I. Characteristics and cultural styles of music broadcasting
In China, the first radio station was set up in January 1923. According to our mass media broadcasting history, professional music broadcasting was founded in 1955 when the Music Division of CCTY was founded. During our history of 40 years, we have accumulated rich experience and established many influential broadcasting music columns, which have contributed greatly to the variation and development of social music life. While probing into the prospect of music broadcasting, it is necessary for us to explore the characteristics and cultural styles of music broadcasting, so that a new development situation can be opened up at a deeper culture level.
According to of broadcasting and editing methods, the characteristics and application methods of broadcasting media, and the status of the audience and the influences they have received, the characteristics of radio music broadcasting can be summarized into the following four points:
1. High quality of the programs
Broadcasting programs belong to selective information, such as representative trends, representative works of composers, famous singers with special styles, orchestras and conductors with certain levels, etc. On radio we have the opportunity to listen high-level programs which cannot be heard in ordinary life. Although people can obtain records and tapes which are high quality programs usually selected by publishers, it is almost impossible for an individual to reach the storage amount of a radio station. Another aspect of high quality is the standardization of hi-fi.
2. Variety of options
With non-stop broadcasting of good and various works in different columns each day, the audience have more opportunities to make various choices. While choosing the programs, the audience are making comparisons among the programs subconsciously. The programs not being chosen are also results of selective consciousness. Thus, selecting itself becomes a cultural behavior, in which the vision of the audience has been broadened and in turn it influences the changing of options. It is a occurrent phenomenon for an audience who usually listen to music broadcasting programs to choose programs which are originally unfamiliar to them.
3. Voluntariness of appreciation
Broadcasting can be listened to at home, away from public places.Especially after the appearance of the transistor radio, people can listen to broadcasting everywhere. It is relaxing and pleasant for a person to appreciate music alone, away from on-the-spot performance and unaffected by other listeners. As a person pleases, he can listen at any time, any place and with any feeling and in any mood. Or broadcasting can be used as background music to release the tiredness and feelings of the audience.
4. Social characteristics of communication
It can be embodied from two aspects. From one aspect, radio does not present with performance on the spot. Communication, without external disturbance other than music, can arouse a sympathetic chord in the audience with the composer and the performer, thus achieving the communication of the heart and soul. This, actually, is a kind of deeper cultural communication of human beings. In substance, cultural communication beyond individuals possesses social characteristics. From another aspect, both comparing one's own feelings with social evaluation, and being attracted to appreciate the music by social evaluation, reflect the social characteristics of communications.
From the above characteristics, it can be found that selecting high-level programs through music broadcasting, can standardize the appreciation of the audience. It can be proved from the standards of program making. The variety and voluntariness of music options enable everyone the opportunity of enjoying music, thus increasing the consciousness of the audience, as well as give free rein to the various social functions of music. The cultural coverage of music broadcasting provides the audience with broad cultural understanding. Of course, the educational functions of music broadcasting should be mentioned. Besides special music educational programs, the processed music programs should usually utilize language as the media to mediate, to master the appreciation psychology of the audience and build the bridge between the audience and language. Music is understood and accepted (mass understanding and acceptance) by people though language, which in turn explores the relationships among music, human beings and society, and develops mutual understanding approaches. This is an important aspect with which to distinguish music broadcasting from other media.
As an important aspect of the mass broadcasting medium-broadcasting music has demonstrated various social functions, meanwhile bringing great changes in the music concepts of the people. First because music has become the artistic work everyone can enjoy, the original class boundary line has been canceled forcefully. Everyone can place themselves into the music broadcasting nets of the multi-media system, which transmit various music information including ancient, modern, domestic and foreign national music. Second, the traditional authoritative value concept of music has lost its dominant position, being pounded at by popular tastes. Various types of pop music and light music can be accepted by the public. Secular music which caters to actual life develops rapidly. Chinese traditional music of traditional operas and folk art forms, as well as folk songs come to ordinary life again via different modern media. Music of movies and TV programs becomes a popular music form, via the broadcasting advantages of media. Third, following the commercialisation of music, the gulf poication of broadcasting media, the springing up of Karaoke singing and dancing halls and many public participation activities of pop music, the function of the enjoyment of music has obtained the extensive approval of society. The approaches to music enjoyment have become more diversified. Its functions have been fully developed, including the stimulating functions of human physiology and psychology. Meanwhile, music explores an important level of human nature- the primitive desire level long hidden below consciousness. The enjoyment functions of music have prompted and reinforced the commercialisation of music and fully demonstrated its function of human communication.
II. Interactive effect between music text and human text caused
by the mass broadcasting media
Following the development and changing of music concepts, we noticed an important music philosophical phenominon, that is the interactive effect between music text and human text. From the angle of music, mass broadcasting media break the existing habit of the isolated construction of music works and bring it to a more open "text" explanation. The openness is not only because of the variety of an individual's mental experience, but also because of the music exists with the intrusion of historical "prejudice", and because of the coexisting "relativity" with value, and "standardized" appreciation psychology of the public, etc. filtered by the synthesized culture effect of the mass broadcasting media. This existence is related to the manifold layers of the existence of human beings.
Among the many levels of openness of music culture, various aspects of human nature are stimulated. Due to the closeness with human existence, various needs of human reality influence human needs of music directly, which, through information feedback, greatly affects the information options, coding, delivery methods, and decoding of mass music broadcasting. Thus, the audience theory research in Aesthetics of Reception are products of this reality.
At present, the interactive effect should be more reflected on the surface level of value, selecting from music form changes and people's music appreciation psychology changes. When one switches the channels at one's will to choose programs, we might listen to a couple of sentences from traditional Hebei Opera (Bangzi) on one channel, then switch to another channel to listen to pop music for a while. Or, we might switch from Robust advertising music to the concert Orchestra Concert Auditorium. Even if we has not found the proper programs, or not, the process of selecting music information has influenced one's sensory organs. It makes music varieties nothing unusual and expected music programs lose their uniqueness. Many people have selected their favorite programs from the program guide. But, while waiting for their favorite programs, they might switch to other channels, be attracted and give up their original choice. This happens frequently. The surface level of the interactive effect partly recompounds and adjusts the traditional existing methods and traditional music reception psychology of both the music and the audience. The changes of value concepts following the interaction, interact with other social and cultural facts. It is possible to generate more profound changes over in a wider scope.
Looking at the various characteristics , cultural qualities and styles of mass music broadcasting, we found they have brought many changes in music value, forms and social effects, which reflects the potentiality and the serious confusion existing in Chinese social music life. The potentiality shows that when everyone of us lives with an equal position in the cultural situation of multiple music information, we can use the information to conduct music culture communication with any country, any nation and any individual at anytime and anywhere. The electric waves can extend our hearing to anywhere we want to be. We can listen to music we have never heard or imagined o before. We can enjoy the performance of the most famous artists. It can be said that everyone possesses more music than he needs, which, brings us serious confusion.
As we all know, when modern technology developed rapidly, it unexpectedly brought serious pollution to the environment and damaged the ecological balance. We have to utilize technology to rescue and balance the environment. Some irreversible damage could become the permanent regret of human beings. The information society utilizes the mass broadcasting media to transmit rich spiritual culture, "without pay". Not everyone becomes millionaires. The reason is that spiritual culture and artistic works are "nutrition bases" for shaping people's souls and building up their spirits. If mass broadcasting media only pile up various artistic works lacking spiritual guide, eventually, people will bear too large information burden and become indifferent. The "Global Village" makes people become "Universal Residents" suddenly. People have not grown bigger because the earth has become smaller. On the contrary, it is easy for them to lose their original centre beneath various culture values, lose simple sensitivity under various hearing stimuli and lose their own aesthetic individuality beneathcarious cultural attraction.
The weakening of centrality, individuality, and sensitivity actually conceals some spiritual crises, which have two aspects. First, once the cultural environment people are familiar with and closely related to has been damaged, and people accept blindly the foreign culture, it will lead to "indigestion" and "imbalance of nutrition". Maybe the result will not show within a short period. But after a long while, people will forget their "mother tongue". The spiritual suffering brought by rootless souls could cause great damages to individuals, and countries. Secondly, being an art, music is a proof of people's and spiritual existence. It enhances people's sentiments, perfects their dignity, and stores up their simplicity, kindness and wisdom, to enlighten the road of their spiritual development. When this nature of music has been degraded and then dissolved, the existence and value of human nature will be questioned. The spiritual burden thus produced will be unbearable to both individuals and society.
How to cope with the unexpected confusion brought by mass media and how to accept it as a gift of history instead of being submerged by it, are questions that we should reflect on.
III. The spiritual and formal connotations of the consciousness of superior works
We do not think that popular taste and reception methods, should be the sole standard for the contents and forms of the programs, simply because the object of the media is the public. Advocating the consciousness of superior works does not mean that only elegant serious music should be recommended. It is necessary to design the contents and forms of music programs comprehensively, for public music life and from the angle of the intrinsic relations between music and people. The understanding of superior works includes their spirited and formal connotations. Spiritual connotations, we believe, are contents beneficial to the development of body and soul. We should pay more attention to the contents which can advance people's spirit. Like the peak of a pyramid shining permanently, the superior works will make the whole of mass music broadcasting, show the patterns and power of integrated national culture and the spiritual power of mankind creating history. Actually, it attracts every ordinary person because every one has the potentiality of superior works is, firstly, a confirmation of the overall development of the arrangement of music culture.
Form occupies the most practical position in the consciousness of superior works. It is reflected not only in the appearance, formation and expression methods of the actual programs, but also the construction of the modern explanation methods of art. It involves the relations among the language functions of music, developing models of real culture and social-cultural reception psychology. It does not mean pacing music classics with broadcasting music forms. The real superior works should reflect the modern elaboration of their original works, in forms which should not misrepresent the history, but are closely related to modern life. They should ignite the sipitual light of modern people with the light of history. It requires us to have profound musical culture accomplishments, as well as have creativity of language transformation, It requires us to understand the spirit of musical works, master the public's cultural reception psychology in real society, and be creative in the structuring and explaining methods.
Form creation should pay attention to the marginality of artistic categories. We should make comparison in a wider cultural scope, find new forms and make music permeate into culture to seek new soil. This is the reason for the success of many music programs which have a strong cultural background. It can be said that in the forms of creativity, lie the soul and real vitality of musical. The form creation of superior works embodies the spiritual understanding of the existence of music text, and the deep understanding of actual music culture. It undertakes the twofold tasks of constructing and spreading.
It is necessary to mention the effect of advanced science and technology in developing a sound expression of music, in the course of form creation. This is mainly shown in recording production, which is a three-dimensional music creation. It should be mentioned that newly developed sounds enrich the original music language, and enlarge the of music thought. Interlinked with the decrees of 20th century's expressionism, pioneer music pop music and the so-called Third Music in 20th century, colorful acoustics increase the possibility of the layers and potentiality of music expression. But, while exploring and using new acoustic languages is important the spiritual essence of music is the most important. We do not exclude the importance of acoustic experiments, and neither do we exclude the unique fun of sound games. It is certain that it is one form of music life. But, only by relating to the essential needs of people can it be a real artistic creation. The form creation which is based on human spirits has an innate distinction from the same old thing in a new guise.
In the current situation where radio broadcasting is being challenged by TV, music arts mainly relying on the sense of hearing, We should have realized that it is broadcasting music with which it is easy to maintain the purity of music and give the maximum rein to one's audio imagination. From this angle, it can said that constructing development strategies of broadcasting music from the intrinsic relations between music and people are the essence of enhancing the competitiveness of broadcasting among the spreading media.