From Region to Class, The Changing Locus of Country Music: A Test of the Massification Hypothesis

TLDR

The study examines how country music’s regionalization, commercialization, and diffusion test the massification hypothesis. Data show that massification erodes traditional ethnic, regional, and class-based musical diversity but does not increase homogeneity; instead, country music is widely adopted by mid‑life working and lower‑middle class whites, challenging the notion that social classes have distinct cultures and suggesting musical styles may signal emerging cultural classes.

Abstract

The regionalization, commercialization, and subsequent diffusion of country music are examined in terms of the massification hypothesis. Each of the data sets examined suggests that the massification theorists were right in observing that the old patterns of cultural diversity along ethnic, regional, and even class lines are being destroyed or buried. But they have erred in their prediction of ever-increasing cultural homogeneity. While country music is increasingly embraced by mid-life, working and lower-middle class whites irrespective of regional origin, "easy listening" music is the preferred music in the same segment of the population. These data bring into question the assumption that social classes have distinct cultures and lead to the conjecture that these musical styles may represent convenient indicators of emerging culture classes.