From Amazing Grace to Just Beat it to Trap Queen, Black music is constantly evolving. The Black community went from carrying around boom boxes on their shoulders and blasting music out their bedroom windows, to sitting in their dorm rooms streaming music on their phones from apps such as Pandora and Spotify.
Black music has inspired peaceful movements and violent protest like the LA Riots. The cultural music has created a space for families to dance at block parties, cookouts and family reunions.
What better time to relive the history of Black music then June, Black Music Month. The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter declared June Black Music Month back in 1979.
According to the National Museum of African American Music, “Black Music Month began in 1979 when Kenny Gamble, Ed Wright, and Dyana Williams developed the idea to set aside a month dedicated to celebrating the impact of black music.”
The month was created to honor and protect the existing state of Black music.
One company in particular has been able to record all of the precious musical moments for the Black community by focusing on musical trends, measuring what the community watches, listens to and buys.
That company is called Nielsen. Nielsen is a leading global market research company released a report earlier in the year that talks through the different listening habits of multicultural individuals.
The company focuses on all of the multicultural communities and how they are listening to music.
“We are definitely trend setters when it comes to what is being listened to. We tend to be early adopters when it comes to technology,” said Nielsen Senior Vice President Cheryl Pearson-McNeil. Not only are blacks listening to an incredible amount of music they are listening at a rate of 91.5% all blacks listen to the radio every single week that equates to about 31 mil blacks listening to the radio during the week. We are listening for about an average of 12 hours a week.”
The company’s goal is to develop innovative ways to break through multicultural strategies for their clients by making sure consumers know the important role that they play in the economic landscape.
Consumers interested in participating in the Nielsen study and or survey can head over to http://sites.nielsen.com/africanamericans/
So the next time you are streaming your favorite song, playing old CD’s, dusting off old records you found in the attic or putting a quarter into a jukebox machine at a local dinner think about the cultural contribution you are making!
