Music has became my life. Life is all music for me, and in my journey I have learned a lot about life through music, and I have a theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? They run a parallel to music and genre. Does this make sense? Music, all of music has a theme, usually the theme is a basic need. Love,want, survival, fame, popularity, security, these are a few examples of basic needs. Music in general has these needs as themes, do you see the correlation?

Certain singers/bands sing about certain things. One Direction sings about love and having fun. Justin Bieber sings about love and money. Bands like Black Veil Brides have musical themes such as structure, battling, survival, and support. Music for musicians are usually singing about their experiences, the music makes the person. According to Urban Dictionary these are the genre of music associated with each of the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Self Accualization/Rap: Money
Esteem/Pop; Reputation: Success
Belonging; Love:Family: Affection
Safety/Alternative; Protection from Fear: Security
Physiological/Hardcore;Breathing: Struggling:Support

Notice belonging has no genre of music. I believe that’s because that stage in the pyramid is evident in all genres of music. These are not the only genre’s associated with the stage, these are just one general genre for each.

I believe that the bands that people listen to can tell you a little bit about what stage of the hierarchy they are in. The music that they listen to can tell you what they’re going through or what they want.

Music is life to many people, especially teenagers. Does it surprise you that people have found a correlation between music and Maslows Hierarchy?