1980s Music The 1980s was a decade where many things changed drastically. The music industry in the 1980s experienced major changes, mostly due to the political and economic changes, and new trends and inventions. In the 1980s, America changed both economically, and politically. The terrible economy had a huge impact on the American people. When president Ronald Reagan took over in 1981, the economy had been in the worst condition since the Great Depression (Shmoop Editorial Team).The crime rate increased drastically because of how bad the economy was. Violence, theft, and murder numbers increased significantly in areas where there were gangs and drugs. Overall, crime levels was so high that Congress had passed drug laws resulting in a rise in the number of U.S. prisoners (Woog …show more content…
The poor economy of the 1980s influenced new styles of music because musicians would sing about it. Many musicians used their music to express their points of view and opinions about the war, and peace among the people of the U.S (Woog pg. 79). Another thing that had a huge effect on music was drugs. They influenced wild, risqué rock and punk styles that took over the music industry. The birth of new genres of music that expanded the social acceptance was so successful they still influence music today (Gelipter). Lastly, the new creations of MTV and CDs expanded the way music sounded and how it was seen and heard. Musicians had the option to add drum machines and synthesizers into the music on CDs, bringing a new original sound to the music industry, while MTV brought image and interpretation (Gelipter). Although the 1980s was a rough decade, the music industry benefitted from the vast changes. 1980s music had been greatly impacted by many political and social changes, and new popular ideas . To sum it up, the rough decade of the 1980s affected music, and is still affecting music