Excellence vs Exclusivity: How Sports and Music Frame Elitism
Alongside other cultural landmarks, both sports and music attract the eyesight of millions of fans and the financial investments of risk-seeking businesspeople. In order to achieve stardom and mastery in their chosen field, elite athletes and musicians alike need to dedicate countless hours to their craft, perfecting their technique and building mental resilience. However, while elitism in sports is often associated with hard work, democracy and social justice, this same concept implies classism, conservatism and exclusion within the music realm. How does this happen and what can music learn from sports?
If there is one field that upholds the idea of meritocracy within our society, it is certainly sports. It is not uncommon to hear stories about athletes with humble beginnings who reached success and glory against all odds. Despite factors such as genetics (Semenova et al., 2023) and economic class (Short, 2019) being strong predictors of participation in high-level sports, the idealistic narrative of blood, sweat and tears breaking down all barriers prevails across different societies. This ironically becomes somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as this core belief leads to investment in sports infrastructure all around, which in fact attenuates the influence of external aspects in determining the chances of success of a particular athlete. Still, the conditioning factors are relevant enough not to be ignored.
On the other hand, elitism in music is almost a synonym for a man in a suit complaining about someone coughing at a classical music concert. The levels of gatekeeping within music social circles are alarming. Not only are there some musical genres which are inherently frowned upon, but also individuals who want to be inserted into more prestigious domains of this art face the scrutiny of well-established personalities. Rigour, tradition and protocol are paramount, and any challenge to these values is seen as blasphemy.
Popular music often conveys the opposite of this concept. Pop artists, rock stars and rappers are rewarded for rebelling against the norms and favouring imagery over precision. Even if they are meticulous in perfecting the art of imperfection, they want to create the illusion of a stroke of inspiration rather than silent hard work. How many of these artists claim to have written a song in 5 minutes without knowing any music theory? Yes, that is a lie, and so is the concept of overnight success. If an artist accomplishes inconceivable feats in a short burst of time, they either have had several years of practice outside the limelight, or their production, marketing and audio engineering teams are of world-class calibre, likely both.
This perception of the culture segments in question is also reflected in their societal relevance. Even though fans, on average, report listening to over 20 hours of music weekly (Fleck, 2024), the music market size is only a fraction of the one for sports (Statista, 2023; Statista Research Department, 2024). The decentralisation and fluidity of the music industry expands the possibilities of career paths for musicians, but also increases their entrepreneurial responsibilities, as well as imposing challenges for marketers and businessmen when promoting their musical products. This does not happen in sports, where leagues and associations give structure and context to each live event. Furthermore, music faces the duality of being characterised both as an exclusive and rigid world, in its erudite facet, and as a spontaneous and unrestricted creative effort, in the popular one. As a result, support for less established musical approaches is usually neglected.
Physical education is highly prioritised in schools. There is lots of infrastructure geared towards sports close to the population, and gym memberships are often subsidised by the government (Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö, n.d.; Shapiro, 2022). Music access should be, a priori, as easy and seamless. However, that is not the case. Buildings do not have the right acoustics and insulation needed to provide for suitable rehearsal spaces, music lessons are restricted to the options offered by the institutions - or the ability to pay for private lessons - and the location of music venues is often centralised. Most investment in music education has monetary purposes, disregarding recreational and well-being effects, which does not happen when it comes to sports.
That is the root of the problem. It isn’t inherently more challenging or expensive to take on an instrument instead of a sport (Mostafavi, 2017); however, there are lots of invisible barriers which actually make it so. There is an array of amateur sports clubs that people can join, but amateur musician groups are harder to find. Gyms are convenient places for beginners to start exercising, while music classes require more proactive effort by the aficionado. The fostering of music simply as a hobby should be the starting point, with a ludic and social element in mind. If the pleasure of singing or playing an instrument could become more prevalent in our routines and third places, all of us could benefit from a more culturally rich society.
Kylteri journalist Pedro Miguel explores the differing perceptions of exclusivity and democracy in sports and music.
Semenova, E.A., Hall, E.C., & Ahmetov, I.I. (2023). Genes and Athletic Performance: The 2023 Update. Genes, 14(6), pp. 1235–1235. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14061235.
Short, M. (2019). Sport inequality: Some sports ‘dominated’ by the privately educated - social mobility report. BBC Sport. Retrieved June 25, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/sport/48745093.
Fleck, A. (2024). Infographic: How the World Listens to Music. Statista Daily Data. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/chart/32880/share-of-hours-spent-engaging-with-music/.
Statista. (2023). Digital Media Report - Digital Music. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/study/39314/digital-music/.
Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö. (n.d.). Promotion of physical activity - OKM - Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland. Retrieved from https://okm.fi/en/promotion-of-physical-activity.
Shapiro, S. (2022). How Do We Make Our Music Economy Richer? Treat Music Like Sports. Forbes. Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shainshapiro/2022/07/13/how-do-we-make-our-music-economy-richer-treat-music-like-sports/ [Accessed October 13, 2024].
Mostafavi, B. (2016). Extracurricular Activities: Cost of Sports & School Activities. Michigan Medicine Health Lab. Retrieved from https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/pay-play-may-keep-some-kids-out-school-activities.
