Music as an Expression of the Lifestyle in the UK in 1960s. Contribution to the European Consumer Society after 1945

This thesis focuses on the British music scene in the 1960s. Popular music was one of the main manifestations of consumerism and influenced the behavior of most young people. The aim of the thesis is to explain the extent in which popular music played a role in the establishment of a consumer society and, above all, the impact caused by interpreters and music groups on the lifestyle of their listeners and audiences.The thesis also examines how the British music developed in the Sixties and how it was characterized.The thesis is based on the assumption that the 1960s' is a key decade in the postwar history of modern society, a time when fundamental changes occurred in the value systems of most Western societies, notably the British. New generations of young people associated with economic prosperity surfaced at that time, fostering the development of the phenomenon of consumer society, thus changing people's lifestyles.The first part of the thesis is dedicated to economic and social assumptions of the development of the consumer society. The second part of the thesis addresses the social structure of the British society, focusing on the youth - arguably, the social extract that was most appealed by popular music. The core part of the thesis analyses the British music scene in the 1960s, with focus on the music groups and also the music industry and its impal on the lifestyle of youth.