A music and health perspective on music's perceived "goodness"

Abstract

In this paper consideration is given to aspects of social and professional music use premised from a ‘‘music as health’’ perspective. This critical exploration is intended to reveal values about music participation and music listening, with consideration of the way music is constructed as a contributor to social gains within music as health application. The frequently encountered expectation that music participation and music listening are innately good and ‘‘helpful’’ is examined. A range of projects are described and examined with reference to the theme of music’s ‘‘commodified goodness’’ or what has elsewhere been termed, the ubiquitous ‘‘goodness of music’’ (Edwards, 2008b).