; increases in the association of alcohol with glamour and wealth, drugs, and nightclubs; and increases in references to liquor and champagne.
[the authors'] research project, Cultural Indicators, has tracked the central streams of television's dramatic content since 1967 and has explored the consequences of growing up and living with television since 1974 / [Cultural Indicators] investigated the extent to which television viewing contributes to audience conceptions and actions in areas such as gender, minority and age-role stereotypes, health, science, the family, educational achievement and aspirations, politics, religion, and other topics, all of which are increasingly also being examined in cross-cultural comparative contexts / summarize and illustrate our theory of the dynamics of the cultivation process, both in the US and around the world (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Cultural norms regarding alcohol use and drinking behavior can be communicated through the lyrics of songs. An analysis of alcohol themes in country-western lyrics was undertaken. Seven categories emerged from a rational clustering procedure used with 58 alcohol-related lyrics. Almost two-thirds of the lyrics were placed in three of the categories, labeled Existential Dilemmas and Lessons Learned, Loneliness and Lost Love, and Negative Consequences. There were few references to drinking for positive, celebratory reasons. Implications for prevention efforts and for further research on drinkers' perceptions and the relationship between popular culture and drinking behavior are discussed.
To perform a comprehensive content analysis of substance use in contemporary popular music.
We analyzed the 279 most popular songs of 2005 according to Billboard magazine. Two coders working independently used a standardized data collection instrument to code portrayals of substance use.
Presence and explicit use of substances and motivations for, associations with, and consequences of substance use.
Of the 279 songs, 93 (33.3%) portrayed substance use, with an average of 35.2 substance references per song-hour. Portrayal of substance use varied significantly (P < .001) by genre, with 1 or more references in 3 of 35 pop songs (9%), 9 of 66 rock songs (14%), 11 of 55 R & B/hip-hop songs (20%), 22 of 61 country songs (36%), and 48 of 62 rap songs (77%). While only 2.9% of the 279 songs portrayed tobacco use, 23.7% depicted alcohol use, 13.6% depicted marijuana use, and 11.5% depicted other or unspecified substance use. In the 93 songs with substance use, it was most often motivated by peer/social pressure (45 [48%]) or sex (28 [30%]); use was commonly associated with partying (50 [54%]), sex (43 [46%]), violence (27 [29%]), and/or humor (22 [24%]). Only 4 songs (4%) contained explicit antiuse messages, and none portrayed substance refusal. Most songs with substance use (63 [68%]) portrayed more positive than negative consequences; these positive consequences were most commonly social, sexual, financial, or emotional.
The average adolescent is exposed to approximately 84 references to explicit substance use daily in popular songs, and this exposure varies widely by musical genre. The substance use depicted in popular music is frequently motivated by peer acceptance and sex, and it has highly positive associations and consequences.
This new work summarizes the research on all forms of media on children, looking at how much time they spend with media everyday, television programming and its impact on children, how advertising has changed to appeal directly to children and the effects on children and the consumer behavior of parents, the relationship between media use and scholastic achievement, the influence of violence in media on anti-social behavior, and the role of media in influencing attitudes on body image, sex and work roles, fashion, & lifestyle. The average American child, aged 2-17, watches 25 hours of TV per week, plays 1 hr per day of video or computer games, and spends an additional 36 min per day on the internet. 19% of children watch more than 35 hrs per week of TV. This in the face of research that shows TV watching beyond 10 hours per week decreases scholastic performance. In 1991, George Comstock published Television and the American Child, which immediately became THE standard reference for the research community of the effects of television on children. Since then, interest in the topic has mushroomed, as the availability and access of media to children has become more widespread and occurs earlier in their lifetimes. No longer restricted to television, media impacts children through the internet, computer and video games, as well as television and the movies. There are videos designed for infants, claiming to improve cognitive development, television programs aimed for younger and younger children-even pre-literates, computer programs aimed for toddlers, and increasingly graphic, interactive violent computer games. *Presents the most recent research on the media use of young people *Investigates the content of children's media and addresses areas of great concern including violence, sexual behavior, and commercialization *Discusses policy making in the area of children and the media *Focuses on experiences unique to children and adolescents.
Thousands of articles have been writ ten, and thousands of programs have been initiated. Yet, as a public, we seem to know far less than we would like about the role of educational inter vention into the drug use problems of our young people. This article is one writer's attempt to generalize years of experience on the part of public health officials, researchers, educators, and policy makers concerning drug use pre vention curricula in the schools.
Trends in ecstasy use in America during the past decade were reflected in mainstream, American rap-music lyrics between 1996 and 2003. Drawing on communication and cultural studies theory, this article provides a content analysis of 69 rap songs mentioning the club drug ecstasy. The songs are coded according to whether they contain positive, mixed or ambiguous, or negative messages about using or dealing ecstasy. Through an interpretive lens, the authors identify specific themes, messages, and behaviors pertaining to ecstasy use in the music lyrics and explore how these lyrics relate to shifting drug trends and to issues of race, class, and gender in American society.
Social cognitive theory provides an agentic conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thought, affect and action. Communications systems operate through two pathways. In the direct pathway, they promote changes by informing, enabling, motivating, and guiding participants. In the socially mediated pathway, media influences link participants to social networks and community settings that provide natural incentives and continued personalized guidance, for desired change. Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new styles of behavior in terms of the psychosocial factors governing their acquisition and adoption and the social networks through which they spread and are supported. Structural interconnectedness provides potential diffusion paths; sociocognitive factors largely determine what diffuses through those paths.
A Musical Preference Scale was devised from factor analyses of preference ratings for established categories of music based on divisions in the recording industry in the U.S.A. The scales of the Sensation Seeking Scale form V were correlated with rated likings of each of the categories derived from the factor analysis. Total Sensation Seeking correlated positively with liking for all types of rock music and negatively with liking for bland, soundtrack music. In addition to a liking of rock music, those having high scores of the Thrill and Adventure Seeking and Experience Seeking subscales liked folk and classical music. High scorers on the Disinhibition subscale liked rock and disliked religious and soundtrack music. The results are consistent with the theory that high sensation seekers have a high optimal level of stimulation and thus tolerate and like high intensity and/or complexity in music, and stimulation in general.
SUMManY. Analtsis of 30 countqt music songs in which alcohol is a theme sug- gests that the ltrics reflect a deep-seated ambivalence about drinking in American societt. will be used as a means to facilitate certain kinds of behavior or to assuage problems the incidence of alcohol problems is much higher than in those where expectations are that it be used for ceremonial functions (3). The purpose of the present study was to examine the current image of alcohol use in country music, an element of American popular cul- ture in which alcohol use and misuse has long been a major theme (4, 5). In country music the simple ideal and real values of the southern and southwestern regions of the United States, as well as middle-America generally, are explicitly stated. The lyrics affirm a simple moral and ethical code shared by many members of the lower-middle and working classes and by those whose class origins are in these two groups. Therefore, analysis of such lyrical expressions provides an opportunity to explore values common to large segments of the popu- lation.
This preliminary study investigated possible relationships between adolescents' music preference and aspects of their psychological health and lifestyle.
Students (mean age 14.76 years) from two randomly chosen high schools completed self-report questionnaires on preferred music types and messages in the music. In addition the Youth Self-Report provided information about suicide ideation, deliberate self-harm, "depression," and "delinquency." Brief risk taking and drug taking scales were administered in addition to questions about family environment.
A marked gender bias was shown to exist with 74% of girls preferring pop music compared with 70.7% of boys preferring rock/metal. Significant associations appear to exist between a preference for rock/metal and suicidal thoughts, acts of deliberate self-harm, "depression," "delinquency," drug taking, and family dysfunction. This was all particularly true for girls. In addition, feeling sadder after listening to the preferred music appeared to distinguish the most disturbed group.
The authors recommend that further academic study of these associations is warranted. Both preference for rock/metal music, particularly in girls, and feeling worse after listening to the music may be indicators in adolescents of vulnerability to suicidal thoughts and actions.
Alcohol use is frequently portrayed in television programming and advertising. Exposure to media portrayals of alcohol use may lead to increased drinking. To address this issue, we examined prospectively the associations between media exposure and alcohol use in adolescents.
Prospective cohort study. Setting. Six public high schools in San Jose, California. Participants. Ninth-grade students (N = 1533; mean age = 14.6 years).
Students reported hours of television, music video, and videotape viewing; computer and video game use; and lifetime and past 30 days' alcohol use at baseline and 18 months later. Associations between baseline media exposure and subsequent alcohol use were examined with multiple logistic regression.
During the 18-month follow-up, 36.2% of baseline nondrinkers began drinking and 50.7% of baseline drinkers continued to drink. Onset of drinking was significantly associated with baseline hours of television viewing (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.01-1.18), music video viewing (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1. 17-1.47), and videotape viewing (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.79-0.99), controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, and other media use. Computer and video game use was not significantly associated with the subsequent onset of drinking. Among baseline drinkers, there were no significant associations between baseline media use and maintenance of drinking.
Increased television and music video viewing are risk factors for the onset of alcohol use in adolescents. Attempts to prevent adolescent alcohol use should address the adverse influences of alcohol use in the media.
orries about the influences that media may have on young people's sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors range back to the early days of motion pictures. The nickelodeon al- lowed anyone with 5¢ to view images that they might not see in the course of their everyday expe- rience, short films of burlesque strippers, bare- breasted natives of the South Pacific or Africa, and even a remarkably salacious Kiss made by Thomas Edison, the staid inventor of motion picture technol- ogy. The medical community began voicing its con- cern about the effects that entertainment media may have on sexual activity nearly 3 decades ago. After the 1972 Surgeon General's report Television and Growing Up: The Impact of Televised Violence1 and a watershed 1975 review article on media violence in the Journal of the American Medical Association,2 the American Medical Association House of Delegates passed 2 media-related resolutions, one calling me- dia violence "an environmental risk factor threaten- ing the health and welfare of young Americans, in- deed our future society"3 and another stating their opposition to "television programming that is sexu- ally suggestive or pornographic."4 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), now the recognized leader among medical organizations on the issue of media effects on health, took another approach to the subject of sex and media. Concerned about media effects on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents, the AAP formed the Task Force on Children and Television in 1983. The Task Force issued the first AAP policy statement on media in following year. They asserted in their policy statement that, next to the family, television may be children's most important source of informa- tion and the most powerful influence on their devel- opment.5 They also expressed the AAP's concern that television's portrayal of sex roles and sexuality was unrealistic and without health consequences such as pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.
This paper explores the role of changing images of drinking and alcoholic beverage use in rap music from its beginnings in the United States in the late 1970s to the late 1990s.
A sample of 341 rap music song lyrics released from 1979 to 1997 were selected using Billboard and Gavin rating charts. Song lyrics were coded for music genres, alcohol beverage types and brand names, drinking behaviors, drinking contexts, intoxication, attitudes towards alcohol and consequences of drinking.
From 1979 to 1997, songs with references to alcohol increased fivefold (from 8 to 44%); those exhibiting positive attitudes rose from 43% to 73%; and brand name mentions increased from 46% to 71%. There were also significant increases in songs mentioning champagne and liquor (mainly expensive brand names) when comparing songs released after 1994 with those from previous years. In addition, there were significant increases in references to alcohol to signify glamour and wealth, and using alcohol with drugs and for recreational purposes. The findings also showed that alcohol use in rap music was much more likely to result in positive than negative consequences.
Many of these findings are consistent with the idea that rap music has been profoundly affected by commercial forces and the marketing of alcoholic beverages. In addition, it is possible that the increase in references to alcoholic beverages in rap music, particularly spirits, is a reflection of a broader advertising culture which increasingly associates African Americans with alcohol use.
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