Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Janis Joplin's Audience Anylasis



Joplin’s following primarily consisted of hippies, many of whom were fans of folk and blues rock, a genre that stemmed from psychedelic rock. Many of the people who were into this music were very open minded and often tried to tap into the mind melting psychedelic effect that drugs could cause. These liberal thinkers were open to social issues and listened to many artists, such as Joplin, that would incorporate these issues into their music. The audience for “One Night Stand” was most likely already fans of Joplin and therefore probably were free thinkers who supported feminism and sexual freedom. If this song was performed at a festival, the attendants would have already supported progressive music and therefore were probably also supporters of ideals that Joplin’s song represented.
The demographic for many of Joplin’s fans were in there early to late 20s and would have loved to attend many festivals. One main festival that Joplin preformed in was the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. This festival took place in Monterey California where the performers played for free in order to donate the profits to charity. This further shows how the audience of artists like Joplin were ready to support social causes. When Joplin sang “One Night Stand” she would have been reaching out to her already supportive fans and reminding them that their desire for noncommittal sex was rational and progressive. 

2 comments:

  1. I find it interesting how you elaborated on Joplin's crowd through this post. You did a great job of describing them in terms of their attitudes and what they brought to Joplin concerts and events. Joplin's crowd was definitely "different" compared to some, but they helped in the sexual revolution by listening to and support Joplin's music.

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