Musicologica Olomucensia

Changes in the Young People's Relation to Music: a Quantitative Study

This study pays attention to what is the relationship of young people in the age between 12 and 29 years to music and how this relation changes in dependence on which school they study, or whether they already work, or whether they are unemployed. The research data have confirmed that music constitutes a very important phenomenon for young people; however, it is true that the end of study and the beginning of employment modify that relation. While the students - according to their own words - cannot rather imagine their life without music and they emphasize music fascinates them, the workers' relationship to music is quite less intensive and they perceive and use music more or less as background music. The relation to music transforms partially from the emotional to the utilitarian one. It also comes true that music constitutes a distinctive social phenomenon for young people, who share it with their friends or acquaintances, while this feature becomes weaker in case of employees. Young employees, however, are yet ready to put more money into their relation to music - they buy little more musical media and they attend music concerts to the same extent as the students do. As shown in the text, the approach and behaviour of students at different types of schools and that of employees with different educational stages differ very much. A big change in the relation to music can be observed mainly among persons with lower education. While the trainees' relation to music is very intensive, it is colder with the employees with this type of education. The aforementioned contradictoriness may be indicated best by the results of a group of unemployed (the most of whom trained) among whom an above-average number of both persons with a very intensive relation to music and persons, who music is indifferent to, can be found.