Encyclopedia
Youth culture generally refers to the ways
adolescents and teenagers differentiate themselves from the parent
culture of their community.
Youth culture is a reaction to the
economic, political, and
educational changes after
World War II in
Western civilisation. The culture tends to fluctuate with different generations.
History
Post-World War Two
Prior to
World War II, young people in
Western culture had little freedom or influence. With the development of post-war affluence and the subsequent
baby boom in the
United States and
Europe, young people began to gain considerable societal influence and buying power. Throughout the 1950s, the growing numbers of young people in the USA and
Europe began to greatly influence music, television, and cinema, spurring the explosion of rock & roll in the late-1950s and a full-blown youth culture in the mid-1960s, partly in the form of subcultures such as mods, rockers, and
hippies.
The tastes of young people began to drive fashion, music, films and literature. Corporations quickly took note and adapted to the shift by devising marketing strategies for the new demographic. For young people, being more open to change and challenge, technology came easier and fashions changed quicker than their adult conterparts. Baby boomers began to enter the workforce in the 1970s, and thereby wielded even greater influence, helping to innovate the
computer revolution, which would be exploited fully by the next generations of young people.
1990s youth culture
In the
United Kingdom,
Britpop exploded in the mid 1990s, peaking between 1995 and 1997 with the release of the Oasis album Morning Glory?, and the election of
Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Some argue that youth culture in the
United States lacked a steady footing during the 1990s, particularly in relation to music, as the industry became increasingly commercialised. Although artists like
Mariah Carey and the
Backstreet Boys were hugely successful commercially, most would agree that they, and similar artists, created no sense of a 'movement.' Their fans held no clear fashions or trends, unlike earlier subcultures such as the
Teddy Boys, Mods and
Punks of Britain. Many critics felt that the artistic integrity of such groups was comprimised by the fact that record companies chose performers based largely upon their age or appearance, and that their music was often written by outside songwriters, featuring heavy production. Perhaps as a result of this change in the music industry, popular music has splintered into many differend genres, large music movements, started by bands like
The Beatles and
Guns N' Roses, have been replaced by smaller-scale movements.
Mainstream rock music in the
United States in this period sometimes featured a softer sound. Examples include the
Friends was a long-running and widely acclaimed situation comedy [i] about a group of six friends in ...
theme tune
I'll Be There for You by The Rembrandts and
Breakfast at Tiffany's is the 1961 Oscar-winning movie starring Audrey Hepburn [i] and George Peppard [i] ...
by Deep Blue Something. The 1990s also featured the emergence of mainstream commercial success of
rap and
hip hop. The hit
Gangta's Paradise is the second album [i] by rapper Coolio [i]. He released it on November 21 [i], ...
by
Coolio was one of the first rap songs to cross over into the mainstream. Television shows like
South Park and
Beavis and Butt-head were popular during the 1990s with youth audiences.
2000s youth culture
Commercial pop and rock in the United States has been overshadowed by urban sounds like hip hop and contemporary
RnB. Music from the
United Kingdom, previously prominent during the New Wave and
British Invasion periods has become less common on mainstream American radio and in record shops. In the USA, James Blunt's 2005 song
You're Beautiful became the first non-urban or non-
American Idol hit to top the Hot 100 since
Nickleback's 2001 hit
How You Remind Me, and the first British artist to top this chart since
Elton John in 1997.
Since the demise of
Britpop, few bands in Britain have witnessed the commercial success of bands like
Oasis, with the possible exception of
Coldplay. A resurgence of indie genres with their corresponding subcultures has occured. This resurgence was fronted by bands like Franz Ferdinand and the
Kaiser Chiefs. Elswhere on the UK scene, urban music has enjoyed increased commercial success. Although urban music television channels and urban radio stations like Kiss FM are dominated by American urban music, there have been some local breakthrough acts like
Dizzee Rascal and
The StreetsThe US television show
The O.C. is an American [i] television [i] comedy-drama [i] program broadcast on the Fox Network [i] ...
, which began in 2003, enjoyed good ratings in the USA and abroad. The show's music, themes and fashions have made it a distinct piece of 2000s youth culture. It broadcasts little-known indie music from the UK and USA. The show was unique in the sense that while musicians like
Robbie Williams were unable to penetrate the US market, obscure musicians like
Imogen Heap were famously propelled by the song
Hide and Seek which featured on the final episode of series two.
See also
List of youth subcultures
External link
- — PBS Frontline's report on the creators & marketers of popular culture for teenagers.
