It is difficult to show the effects of music on the individual, but it is easy to see how the individual chooses genres of music based on mood. The soldiers in Iraq, for instance, listened to a song by the band Drowning Pool titled, "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor," over the speakers in their tanks. After listening to the song it would be easy to see that they didn 't just choose the song because they thought it pertained to their current situation. The song is loud, fast, and hard. The song fueled the soldiers. I don 't think that it made them into bloodthirsty savages, but I do think that it pumped them up with adrenaline. Walk into any random Gold 's Gym and I 'm sure you will not hear classical or new age music, but instead some sort of rock.
Cited: 1. http://www.csuchico.edu/mus/ethos/concept.html 2. http://www.charis.wlc.edu/publications/symposium_spring03/gurgel.pdf 3. http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/268.php 4. http://www.archaeonia.com/arts/music/main.htm