It’s encouraging to find a socialist assessment of popular music in 2024 as opposed to liberal music critics who don’t situate popular music in the crisis in capitalism or workers’ protests and strikes.
According to three authors of the World Socialist Website for the most part popular music ignored both the problems of the world and/or its potential solutions. Instead they focused on personal relationships at the micro level and nostalgia at the macro level. Two bright spots are the musicians and songs that DID engage with social problems. They then closed with recommendations for good music in the fields of instrumental/eclectic, jazz and hip hop.
Read in WSWS
