Music Taste Is Something "Learned" From Others

As a child, I remember it all too well. The year was 1999. I remember seeing videos of people standing around an airplane, and then all of a sudden, these people were in a haunted house and turned into hideous dancing monsters. I remember that there were five people in this group.  This group had five distinct voices that sang the most beautiful harmonies. They had songs about fire, love, and heartbreak. I remember seeing pictures of these people all over my sisters’ rooms: on the door, on the wall, and even the ceiling. I remember my sisters asked me which one of these people were the cutest; they also asked me which song I liked the most. Lastly, I remember that they were my favorite music band because of my sisters liked them. This band was known as the Backstreet Boys. 

Now that my little anecdote is over, let’s talk discuss. When I was in elementary school, my favorite pop music band was the Backstreet Boys. Since I was just a kid, I didn’t know much about popular culture and the world around me. I just knew about the things that my sisters liked. They were obsessed with the Backstreet Boys, much like my obsession with Taylor Swift. They always had me listening to their music and watching their music videos. Since I grew up with my sisters my whole life, their interests inspired many of mine that I have today. The point of this story is to suggest that music taste is influenced by your peers and others around you. 

Sociologist Matthew Salganik and his colleagues decided to do a study where a group people would have to listen to a song and decide if they liked and would download it. Salganik also had another group where they could see only how many times the songs were downloaded. With this group, they could determine if the people downloaded a song without listening to it just because its popularity. Both groups determined the good and bad songs, but the researchers found that the highest rating songs would be the ones that received the most downloads. This study shows a fantastic example that people’s influences can impact your own. The study is also, however, not always true. 

Some people may claim that their music taste is completely original and not influenced by anyone else’s opinions (example: hipsters). I understand that people have the choice to like something that might be different from everybody else. Just because a song is very popular and has good ratings and thousands of downloads doesn’t mean that you have to like it. You may hate the song because you think it sucks. Whatever style you have, whether popular or unpopular, is great because it’s describes your personality and who you are. It makes you, you!

So going back to my Backstreet Boys story, I couldn’t image how different my life would be if I wasn’t exposed to pop music at a young age. If I didn’t have my sisters around, I’m sure I would’ve developed music taste on my own or from peers at school. Imagine if I turned into a rap lover or a screamo death metal lover instead of a Swiftie. I’m not saying that these genres are bad, but things could’ve been different if I had other influences at a young age.