Musical Practices and the Formation of Value Orientations of Youth in the Media Environment

Abstract

The article examines the problem of the formation of value orientations of Russian youth under the influence of musical practices mediated by digital media platforms. The relevance of the study is due to the deep integration of music into the everyday communicative environment and the space of identity formation of generation Z, for whom algorithmically curated streaming and social networks have become the main channels of cultural content consumption. The research problem lies in studying the dialectics of the influence of digital music: its ability to serve simultaneously as a mechanism of cultural hegemony and a channel for counter-hegemonic statements, an instrument of integration and a field for differentiation. The theoretical framework is built at the intersection of sociology of youth, media studies and social philosophy, which allows us to consider music as a significant social factor involved in the processes of socialization and construction of collective identity. Data from modern sociological studies, recording the value profile of Russian youth and their transition to an autonomous media reality, are used as an empirical context. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of music memes as a key format of collective meaning-making in the digital age. In conclusion, the necessity of applying a comprehensive methodology combining discourse analysis, digital methods and qualitative interviews for empirical study of the relationship between music consumption and value transformations is substantiated.