Neoliberal Music in Neoliberal Times. Success Narratives in Mainstream Lyrics and their Internalization among Adolescents

The goal of this Ph.D. is to tackle several of the lacunas present in music research among adolescents, building an integrated perspective between cultural sociology and communication science. In particular, the project first explores how access to music might be governed by social and digital inequalities. Next, the project seeks to better understand whether and to what extent music depicts status in meritocratic terms. Finally, it theorizes three routes through which music might influence the formation of meritocratic beliefs, looking at the importance of transportation in the processing of music messages (route 1), at the role of friendships as important sources of music preferences and beliefs (route 2), and at the identification with music artists (route 3).