- Scientists asked 1,595 people from varied backgrounds about music tastes
- They found that higher classes liked rock, reggae, pop, classical and opera
- But the higher classes all hated country, easy listening and golden oldies
- Lower classes preferred heavy metal, rap and disco but hated pop music
By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE—-
With its roots in the impoverished streets of Jamaica, it might not seem like the music of choice for the upper classes, but research has found enjoying reggae is a sign you’re in the social elite.
Researchers have discovered our position on the social pecking order can be betrayed by the music we listen to, as well as the music we hate.
While they found some genres like opera and classical music – which have long been the preserve of the elite – were most enjoyed by the upper classes, they also found rock, reggae and pop were also more their taste.
+4
Reggae music, like that performed by Bob Marley (pictured) may have grown out of the poor streets of Kingston in Jamaica, but it is now firmly seen as a genre enjoyed by the higher classes according to new research from the University of British Columbia
By comparison, those in the lower classes seem to actively dislike most of these ‘highbrow’ forms of entertainment, preferring country, disco, rap, heavy metal, easy listening and golden oldies.Perhaps the only musical genre to cross the social divide was jazz, which was enjoyed by those in all social classes.
MUSICAL TASTE PEAKS AT 33
It is a common misconception among the young that their music tastes will always remain at the forefront of what is cool and popular.
However, new research looking at online music streaming patterns has revealed a cruel reality – all too soon their taste in music will become just as outdated as their parents.
The study has shown that on average most people’s listening habits become firmly entrenched by the age of 33 years old.
After that age few people add new mainstream artists or bands to their regular listening patterns.
The study, conducted by analysts at Spotify and Echo Nest, also showed the youngest listeners – aged between 13 and 14 years-old – almost exclusively play tunes by artists at the top of the charts.
From around the age of 15 years-old, music tastes begin to mature and expand as listeners increase the diversity of the music on their playlists.
Tastes appear to change most quickly through the teenage years until the age of about 25 when this sense of discovery slows and people move away from mainstream artists.
However, becoming a parent also caused people’s music tastes to ‘age’ more quickly than those without.
The study additionally showed that men tend to move away from mainstream artists sooner and to a far greater degree than women – perhaps explaining why dad music is often more embarrassing for their children.
Professor Gerry Veenstra, a sociologist who studies class divides at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, said there were clearly exceptions, but in general music could be divided by social class.
He said: ‘Breadth of taste is not linked to class, but class filters into specific likes and dislikes.
‘What upper class people like is disliked by the lower class, and vice versa.
‘Of the highbrow tastes, all but jazz are disliked by lower class people, and of the lowbrow tastes, country, easy listening, and golden oldies are concurrently disliked by higher class people.’
Professor Veenstra conducted 1,595 telephone interviews with people from a range of backgrounds living in Toronto and Vancouver for the study, which is published in the journal Canadian Review of Sociology.
He asked those taking part about their likes and dislikes of 21 musical genres.
The study found that less-educated people from lowest classes tended to prefer rap, hip hop, disco, country music, gospel and heavy metal.
Golden oldies and easy listening were also preferred by the lower classes but also found fans with some of the middle classes.
Professor Veenstra said the upper classes preferred highbrow genres like the fine art of classical music and opera, but pop, folk, reggae and rock seem to have been elevated into highbrow entertainment in recent years.
Indeed, in some areas like California, for example, reggae has taken on a yuppie-like status among the white middle class and upper classes.
Similar trends can be seen occurring in other places such as London.
Britain’s social elite are also known to enjoy reggae, with the like of Lady Gabriella Windsor, the sister of Lord Freddy Windsor, even performing reggae numbers at charity events.
The hipster movement has also seen folk music and rock move into a more elite sphere.
+4
The researchers conducted 1,595 telephone interviews with people from a range of backgrounds living in Toronto and Vancouver for the study, which is published in the journal Canadian Review of Sociology. Music by rappers like 50 Cent (pictured) tends to be most enjoyed by the lower classes
He asked those taking part about their likes and dislikes of 21 musical genres. Heavy metal fans, like those shown above, tended also to be the poorest members of the lower classes
However, Professor Veenstra said that the music disliked by people could also reveal much about the class they were in.
Those in the higher classes tended to have a dislike of country, easy listening, and golden oldies concurrently.
Rap music tended to be disliked by older members of the middle classes while some of the poorest claimed to dislike pop music.
Those with the least education were eight times more likely to dislike classical music than the more educated ones. Indeed those with university degrees were most likely to say they liked classical music and opera.
Those with the least education were eight times more likely to dislike classical music than the more educated ones. Indeed those with university degrees were most likely to say they liked classical music and opera. Violinist Joshua Bell is pictured performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the National Youth Orchestra
+4
Country music, like that performed by singer Dolly Parton (above) tended to be strongly disliked by those in the higher classes, who also tended to equally dislike easy listening and golden oldies, the study showed
Clearly some of the musical tastes will differ from country to country, but Professor Veenstra said music tastes appeared to also play a role in creating and changing class boundaries.
He said: ‘Highbrow tastes are not necessarily intrinsically sophisticated or common but rather adopt these qualities by virtue of their locations in relationally defined social spaces of capitals within which social classes are potentially made manifest.
‘There is movement in and out of the brow categories over time as well: members of the middle class seek to adopt aspects of upper-class culture, members of the upper class try to ‘outflank’ the middle class by appropriating lowbrow culture, and so forth.’
THE THREE AGES OF POP OVER FIFTY YEARS
Fans of The Beatles credit the band with starting a musical revolution that propelled many British acts to stardom in the US.
But a new study of 50 years of pop music suggests that the Fab Four’s achievements have been overstated, and that there are three main musical ‘revolutions’.
British researchers tracked the evolution of blues, disco, rock and hip hop, to pinpoint different ages of pop music and declared that modern pop songs aren’t all the same and there is no evidence that the chart is becoming more boring.
Scientists at Queen Mary University and Imperial College London, conducted what they say is the first data-driven, scientific view of the evolution of 50 years of popular music on the US Billboard chart.
Some 17,000 songs that made the top 100 in the US between 1960 and 2010 were categorised by the chords and tones used, creating a step by step picture of how popular music has evolved.
They detected three musical revolutions: the rise of rock in 1964, which was when the Beatles exploded onto the US music scene with their hit ‘I want to hold your hand,’ the birth of synths in 1983, which were a staple of the decade’s pop music, and the emergence of hip hop in 1991.
The experts noticed heavy use of dominant 7th chords in blues and jazz music, which peaked in popularity in the 1960s.
You must log in to post a comment.