Music is a fundamental element that reflects the culture of a society. It has a significant impact on social behaviours, consumption patterns, and societal and historical habits. With this intrinsic structure, music creates both producers and consumers. The sociocultural development of individuals and groups in society, their economic status, class, religion, and moral attitudes are determinants of their music consumption. The importance of music within social structures emerged as a phenomenon long before the science of modern sociology was established, even in ancient times. Notably, figures like Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, and Ibn Khaldun offered various views on the importance of music. Modern sociology also places great emphasis on the subject of music, particularly those by Max Weber and Georg Simmel. 

However, the most well-known name in the field is Adorno. Being both a musician and a sociologist, he made significant contributions to the sociology of music. According to Adorno, there are light and serious types of music in the contemporary art world. Light music is a type of music that calculates market expectations, is shaped by the Culture Industry, and is designed for consumption, ignoring social inequalities. Serious music, on the other hand, is aware of societal issues, allows for dialectical development in resolving these issues, and historically highlights artificially produced dissonance and social inequalities. Examining and analysing the economic infrastructure of music and the intersection points between social structures and music is one of the primary tasks of the sociology of music.

The era in which the example film is set, the late 1980s to early 1990s in Turkey, is known as the era of “polished images,” in which false images are created. During this period, false images are poured from above, intertwining with reality. Everything is given an image, and all these images are offered for consumption. The values, stars, and images created during this new era of Turgut Özal and his party, ANAP, are produced in integrated facilities. During this time, media outlets, particularly television, play the most critical role in maintaining the organized structure of interests between the state and capital.

The purpose of this study is to examine how Adorno’s concept of light music finds its place in society through cinema, particularly mainstream commercial cinema. The aim is to show what the use of music in films corresponds to in social life. In this regard, the selected example film, Prestij Meselesi (2023), will be analysed. This study employs a mixed methodology using critical discourse analysis and sociological analysis approaches. The critical discourse analysis approach developed by Wodak and Fairclough will be used. The sociological analysis approach allows for evaluating films within the framework of social sciences and sociology criteria. In this approach, films are examined as cultural and artistic products of society.

When analysing the chosen example film, Prestij Meselesi, it is found that the type of music addressed in the film is kitsch music. In the film, music is not an art form but a tool used by aspiring singers from low-income social classes to become famous. The arabesque music genre in the film symbolises the individual liberation of many singers aiming for fame. When looking at the photos of famous names on the wall in the film, it is seen that they are singers performing arabesque/fantasy or pop songs. It is possible to suggest that in the context of the film’s discourse, the ideal music genre is this type of music.

The critical sociology of music provides significant data in analysing the Prestij Meselesi film. The music industry is crucial for ensuring and reproducing the continuity of the consumption-oriented societal structure under capitalist market conditions. As Adorno stated, the advanced capitalist societal structure, which is based on inequalities, requires certain tools to maintain its continuity. The existing society’s continuation is ensured through the Culture Industry. The music industry is also a significant branch of the Culture Industry. The music industry is an important actor within the Culture Industry in the film Prestij Meselesi. The arabesque/fantasy music, which is the subject of the film and the sample of this study, is a classified part of the identities of some segments of society.

There are many phenomena in mainstream films like Prestij Meselesi that are suitable for analysis through various theories. In this research, the music in the sample film and the ways in which these music pieces are presented are examined within the context of Adorno’s critical music sociology. However, it is also possible to conduct feminist, psychoanalytic, historical, and semiotic analyses of the Prestij Meselesi film. More critical studies in mainstream cinema will contribute to the academic literature on cinema from different perspectives.