Journal article analysis

The article that I chose to analyze is “Popular Musicians and Their Songs as Threats to National security: A World Perspective”.

Here the author believes that the people in the entertainment field have the knowledge of media which they use for the public entertainment besides this they also take advantage with their personal and professional resources.

              Popular music and popular musicians have positive effects and negative effects on people as well, but the concern should not be forgotten when taking into account any potential threats to the security of a State or Country. Because of these concerns, there have been Government authorities that have attempted to restrict the production of popular music. They have tried to control art subsidiaries, establish state monopolies, and have even forbid some production and distribution practices of music.

Few popular musicians who are considered as threats to national security are Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and John Lennon because of their political positions and actions which made it appear as if they supported the “other camp”. That could be seen as weakening security and integrity of their country. They have also been noted as making strides for civil and human rights around the world, and they have testified on their communist activities.

The popular musicians and their music are able to provide their fans the a feeling of security who has the same feelings as in their music and makes them feel like they are not the only ones who has to suffer and also makes them think that they are not only the ones feeling low or struggling.

The author believes that popular musicians can play an important role in security that concerns individuals and groups of people opposed to the national territories and borders, as the music may be affective in an emotional sense opposed to an objective or material sense. The author believes that there needs to be further research on popular musicians and their music within the security studies, as there is also an ongoing debate about the true meaning of security.

I agree with the author in the sense that music can have influence over people, but I do not necessarily agree that the music can be used as a threat or as a form of terrorism. Music has been said to have influence on the listeners, but I think that it would be more on the individual or group side than as a national threat.

Musicians are normal people and they have the same thoughts and feelings as others do, being able to create music to share their thoughts, is a way to release their thoughts to the world. People can relate to the things that are being sung about, and seeing that others may feel the same way makes them engaged in the music and they may follow other thoughts and words that are displayed by the musician.          

I agree with the author that it is important to define the meaning of security before you can determine whether or not popular musicians will have an effect on it. We need to define the security properly in order to determine the effects on the society.

Threats to National Security are very important and should be taken seriously. This article is really important and should be given a look if the government is concerned about the threats of popular music to the national security. These are the threats that are not to be ignored but should be considered a really serious matter.