If "music has symbolic force" as John Street once described, then surely it would be more than possible for popular music to influence and maybe even cause political change. Street later goes on to say that "pop becomes the expression of it's political and social context." What can be assumed from this is that popular music can be influenced by politics and socio-cultural atmosphere of the time, so it cannot be ruled out that this could be turned on it's head and the pop music actually influences politics etc.However Shuker suggests that pop music can be a "means of raising both consciousness about, and funds for, political causes."
An example of an unsuccessful political pop music message is that of Red Wedge, formed in 1985. They used music to try and promote the Labour party, however they were unsuccessful.
It is hard to measure how much music actually influences political opinions of people, however, with examples such as Live Aid to look back on, we can be pretty sure that it can go towards change.
A very well argued and well researched post.
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