Excerpt from The Guardian. A study from the University of Cambridge involving 350,000 participants, from 50 countries, across six continents, posits that people with similar traits across the globe are drawn to similar music genres. So, “extroverts” love Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake. The “open” thrill to Daft Punk, Radiohead and Jimi Hendrix. The “agreeable” are into Marvin Gaye, U2 and Taylor Swift. The “neurotic” enjoy, presumably as much they can, the work of David Bowie, Nirvana, and the Killers. And so on.
While the study doesn’t claim to be definitive, how strange to be allotted only one personality trait/genre each. It sounds like Colour Me Beautiful for music. “What sound best goes with my personality? Did you bring along swatches?” Certainly, back when I worked for the New Musical Express, journalists, musicians and readers alike resisted being wrangled into such rigid categories.
Some people don’t even like music. They don’t yearn for a soundtrack to their life. They just want neutral background noise that used to be termed “coffee table music”. For the rest of us, it continues to be an era of engorged culture and musical plenty.
Over the years, popular music has become akin to a vast junk food menu: tasty but confusing. What do you want to listen to? Pop. Rock. Disco. Hip-hop. Punk. Grime. Goth. House. Reggae. Soul. Indie. Folk. Gospel. Dub. Heavy Metal. Psychedelia. Jazz, Prog… The list sprawls on even before you get into myriad fusions of genres. With streaming, Spotify, the rise of the superstar DJ, et al, we have completely and irrevocably changed the way we consume and interact with music. Volume. Distribution. Payment (or otherwise). There’s a thought: perhaps there should be a global “cheapskate” personality-category for those who don’t pay for music?
Music taste, like the humans who possess it, seems built from a dizzying array of variables. What is your age, sex, background? Growing up, what was the dominant culture, and did you subscribe to it? Were/are you rebellious? Political? Apolitical? Withdrawn? Hedonistic? A loner? Do you feel more “yourself” in the real world, or online? When you select a song, are you happy, miserable, in love, heartbroken, angry? Or none of the above – just trying to chill while you make dinner, thanks. That’s pertinent, actually: where you are when you listen to music, what you’re doing. Working out. Driving. Strolling. Reading. Work. Leisure. In a pub or at a club. Lying in a darkened room, with AirPods in.
