David Hesmondhalgh: Music, emotion and individualisation

A dominant strand in the sociology of music understands music to be a positive resource in active self-making. While accepting that music has many positive dimensions in modern societies, I question the view of the self underlying this understanding, and argue for the importance of a critical and historical approach to music and subjectivity which recognises the significance of people’s subjective experience. I outline three possible routes towards such an approach, based on notions of organised self-realisation, status competition, and defensive responses to anxiety. These ideas are then considered further, using empirical material drawn from interviews with people in England and Wales about their experiences of music.