song routine

The use of song to perform a task. For instance prison gangs use song routines to organize and manage labor, military training uses song routines to monitor and organize new recruits, and street buskers offer song routines in order to earn money. Typically there is an unincorporated or noncommercial implication to the meaning of a song routine, unlike say sound tracks in commercial stores or the use of songs in commercial movies. While these songs perform a utilitarian function, the songs themselves comprise commercial objects. The specific performance of the song can be bought or licensed for play. That is, an establishment pays to play “Take My Breath Away” as performed and recorded by the band Berlin. In contrast, in song routines, the singers spontaneously perform a song in relation to a specific organizational task or personal task that requires song. The specific tune or even performance are related more to the routine and task than to the specific qualities of the song.