A Historical OverView of Philanthropy
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The predominant forms of populär music in the decade of the 1980s,
spearheaded by light-hearted lyrics and pompous Synthesizers posed little political
threat overall. Given the political economy of rock music, the main audience of rock
music shifted ffom the socially conscious baby-boomers to early Generation Xers
that grew up in a historical span of relative geopolitical peace in the westem world
(Stephey par. 5). This might have resulted in the lack of their political activism
during the 1980s unlike the baby-boomers who had gone through social and political
upheavals in the 1960s and 1970s.
As far as the music industry is concemed, the highly political punk rock
subculture that expressed youthful rebellion and characterized anti-authoritarian
ideologies in the late 1970s finally died out (Sabin 5). Still, there were still some
signs of the social and political engagement by rock musicians in the 1980s.
Haycock and Anderson contended that in an increasingly globalized and
interconnected world, many international mass media events construct and manage
"the flow of images and messages that shape the perceptions and consciousness of
consumers" (1).
In other words, the 1980s was a crucial decade that demonstrated a shift in
media landscape with the concept of global village becoming more prevalent than
ever. Besides MTV, such alternative multicultural media have become both
“fashionable and more visible in the 1980s” (Ginsburg 92). From an international
perspective, the concept of global village was most dramatically realized with a
series of socially conscious international concerts and all-star performances, which
Garofalo dubbed “charity rock” (Garofalo “Rockin’ the Boat” 275).
Dettmar said that in the 1980s the rock benefit events became “its own selfpromulgating industry that has continued to this day” (204). He noted that the
outpouring of creativity during this era meant that it was only a matter of time before
musicians and audience members began to ask whether that energy could be put into
good use. The apparent influence of the media and shaping of the public changed in
the 1980s with the extensive coverage of tragedies and crises across the world. The
Information flow between the Third World and the West and the mediating character
of news values and priorities have changed the way we perceive the world and
helped us share the pain and sorrow from the other side of the world.
The three events organized by these two distinctive humanitarians—USA
for Affica’s “We are the World” (1985), Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s
Christmas” (1984), and the mega event known as Live Aid (1985)—have provided
us of important examples of what it means when we talk about the power of the
media. The global popularity of Michael Jackson, responsible for the worldwide
success of “We are the World,” transcended traditionally distinctive boundaries like
age, gender, nationality, race, and even culture. The two charity singles ultimately
led to another global and cultural extravaganza, Live Aid, on July 13, 1985, a crossContinental benefit music concert for Ethiopia. Ullestad stated that Live Aid is
generally regarded by many music fans as the first and foremost global music media
event of the highest order. He said that in Live Aid “the music and the musicians
were rather secondary to the event itself ’ and that it was a unique opportunity that