Music as a major character trait

I am writing a cyberpunk story that features two young teens growing up in different parts of the world. Their lives do have some similarities but one of things I wanted to use to differentiate them was their taste in music. Here's the situation.

Suzie and Misty were both created as cyborg assassins and ended up under the care of different caretakers. Suzie is adopted by an English businessman who runs a black ops mercenary group. Suzie is being tutored to join the team eventually but for the moment attends a posh prep school where she immerses herself in Goth subculture (an outlet for her trauma basically). She falls in love with Gothic rock or Darkwave music (Best example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPnkB_cKKi8) but she's not emo. Her stance is, "The world is a dark place, but that's okay." She's quiet (actually mute), reserved and disciplined.

Obviously this is a minefield and I don't want it blowing up in my face and turning into MY NAME IS ENOBY DARKNESS DEMENTIA WAY AND I'M A GOFFIC! THIS IS MY POTTER-FIC MY IMMORTAL.

By comparison, Misty more of an upbeat character but that's another way of saying she actively enjoys killing people. Imagine if the Joker only killed bad guys but with the same style and personality. That's Misty. She's under the care of a different group and her choice of music is more pop rock with a mix of techno/electronica since this is a cyberpunk tale after all! Her dressing style (when not on missions) and attitude (even on missions, much to the chagrin of everyone else) reflects this. She almost comes off as a free spirit and sees the world as one big playground for her to tear apart. A firecracker in every way.

Since I mentioned Misty was The Joker, I suppose Suzie would essentially be The Batman. Though their morality flip flops.

In conclusion, how should I approach this? What are the pit-falls? How do I prevent it from becoming overbearing? Not to mention, are there any copyright issues I should be concerned about especially when name dropping an music artist?

edited 26th Apr '16 12:40:09 PM by SmokingBun

On the copyright thing, my research suggests that mentioning artist and song title is OK but quoting the lyrics is definitely out without getting permission from the copyright holder - generally the music company that published the music - unless you limit yourself to public domain music i.e. stuff that has been specifically released into the public domain by the artists or really old stuff by long-dead writers/artists (e.g. Steven Foster)

I use music as a character device in my novel. I have a specific way of doing it, but I won't get into that. It avoids copyright issues, though.

Yes: from a legal standpoint, name drop anyone you want, but don't quote lyrics. You can get around that by having them talk about any aspect of the band except the specific words in their lyrics, though, so that's a very permissive rule, when you think about it.

Also, if you credit them, it's safe to assume that only a complete cock of an artist would pursue an indie writer for quoting their lyrics, and even still, you're going to get a cease & desist before any legal action, in which case, just change it.

Record company suits and bots are much more of a threat, so I wouldn't quote The Cure or Depeche Mode or anything, but I'd say any artists who aren't mega-famous are safe, and a lot would be happy for the tribute if they were to hear about it. Again, only as long as you credit them, though.

Edit: How to keep it from becoming overbearing? Uh, don't go Ready Player One and have them gush about it constantly. In fact, better to treat it as a neutral character trait without making it too obvious that (or if) you, the author, like that kind of music.

Also, I would've used something like this or this as examples of the genre, but that's just me being an elitist ass.

edited 3rd Jul '16 7:36:19 PM by Wheezy