It seems self-evident that music plays more than just an aesthetic role in contemporary society. Its social, political, emancipatory, and economical functions have been the subject of much research. Given this, it is surprising that discussions of ethics have often been neglected in relation to music. The ways in which music engages with ethics are more relevant than ever, and require sustained attention.
The book Music and Ethics (Ashgate 2012, co-author Dr. Nanette Nielsen), being the result of my research on the relation between music and ethics, begins from the idea that music is not only a vehicle to transport ethical ideas, ideas that can also be articulated verbally or discursively; rather, the book demonstrates that music ‘in itself’ can, in a unique and purely musical way, contribute to theoretical discussions about ethics as well as concrete moral behaviour.
Music can teach us to listen carefully and without prejudice. It can also teach us to cooperate and interact with others outside preconceived goals and benefits. It can offer insights into expressions of selfhood, as a key player in the construction of subjectivity. However, on the other hand, music also plays an important role in the disciplining and controlling of human beings. In that sense, music has ‘unethical’ sides as well.
Music and Ethics does not offer a general musico-ethical theory, but explores ethics as a practical concept, and demonstrates through concrete examples that the relation between music and ethics has never been absent.
Thinking Sounds 
this is rather a question than an opinion, but could you connect somehow the possible relation between ethics in songs and how to present it to children at school, without being judge by there parents or society, as I tech ethics. thank you in advance for your answer.
Hi, of course it would be possible to investigate the relation between (music) education and ‘ethics in songs’. However, I’m not completely sure as what you mean by ‘ethics in songs’; if you’re referring to lyrics it is not something I’m primarily interested in. Rather, my idea would be to think about the ‘construction of songs’ in relation to their ethicality. Another issue could be how to teach music to kids, something I partly and shortly dealt with in my dissertation (see elsewhere on my site). Your ideas seem to be coming from Foucault and Deleuze, talking about disciplining and control societies. I touch upon those thinkers in Music and Ethics but not from an education perspective.