What does it take for music to be cultural?

After reading the section in Storey's chapter on "Culturalism" about "Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel: The Popular Arts" it got me thinking about music. In this particular section, Storey talks about how Hall and Whannel say that "pop music exhibits 'emotional realism'; young men and women 'identify with these collective representations and...use them as guiding fictions. Such symbolic fictions are the folklore by means of whic hthe teenager, in part, shapes and composes his mental picture of the world' (218)" (Storey 42). Storey then goes on to explain the Hall and Whannel find pop music less cultural than say, jazz music. Their claim is that "teenagers should be persuaded that their taste is deplorable and that by listening to jazz instead of pop music they might break out of imposed and self-imposed limitations, widen their sensibilities, broaden their emotional range, and perhaps even increase their pleasure" (Storey 43).

With all this in mind, I started to wonder what it takes for music to become a part of our culture. Would you argue that because a particular song is played on the radio it shouldn't be considered part of our culture? I mean, ultimately, what I'm sure it comes down to as it always does is the definition used when defining what culture is. However, what I want to ask is what do you think it takes for music to be defined as cultural? Does it have to have that rich "cultured" sound that we often associate with things such as operas, ballets, orchestras etc? Does it become excluded from the cultural scene when it's played on the radio? What about rap, indie, underground or music in other languages? There are plenty of people who believe that music is a large part of what they believe their culture to be.

Still trying to figure out the definition of what culture is, it is difficult for even myself to decipher what it means for music to be cultural. I find myself thinking particularly about rap music for some reason. Perhaps that is because it essentially started out as a way for a person to express themselves in a unique way but easily shifted into something that is largely stereotyped in a negative manner. Which brings me back around to the topic of discussion: requirements for music to be cultural- should there be any?