music and culture and art and stuff.

I've sort of grouped the way that I experience music into four categories. First being music in public place. Music can be heard in stores of all kinds, restaurants and office buildings. I heard enough "Felice Navidad" in the Caf to last me through next Christmas. Many places use it as background noise. Everyone has heard that generally terrible elevator music. But it is becoming more common for businesses to use music to define and expand themselves. For example, the Vestavia Starbucks is my kinda lifeline. Although it is a coffee shop, they sell CDs and play current and semi-popular music. This addition allows them to reach a little farther. They even have those nifty little "pick of the week" cards that get lost in my car.
Secondly, I experience music through the people around me. My room mate is fond of Mr. Dave Matthews while the girl across the hall enjoys Tool, apparently. Now that iPhones and iPods have external speakers, people are able to play music out loud, where ever. When turned up loudly enough, i can sometimes enjoy tunes from the car next to me. Or not.
Next is through the media and entertainment. These I normally experience via television and the internet. Cites like Pandora and Last.fm allow instant access to tons of music. On television, every show and commercial has their own annoying theme song. I can easily prank call Goldberg or sing you the Sponge Bob Square Pants jingle. My favorite are movie soundtracks. There are some movies that would be completely lacking without this. Garden State is one of my favorite movies and soundtracks. Zach Braff not only wrote, directed and acted in the move, he also put the soundtrack together. I feel like the movie is much more personal because of this.
Lastly, I experience the music that I am in control of. I have a waking up playlist, a going to sleep playlist and one for everything in between. I listen to my iPod to and from class and play music in my room. Like every other teenager on earth, I like to drive real fast while listening to something real loud. Songs and artists I am directly invested in play the most prominent roll in the way I experience music daily.
I think that music can be interpreted as a part of culture and as an art form together and separately. I believe that anything can be seen as art, all individually determined. Music loosely defines a culture. It creates a commonality and reference point among people. I think the way in which music is used within a culture and the extent audiences are willing and able to participate bring about its expression as an art form. Different nationalities have music that stem from various cultures and regions yet it still unites them. The way it is performed in each culture, through singing, dancing and playing is the form of art. Experiencing it in person also greatly changes the way the music is interpreted. I think it is the same for me on a much smaller scale. The places I see shows here in Birmingham definitely have their own culture. I see people I know and faces I recognize only through attending concerts. The style in clothing is recognizable as well. The live performances are undoubtedly forms of art. It allows listeners a more direct connection and the ability to see into the artist's culture and views as well as enhance their own.