DECLINE OF FOLK ELEMENTS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN MODERN POPULAR MUSIC

Abstract

Within the past few decades, there has been a significant transformation in the production of popular music – in its creation, recording, dissemination and experience. On the other hand, digital technology, worldwide streaming platforms and commercial production models have newly promoted creativity but also caused a decrease in the folk presence in the mainstream of music. This paper examines the loss of cultural identity in the production of contemporary music in the context in which traditional tunes, local instruments, local languages, oral narration and local song production techniques are being taken over by beats that are standardized, music arrangements that are electronically produced, and sounds that are marketable on the international scale. The study points out that popular songs are more and more about the marketability, digital fashions and the preferences of the international public, and are more and more minimizing the presence of local cultural manifestations. The deterioration of folk elements reduces the association of music with collective memory, especially in younger listeners where it is not so common to know the folk musical forms. The paper also admits that the new production technologies can be used creatively to retain cultural sounds along with the modern styles. The study also points to an integration of a balanced solution to be implemented to safeguard cultural identity in music – innovation cannot be the killing of tradition, but an opportunity to keep folk music alive in the popular music of the present day, while spreading the possibilities of innovation.