Network and Books -- Music Matters

Author: NetandBooks Editorial Department
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: From the original songs to the invention of musical instruments; from blues to rock music; from Walkman and MTV to the digital iPod, the way of listening to music has been changing. This book discusses the power of music and how different genres of music move different people. Every era has its representative figures in popular music, and how have these figures influenced people culturally and socially in the past and today? How should today's creators embrace the next golden age of music? Reading is a kind of nourishment for the brain. After the 21st century, the nourishment of reading has undergone qualitative and quantitative changes! The "NetandBooks" series, after four years of planning, gathers the participation of authors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as international authors, to propose—passion and advocacy for reading! The book "Music Matters," published in December 2004 by "NetandBooks," presents the musical perspectives of Taiwanese cultural figures. Unlike the serene tone of mainland Chinese music books and magazines that discuss music as if recounting "generations apart," "Music Matters" reveals the restless face of music in the lives of contemporary people. The book covers The Beatles, Madonna, Li Jinhui, Luo Dayou, Cui Jian, blues, hip-hop, Chinese guqin, interviews with musicians, interviews with music lovers, and more, spanning a vast musical timeline with interwoven topics, showcasing a mixed and diverse contemporary color. The book subtly tells people: the appreciation of music no longer revolves around classical music as the core, but music has become a "matter" in life; every topic involves history, reality, classics, and non-classics, all of which inevitably become "matters," sinking into the personal lives of those who appreciate music. What is music, what it once was, and what it is now—what music is ultimately a "matter"—is a topic that no single book can fully address. For different people and roles, the starting point is different, and the "matter" is distinct. In the eyes of The Beatles and Madonna, music is a ( means "knock on the door" but here it should be translated as "tool" or "means") to subvert traditional culture and a ( means "Tai Chi sword" but here it should be translated as "weapon" or "tool") to achieve commercial success; for Li Jinhui, music was a disaster entangled with history. Similarly, Luo Dayou might say music is threatened by globalization, while hip-hop believes that the current commercially saturated pop music is timely, and music is merely a candy for entertainment. In contemporary times, music has indeed ceased to be a solemn palace with a complete divine genealogy, but rather a bustling marketplace with loud calls and heroes fighting for dominance. Since the identity of consumers on the earth has become the only habitual identity of today, is it better to get lost in time and space in a concert hall or to relax in a café with blues—purely a personal choice. Consumers are welcome everywhere as long as they pay. Consumer culture undoubtedly uses money to flatten everything, silently making consumers only understand consumption and gradually forget the mysterious connotations of the music objects marked with prices. Consumption is bound to be lively, and it is bound to strip away the bones to find the golden ratio in the "matter" of music. As things sink, they are all included in the shopping list through mathematical measurement and grasp. The relationship between the listener and music is no longer a long-lasting companionship with the depths of life, but a relationship of one-time and multiple-time consumption. Music becomes a "matter," in the wind of consumption. Meanwhile, the person sitting upright in the concert hall and the person with earphones on the street—whom can better represent the relationship between people and music? "Music Matters" suggests to readers that music, as a sound art, has become a commercial kaleidoscope in the era of reproduction. Music is like colorful shreds in a flowing river, not the great god in the temple that people gaze at. The former musical world, being vast, is difficult for the contemporary person with hurried breath to appreciate calmly and peacefully. The mystery of music will also be distorted due to commercialized interpretation and explanation. "Music Matters" has two parts of information before and after the book. One is a chronological chart of important historical points in music, and the other is a list of fifty recommended music books selected by the editors. These fifty books are divided into six categories: the history of music, music and the soul, culture, music and society, the creators of music, music guides, and music and literature. In music and literature, novels like "Sandalwood Death" are included, and "opera" becomes a branch of "music."