Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Emerging problems associated with music festivals due to drug usage
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Substance Abuse in Electronic Dance Music Culture: Minimizing the Effects
EDM (electronic dance music) has proven to be a very powerful movement and important part of modern culture. Tons of enthusiastic fans come from all over the world to experience popular EDM rave events in the big cities such as Ultra Music Festival and Electric Zoo. At these type of events fans can expect high quality electronic music, light effects, and recreational drugs. Along seeing the casual use of drugs, it is also common to see the occasional overdose. Although the acceptance of drug use may sound superficial, it has been a part of the music event scene for ages. However, drug use in EDM culture seems to be a bit heavier than in other music cultures. Because of the widespread of abusive incidents, the way substance use is handled at EDM events needs to change.
Some could say dance events are just as fun sober as they are on something. Some could say substances enhance an individual’s festival experience. Either of these opinions could be right, but what remains a fact is that substances are indeed, in one way or another, deeply involved with music. It is not because of the music itself, however influential it may seem, but rather the choice of fans that has caused this. Everyone wants to have a great experience at a music festival. If they are offered a greater experience, then of course they will be open-minded. Although substances may be an experience for some, they may be the divider between life and death for others. From alcohol poisoning at Toby Keith shows and meth use at Metallica concerts, substance abuse has proven to be something widespread and dangerous throughout music festivals (Baca, par. 8). Society can make substances a taboo, say ...
... middle of paper ...
...dvice along with music. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1436552021?accountid=1137
Yee, V., & Rashbaum, W. K. (2013, Sep 02). Weekend revelry abruptly ends after 2 die at electronic music festival. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1429148864?accountid=1137
Gonzales, Neil. "VENUE BANS RAVES AFTER DRUG TRAGEDIES." Contra Costa TimesNov 17 2010.
ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2013 .
Adams, Jill U. "A CLOSER LOOK; how Ecstasy Harms; the Drug, Popular at Raves, can make Users Feel
Sharp. that Doesn't make it Safe." Los Angeles TimesJul 12 2010. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2013 .
Baca, Ricardo. "Music of SUBSTANCE Drugs have always been a Part of Rock's Highs and Lows. but the
Soundtrack has Changed. Same Destination, New Trip, through Electronica." Denver Post Jan 16
2011. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2013 .
The sound of music can fulfil someone's ears with the rhythm of the beat or the sweet tone of the melody. Some people enjoy music with a little more “experience.” Rock, rap, and heavy metal are examples of music genres that has a reputation of using drugs to enhance the experience of the music. One other common music genre that has a reputation of drugs is EDM. Electronic Dance Music. It is a type of music typically created by using electronic devices, like a laptop, generated by a person with some talent. This music genre is known for it’s “club drugs” like ecstasy, methanamine, or magic mushrooms. (“CRC Health”) Some people use drugs at raves to “enhance” the experience and also people have tried or are trying to push the usage of drugs at rave to a certain that you can take. Many people want more security checks at raves so they can reduce the injuries and deaths at raves.
Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and countless other tremendously talented artists had their lives cut short due to drug use. Drugs were most often good for the music, but deadly for the music makers.
In a world where mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, and autism are becoming more and more prevalent, MDMA, or “Ecstasy” is just the mental boost that someone needs and is illegally being dealt to patients while in therapy or counseling. The theory is that MDMA can raise “happiness levels” by forcing the brain to release serotonin and dopamine at the same time, resulting in intense euphoria and “ego softening” (Errowid). Some other side effects of MDMA can include feelings of inner peace, increase in social bonding, and an increase in ability to communicate. Some of the less positive side effects can be eye wiggling, increased heart rate, and dehydration. All of which, are quite manageable and not too noticeable. Sufferers of social anxiety and depression could greatly benefit from MDMA, as it can break down inner boundaries and increase the need to be around other people. A grou...
The emergence of the counterculture of the 1960s set off a new wave of music and created an alternative lifestyle. The association of drugs with the counterculture is a limited assumption as drugs were present in the mainstream culture as well. The predecessor of the 60s counterculture, the Beat movement, was not entirely different and it is evident how the Beat lifestyle fostered an environment where the emergent hippie and acid-head culture could take root. Within the drug culture there were splits in ideology, between the Leary and the Kesey groups and the mainstream culture against the counterculture’s use of drugs.
Rave parties are nothing more than loud music, flashing lights and colors mixed with frenzy all night dancing. The most defining characteristic of the rave culture is the use of illicit drugs. The purpose this group had was to inform how much club drugs were being used mainly within rave’s. Ecstasy is the most common drug found in rave parties. This is still currently known as the most popular drugs within rave’s and the acceptance of this within rave attendees is very common.
Mexico’s drugs wars as well as bloody drug cartels are echoed in a controversial folk music genre commonly known as narco corridos or simply as drug ballads. They tell the stories allied to shootouts, drug lords, betrayals including daring criminal operations. Narco corridos are not a new style in Mexican music, in fact, they have been around for years, and they are popular among the old and the young. This genre has evolved to be modern fugitive music that fuses the emotional responses of antique ballads with the tense gravel of mobster rap. From global idols to rural artists documenting their neighborhood current events in the regions subjugated by guerilla war, narco corridos provides the songwriters in their homes with unique but artistic superiority, investigating the heartland of the infamous Mexican drug trafficking as well as publicizing municipal midpoints such as Los Angeles, in addition to Mexico City.
the list goes on and on. Together, these bands have sold more than 60 million
...drugs (Degracia, 1993). One would think that the side-effects, such as dehydration and extreme panic, would entice people to find alternative activities, but it seems that the effects, like enhanced sensations and sensory mixing, outweigh the side-effects. If this is true, one must wonder what the how the atmosphere of the will change in World in a few years, and how much of an influence will drugs have several decades from now.
Rap has been around since 1973, when Kool DJ Herc introduced this new mash of jazz, soul, gospel, and reggae. This culture has been focused around African Americans, and since has served as a voice for the underrepresented, that is spreading violence, alcohol, and drugs. In this genre the most popular and successful boast about who has murdered more foes as breezily as other artists sing about love. Rap music tells stories of drugs, violence, and alcohol. The youth of America is constantly exposed to this kind of music, and our teenagers are being desensitized to the effects of these stories.
We play music loudly with our friends and families at social gatherings and ultimately it creates a friendly and open atmosphere. Now the last thing we would think about would be that at one of these social events one of us may die. In recent years there have been more and more deaths and injuries at musical festivals all throughout the United States. Although the number is much lower than deaths and injuries from automotive accidents they should not be over looked. Music festivals are becoming more and more popular and people are flocking to festivals all around the United States. These music festivals in today’s society have turned into drug infested parties in which people’s live are endangered and people themselves are exposed to drugs and unsafe festival conditions.
Ecstasy stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin from brain neurons, producing a high that lasts for hours. The drug's so-called rewarding effects vary with the individual taking it, the dose and purity, and the environment in which it is taken. Ecstasy can produce stimulant effects such as an enhanced sense of pleasure and self-confidence and increased energy. Its psychedelic effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance, and empathy. Users claim they experience feelings of closeness with others and a desire to touch them and hug them. Because Ecstasy engenders feelings of closeness and trust and has a short duration of action, some therapists claim that the drug is potentially valuable as a psychotherapeutic agent. However, Federal regulators classify Ecstasy as a drug with no accepted medical use. Physical effects also include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure are a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease. And though users see only the positives of the drug or what they believe is, they need to open their eyes and believe death is definitely a factor.
Throughout America's music history, the use and abuse of illegal drugs has been widespread, and some great musicians' lives have been utterly devistated and ruined by drugs. Often times it seems as though, in studying their histories, many musicians are falsely led to believe that if they use certain drugs, their playing will improve, or become more creative. Many great musician's lives have been tragicly cut short because of their drug use, and God only knows where some of them would be today had they not fallen into the trap of believing a chemical substance can improve their musicianship. The tragic thing is that by the time they realize that the drugs are only hurting their performance, the addiction has already taken control of their lives and their music.
...resses of everyday life, or looking to have a fun time/experience, EDM festivals can provide a place to feel “free” and be happy.
Rawlinson, J. (2013). Music Festival Tourism Worldwide - International - June 2013. Retrieved 02 28, 2014, from Mintel Report: http://academic.mintel.com/display/643783/
Ecstasy Effects | Information on Ecstasy,Club. Drugs,Pills and MDMA. Web. The Web. The Web.