My childhood
I chose this song because when I was in primary school, Avril Lavigne was my idol, and this was my favourite of her songs. Her punky brand/identity is evident in this video through her clothing and antics, and her identity influenced my fashion choices as I used to wear combat trousers and t-shirts. Avril Lavigne's album 'Let Go', featuring this song, was the first album I bought. I didn't have an iPod at the time, so I mostly listened to the CD on my radio in my room or in the car. Although she wasn't incredibly popular among my friends, everyone knew of this song, and so sometimes we would listen to it together at parties.
Early Teens
Ed Sheeran's 'The A Team' still remains one of my favourite songs, but I first discovered it when I was 14. Although I started writing songs at a young age, it was after listening to this song and discovering Ed Sheeran as an artist that my song-writing skills seemed to improve, as his lyrics, interesting rhyming and sensitive song topics inspired me. I purchased his album and put it on my iPod, and I often listen to it when I'm travelling or doing homework.
Today
I discovered Kodaline earlier this year, and although 'Love Like This' isn't the first song I heard by them, it is definitely one of my favourites today as it is so uplifting and always puts me in a good mood. My closest friends are also fans of the band as one of us liked them first, and told the rest - this means that we often listen and dance to the song together when at each other's houses. I saw them perform live this year, and a couple of friends and I are also seeing them live in November. I have the song on my iPod and listen to it regularly, and I listened to it a lot over the summer holidays because it has a real summery feel.
During this lesson, we discussed audience consumption and how much control we have over what we consume and how we consume it. We realised that we do not actually have much creative control, and we consume music like the labels expect us to consume it. This activity, however, allowed us to have control over what we are consuming; we had to create an artist from scratch, including the name, identity, ideology and type of music that the artist produces. Our artist was Willow - a 20 year old girl who produces music with "strong beats", but studies zoology at Sydney University in Australia when she is not touring around the world or campaigning for up-and-coming, young artists.
