Should music be considered a form of fine art?

Fine art is distinguished as aesthetic art from practical art, merely entertaining art,
and minimal aesthetic art. The creation and understanding of fine art is strongly related
to the skill of imagination, aesthetics, and intellect. Traditionally, five art forms have
been categorized as such art: architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, and music.
However, there has been a fierce debate on the validity of classifying music as fine art.
Although proponents point out that it requires the same skill as the other four forms of
fine art, opponents emphasize the aspects of diverse functions music has today. This
essay will focus on both positions and conclude that it is a form of fine art.

   Those who believe that it is a fine art argue that music is the expression of inner
emotion. Martin Landsky, a German DJ artist, stresses this aspect.

Music is an art form of expression, it should bring the inner side of an artist to
the surface and give the world an insight of his vision, it is a form of
communication.

                                                                 Martin Landsky (2017)

When musicians express their inner emotions, in other words, when they create
something from something shapeless, the role of imagination is essential. Also, as
mentioned before, the skill of imagination is one of the important elements when
creating fine art. Therefore, music should be regarded as a form of fine art.

In addition, there is another reason for music as a form of fine art: the purity of
music. Although this might conflict with the first one, this is also cited by some
proponents. They claim that music, especially music without lyrics, is “pure” because it
is invisible in itself. Unlike other art forms, such as sculpture and paintings, music has
no visible clues to understand. Pierre Bourdieu (1984), a French sociologist who
contributed to the sociology of aesthetics, says that music is absolutely pure art
because it says nothing and has nothing to say. In this sense, understanding music
requires its audience to have the sophisticated skill of imagination, aesthetics, and
intellect. Hence it is a form of fine art.

Whilst it is widely said that music is a form of fine art, there are some arguments
against music as fine art. One of these arguments emphasizes the influence of
streaming media services. Today, music is available not only on vinyl records, cassette
tapes, and CDs but also on streaming media services like Apple Music, Spotify, etc.
They offer anytime and anywhere access to their favorite music at a lower cost.
According to Jack Webster (2019), a Ph.D. in cultural sociology at the University of
Southampton, these services undermine “the potential for musical expertise and a
capacity to appreciate music as an end in of itself”. Now, the sophisticated skill is not
necessary to listen to music. Therefore, music has lost its characteristics as fine art.

Another reason why music does not deserve to be fine art is that it is too often used
for practical purposes in modern society. Today, many styles of music, from popular
music to classical music, are utilized as background music. Such music is essential for
owners of restaurants or stores because it affects consumers’ behaviors. For example,
the research of Charles S. Areni and David Kim, researchers at Texas Tech University,
shows that patrons spend more money in a wine store when classical music rather
than Top-Forty music is played in the background. In addition, music is now used even
for medical situations. Lloyd Minor (2021), an American surgeon and the previous
provost of Johns Hopkins University, says that his medical group uses music and
dance to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. In this way, music is now used for a
range of practical purposes and opponents insist that music has lost the characteristics
of fine art in contemporary society.

In these ways, opponents argue that in the current world, music has lost its feature
as fine art because it is now used for diverse purposes. However, the diverse use of
music does not threaten its status as fine art. Although whether music is the expression
of the inner emotions or not is difficult to determine because there can be music only
for practical purpose, it is undeniable that music requires its audience to acquire the
refined skill of imagination, aesthetics, and intellect. This is because without these
skills, we humans cannot distinguish “music” from “sound”. Music substantially
demands the skills that are necessary for fine art, and therefore it is fundamentally a
form of fine art.

 (Bibliography) 

https://www.decodedmagazine.com/music-art-form-expression-bring-inner-side-artist-surface-give-world-insight-vision-form-

communication-martin-landsky/

https://monoskop.org/images/e/e0/Pierre_Bourdieu_Distinction_A_Social_Critique_of_the_Judgement_of_Taste_1984.pdf
 Webster, Jack (2019) Taste in the digital age: Music streaming services and the performance of class distinction. School of Economic

Social and Political Science, Doctoral Thesis.

https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/7467/volumes/v20/NA-20/