Popular music and intimate relationships: examples from the Top 40 Spanish radio show

ABSTRACT

As an aspect of everyday life, music is a privileged cultural expression that reflects social dynamics, including issues related to intimate relationships. The aim of this study was to analyse the construction and evolution of such relationships through musical hits from 1966 to 2017. To this end, we used a qualitative methodology comprising discourse analysis and the identification of interpretative repertoires. The results show that 71.9% of the chosen songs describe intimate relationships and that their themes can be grouped around three repertoires: 1) romantic love, 2) hedonistic love, and 3) toxic love. These discursive axes reveal differences between female and male voices. They also show that intimate relationships are mainly characterized by masculine domination, which positions women as objects subordinated to the desires of men. However, we also observed the recent emergence of new spaces for female expression that increase women’s visibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Popular music
• intimate relationships
• gender stereotypes
• radio music
• interpretative repertoire

Acknowledgment

I would like to extend my thanks to the University of Málaga for a pre-doctoral scholarship without which this study would not have been possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Silvia Escobar-Fuentes

Silvia Escobar-Fuentes is currently Pre-doctorate Research Scholarships in the Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies at the University of Malaga. She is a lecturer on the degree in Social Work and East Asian Studies. Her research interests are focused particularly on Gender Studies, women empowerment and adolescents. E-mail: [email protected]

Fco Manuel Montalbán-Peregrín

Fco Manuel Montalbán-Peregrín, PhD, is the lead investigator in the research team Etnomedia-CD, dedicated to ethnography and mediations in intercultural communication and development. His empirical interests are focused on studies on the critical analysis of discourse applied to gender, sexual diversity and intercultural relations. He has recently published related papers in various international journals. E-mail: [email protected]