A Sociological Analysis of Islamist Music Since 1980s

This article offers an analysis of a type of music which is known as march, ezgi or green pop, and which once left its mark in Turkey since 1980s from the viewpoint of sociology of art. To that effect, we first focus on how to evaluate music from a sociological perspective. Secondly, we examine works of most remarkable musicians of the period in terms of their musical form and lyrics. And finally we present the results of investigation about the current music preferences of those who listened to this kind of music during that period. Our findings reveal that the music preferences of individuals are not independent of social development and change, that there is a meaningful relationship between social stratification and music preferences, and that artistic activities do not occupy an important place within the religious people’s hierarchy of needs. It is also pointed out that Islamist music, which provides us with a productive content to understand the transformation the religious people have experienced since 1980s, only served to express the sentiments of the like-minded people rather than produce something new.