Abstract:

Music is a necessary medium for understanding the complexities of life. The internet capabilities of giving individuals the ability to express themselves and connect with others has transformed the way people use music in order to develop their sense of identity. Bedroom pop is more than just a music style, rather its significance focusses on providing musicians and audience an opportunity to explore and develop their self-identity. The purpose of this paper is to find out how bedroom pop helps people develop and express their self-identity. The results from this paper conclude bedroom pop inspires musicians and audiences and to create and use  music which helps them overcome personal struggles that hinder their self- identity development.

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Bedroom Pop Music has become a virtual source of inspiration for musicians and audiences to develop and express their self-identity.

The integration of music on the internet has increasingly developed its role in exploring and developing user’ self-identity (Raquel, 2022). Self-identity refers to one’s perception of their most salient and enduring characteristics (Reid et al., 2018), however, self-identity can be difficult to comprehend because it faces the deep underlying question of who we are and what our meaning in life is (Gurba et al., 2022). This identity challenge is influenced through many internal and external factors in life. Music is recognised as a ubiquitous aspect of all human cultures (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2007), with its premise to use music in order to understand and cope with the complexity of life, relating to the challenge of understanding our identity. Therefore, music is a way of understanding our self-identity and becomes a part of how we identity ourselves. Bedroom pop music is a product derived from the convergence of the web and music that formulates many users’ ability to self-identify themselves online. It is based on the idea of musicians and artists making music with what is available in their bedrooms (Steinhardt, n.d.). The ability to make music in one’s bedroom and share it online creates a crucial opportunity for users to exert their identity in ways that would seem difficult to do offline. Therefore, the importance of this opportunity lies in the process and the outcome of participating in bedroom pop music, justifying it as a vital source of inspiration for musicians and audiences to overcome barriers that hinder their expression of self-identity. Online users are increasingly identifying themselves with content and people online rather than traditional offline groups (Kaakinen et al., 2018). Thus, arguing the impact of bedroom pop’s genre-less style helping musicians authentically express themselves through music, which inspires audiences to accept their identity, and further inspires people to participate in bedroom pop music in order to develop their self-identity.

Bedroom pop challenges the conventions of traditional music genres and helps musicians to authentically make music that represents their identity. The common denominator of bedroom pop musicians is their production in making music with the readily available technology found in their rooms (Steinhardt, n.d.), such as phones or laptops. This is the most significant value about bedroom pop because the bedroom is a person’s ‘safe space’ where they can freely be themselves. Self-identity is based on the experience of the reflexive consciousness, where a person can be self-aware of their thoughts and actions (Campbell & Moore, 2021). This emphasises the role of the bedroom in being the ‘safe place’ where people can self-reflect on their identity without the noise of the outside world influencing them. Furthermore, bedroom pop artists do not have to follow the conventions of traditional music genres, rather, they are bound to make music that follows the conventions of their bedroom. This is important for artists because they create music that reverberates their most true and authentic identity.

Clinton Kane creates music that personalises his life experiences of relationship heartbreaks, suggested by one of his song titles, “I wrote a song about my dad who died” (Kane, 2018). Unlike, traditional heartbreak song titles like “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver, bedroom pop musicians’ emphasise their music to directly translates what their song means rather than figuratively. Kane’s direct and upfront song title emphasises the opportunity of being honest and deeply personal about one’s life, which relates to the experience of reflexive consciousness and the ability to reflect deep thoughts and emotions. This reinforces the significance of the bedroom because artists can freely open about their deep feelings, like only telling a friend or family member in the bedroom because no one else can invade their privacy. Bedroom pop is seen to blur the lines of genre conventions because musicians are free to write and sing their truth (Steinhardt, n.d.). Therefore, Clinton Kane’s song directly states the truth of what it feels to lose someone. Stating true and authentic feelings inspires the artists themselves to come to terms with their identity of loss. In Clinton Kane’s song, he describes his father relationship as abandoning and lack of love, therefore, this song is a self-identification of how he wants to remorse and remember his father. Therefore, the bedroom is an inspiration for creating music that authentically expresses musicians, and brings out their deep, personal identity of people who face hardships in expressing how they feel to others.

The prominence of bedroom pop musicians has become an inspiration for audiences to accept their identity. Music identifies as social work that helps people understand their identity (Lawendowski & Besta, 2020). Considering Clinton Kane, his song of loss is considered a common human experience, one that would resonate with others who are experiencing what he is expressing. As a result, many of bedroom pop musicians have become idols for audiences, especially among marginalised communities. Bedroom pop artist, Girl In Red, has become a community idol among the queer community, suggesting her songs to be a cultural code for identifying if someone is “gay” (Aroesti, 2021). Girl In Red describes her music to be an influential force in normalising the identity of being queer and the act of “coming out” as unnecessary (Aroesti, 2021). Similarly, Clinton Kane and Girl In Red create music that tries to overcome the struggle to belong in a society that does not value queer people. Therefore, a strength of bedroom pop is the confidence it gives artists to express their self-identity because she knows it can help others overcome the same social struggle. (Baym, 2018) highlights personal and authentic music helps audiences tell their story. On Girl In Red’s music video, girls, her audience in the comments openly told their story, “I remember when this song came out I was so deep into the closet thinking I would never accept myself,” thus, emphasising the power of artists who authentically express their self-identity (Matysiak, 2023). As artists let audiences discover their struggle of being queer, audiences can resonate and use their music as a coping method to overcome social struggles. This is further stated when the audience stated, “4 years later I am a proud and out lesbian!! you wont be in the closet forever, there will be a time of finally being yourself, it’s worth the wait<3” (Matysiak, 2023).

The prevalence of the web and bedroom pop has created moments such as these where artists and audiences do not have to feel alone. Bedroom pop gives people the opportunity to seek and find a medium which can inspire them to reach out and openly discuss their self-identity. Due to the nature of the web, once one artist openly expresses their self-identity, others become inspired to do the same, which was noted in the comment’s expression to comfort other audience members that the process of “coming out” will get better. Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham (2007) discuss how music can help people consolidate self-identity by surrounding themselves within an inclusive environment that can be used as a support system. Considering people are more strongly identifying themselves with others online, bedroom pop facilitates a sense of hope for people to navigate and develop their own identity because others are setting an example. The self is seen as an interpersonal being (Campbell & Moore, 2021), therefore, surrounding yourself with people and music that resonates how one expresses themselves, it builds and nourishes their self-identity. As a result, bedroom pop music allows artists and audiences to be a part of a network of people who have similar life experiences and social struggles which hinder their self-identity.

Bedroom pop has inspired and cultivated audiences to create their own music to overcome their own personal challenges. More often, people have hopes and dreams in becoming superstar artists but face the reality of not achieving this because they are not them. Popular music competitions like the Australian Idol or the X-Factor pressure their contestants to become the best singer and individual talent, which often results in the contestants sounding like any other singer who can belt or reach high notes. This sense of idolisation and the pressure to choose stardom in the entertainment industry has impacted people’s self-identity because becoming the best singer does not consider individuality. Bedroom pop juxtaposes this idea because artists are not trying to reach stardom, rather they are trying to be themselves (Roos, 2020). With the wide availability of the internet and increased accessibility to music software, anyone can make music (Roos, 2020). With this opportunity bedroom pop artists don’t have to focus on being the best singer or musician, the value of creating bedroom pop is creating music that is authentic to the self. As a result, it is more favourable and even encouraged to become a musician because of bedroom pop.

During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when populations of people were forced into lockdown protocols and there was a strong sense of the world falling apart, I was forced to reflect and evaluate who I was and what my role was in the world was. Music became a source of inspiration that could help me cope and rehabilitate the suffering myself and the community was feeling (Lozano et al., 2023). During this time, I began to learn piano and better enhanced my guitar skills. After a few days playing music in my bedroom, I created a song called “Running in My Dreams” that expressed the hardships of staying in door with the only way to feel a sense of freedom was through you dreams. The self involves a level of executive function (Campbell & Moore, 2021) and the ability to make self-choices that tries to cope with the environment one is experiencing. The opportunity to play music help me overcome feelings of anxiety about being locked up, which would develop my self-identity because I realised my musical talent could be used to express your authentic self rather than playing other people’s music. I uploaded a recording of myself singing my song on Instagram, in which I received personal messages from friends and family who expressed they felt the same feelings of being trapped. Without the accessibility of the web and social media platforms, my song would not have been able to reach others and inspire them feel a sense of recognition during hard times. Lozano et al. (2023) emphasise the importance of music as life giving, which relates to my understanding of my self-identity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Creating music in my bedroom rejuvenated me to use it as a tool to express the feelings deep inside me which could not be expressed physically. As a result, bedroom pop music paves a way for non-superstar artists to be a part of a music movement that inspires people to overcome personal challenges and express their self-identity.

Bedroom pop music is not only considered a style of music, rather, it is an opportunity for artists and audiences to explore and confidently express self-identity. The process of expressing one’s self-identity is difficult due to the external and internal pressures which influence how people perceive themselves. Therefore, bedroom pop music becomes a source for people to use to help overcome these pressures. As a result, bedroom pop breaks down the conventional music genre which allows its artists to create music that authentically expresses their identity. Without this pressure to conform to expectations, the bedroom becomes the limitations of how much artists can be themselves. With more artists making music in their bedrooms, their authentic and personalised music translates into beams of hope for audiences who are experiencing the same personal issues as the artist. As a result, this allows audiences to accept their self-identity because of the inspirational reception and messages from artists. Due to this cultivation of artists and audiences achieving a sense of expressing their self-identity, bedroom pop music can be utilised by more people as a source of overcoming personal challenges. Therefore, anyone with a laptop or access to the internet can create bedroom pop music, which has inspired myself to adopt this method to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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