It’s just music. Or is it? - Music as a means of political and social influence

“The role of music in political campaigns adds up to much more than just rallying around the cause, or simply attracting attention. Music, in all different forms, is included in political parties’ and candidates’ image-building and communication agendas, which can be used in multiple ways to influence voters.” Researcher Sini Mononen takes a look at the use of music in political campaigns through everyday examples.

The relationship of art to society has always been complex. What is the role of music in a world of increasing crises and polarisation? How can art participate in social debate, and does it have a responsibility to do so? We asked three contemporary composers for their views.

In 2013, musician Ramy Essam was banned from performing in his home country of Egypt, and in late 2014 he arrived in Helsinki to work in a Safe Haven residence. In this interview, Essam talks about musical activism, exile and his own music, which is a fascinating mix of hard rock, hip hop and Egyptian melodies. ”People in the Nordic countries have a really big space for freedom of expression that they don’t use enough,” Essam says.

The phenomena grouped under the soubriquet of Finnish folk music include transnational cultural phenomena on the one hand and strong regional traditions on the other, and not nearly all of these are defined by where Finland’s political borders happened to be at any particular time.

"The fundamental problem of current music historiography, in Finland and elsewhere in the postcolonial civilised world, is that the preoccupation with evading all possible accusations of racism overwhelms historical investigations into how the present practices – historical narration included – are part and parcel of a political continuum where racist ideologies have been and continue to be amongst the most powerful ones."

"On the whole, this disc remains with the listener for longer than one would expect from its adventurous musical content, but its impressiveness is not because of activism or political relevance but because of the tension between music and concept art on the one hand and between political and absolute music on the other."

Following the general European trend, musical meanings that could be interpreted as nationalistic were put to use in Finland during the first half of the 20th century. The propaganda and educational film industries used music by Sibelius, among others.

One of the biggest influences on the Finnish music of 1969-76 was the strong political song movement. In a few years the socio-critical cabaret song born in the back-street theatres became transformed into the music of the extreme Left. The political movement petered out as the seventies drew to a close, but its songs can still be heard.