This is how complex individual musical taste is
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) have empirically proven that personal musical taste is not adequately described by genres.
The researchers surveyed a representative sample of more than 2,000 people in Germany about their musical tastes. In their analysis, they focused on fans of five genres of Western music - European classical music, electronic dance music (EDM), metal, pop and rock - and for the first time systematically included sub-genres in a study.
Senior author Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, Director at the MPIEA, developed a special questionnaire to take nuances into account. In this questionnaire, respondents were also asked to indicate how much they liked the sub-styles associated with the genres studied. By systematically recording likes and dislikes at genre and sub-genre level, the team ultimately obtained a more differentiated picture of individual musical tastes.
The evaluations revealed that very different subgroups can be found within fan groups, which differ according to their preferences for certain subgenres. A total of five subgroups emerged: According to Fuhrmann, three subgroups can be identified across all fan groups that like all sub-styles of a genre to roughly the same extent - either all very much, on average or rather less. However, two further subgroups differentiate: they either prefer subgenres that can be described as "harder" or more sophisticated, or the "softer" subgenres that can be classified as mainstream.
Original publication:
Siebrasse, A., & Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2023). You Don't Know a Person('s Taste) When You Only Know Which Genre They Like: Taste Differences Within Five Popular Music Genres Based on Sub-Genres and Sub-Styles. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1062146. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1062146
