Does music taste say anything about personality?

[marie_05]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right section, so feel free to move this thread if that's necessary.

Basically, I had a job interview today and they asked me what kind of music I like "because that usually says a lot about who people really are". So I tried to explain my preferences a bit and their reaction was: "Oh, I kind of saw that coming". But then again, I know quite a few people whose favourite artists and genres I never would have guessed (based on personality/lifestyle/appearance), so I guess you can't always predict these things.
For me this was definitely food for thought, so I thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.

What do others think of this? Does personality define people's taste in music, or perhaps it's the other way around? Discuss!

[Mvnl]

Well, it being asked in a job interview (that isn't for a record store) sure is new for me.
I must say I have been guilty of 'judging' people by their musical taste, but that's usually more in a really broad sense, like people who watch Jersey Shore, like 'top 40' and 'don't read, because it's boring' tend to be a different kind of people from those who like more alternative bands, arthouse movies, and other more cultural things.. (okay, a whole lot of generalizations there, just my awkward way of describing how music cán seem part of a person's 'identity') In the most extreme case these things are just as easy to tell by a person's clothes, hairstyle etcetera, but with the more casual in between people it might be a bit harder to guess whether they're openminded, conservative or not, etcetera etcetera, and I suppose random questions can give you just a slight bit more insight into what kind of person you're looking at.

Though it might also just be the psychology of 'asking an unexpected question to see the réál person instead of the well rehearsed one'.

[invertedbutterfly]

If there is a link between music taste and personality, I think my taste must be a case of me being contrary (again). Certainly, my appearence doesn't seem to betray my music taste (people always seem to think I'm either the singer in a rock band, or that I'm a hardcore metaller), and I'm guessing personality wise I'd be more typically listening to shoegazey indie nonsense (certainly that's in line with friends of mine whose personalities I'd say are similar to mine), or possibly minimal techno or something.

Even if someone's tastes were broadly in line with one's initial expectations, I'm not certain it would be particularly revealing about anything - certainly not anything particularly profound. Although I think you could start to ask follow-on questions that might be a bit more interesting - I think asking *why* someone likes a certain type of music could lead to more of an insight. That is, if the person being questioned wanted to play ball and reveal anything about their interior workings...

[bay4r]

Yes. Yes it does. Judging "those" people isn't a bad thing as long as you don't do it loudly in a harsh way. Everybody demands respect and no one likes to get mistreated. Pop music fans tend to have a reputation of having the worst taste in music ever, because of how basic and structured pop really is. Add manufactured, importance of sales and hits to it and it becomes a serious judgement. It's the best to not limit yourself to only one genre and explore more unusual (good) artists and (good) bands to get more respect, because it does have its differences to have a much wider taste in music. We all love music so why not search for more? If a person during a conversation says that he/she likes The Beatles, David Bowie or Radiohead, they are already considered good music listeners over any typical pop listener that likes some girl group (all of them) or a talent show winner (all of them). Especially when those pop fans are 20 years or older. And quite frankly, it's a fact. It all depends on charts, sales, and the people you hang out with. The majority of society is influencing you with a generic taste so you naturally think it's good. And don't come up with bullshit like: "I don't really like that type of music therefore it sucks" after listening to an unusual song for 30 seconds on youtube No. You just don't like it, because you're not used to it and think that popular music is the only good thing out there. Most of you guys listen to pop music with a horrible judging mind. If a certain artist does a bad thing or isn't loved by the majority of the people anymore, it's a flop and is considered trash the next day. Less thinking and more listening please.

I agree with the psychology question approach. Catching people off guard is a fun thing to do especially on a professional occasion like a job interview. I would've loved a question like that. If only...

[Eric Generic]

If I were judged on my music tastes, they'd think I was schizophrenic. With some people, it might be easier to guess the link between their outward appearance/persona and the music they like, but hopefully not everyone is that straightforward. And what we admit to liking to others, or want to project as our tastes in public, can be different to what we actually like when we're on our own and/or with headphones on.

I agree with a lot of invertedbutterfly's comments, especially about follow-on questions and further discussion on why someone likes certain music.

[invertedbutterfly]

I'm really not sure what you're saying bay4r (although the fact that as I'm writing this Tom Jones is slaughtering Leonard Cohen's Tower of Song on TV isn't helping my reading comprehension). I'm not sure that judging someone on their music taste is necessarily anything to do with whether it reflects their personality or not (and frankly being judgemental in that way says more about the person judging than the one being judged). Unless your point is just that pop music fans are generally not open-minded... And I don't think you can draw parallels between open-mindedness in breadth of music and open-mindedness in other respects, so I don't think that says anything about an individual's personality.

I like Radiohead and I love David Bowie, but frankly I think my love for Girls Aloud is something I'd prefer to be judged on (partly, it must be said, because I don't want rockist snobby idiots to tolerate me because my tastes lean toward the credible). I'm not sure any says much about my personality though. Well, unless it would just be that I'm schizophrenic, like Eric.

[Mvnl]

Yes. Yes it does. Judging "those" people isn't a bad thing as long as you don't do it loudly in a harsh way. Everybody demands respect and no one likes to get mistreated. Pop music fans tend to have a reputation of having the worst taste in music ever, because of how basic and structured pop really is. Add manufactured, importance of sales and hits to it and it becomes a serious judgement. It's the best to not limit yourself to only one genre and explore more unusual (good) artists and (good) bands to get more respect, because it does have its differences to have a much wider taste in music. We all love music so why not search for more? If a person during a conversation says that he/she likes The Beatles, David Bowie or Radiohead, they are already considered good music listeners over any typical pop listener that likes some girl group (all of them) or a talent show winner (all of them). Especially when those pop fans are 20 years or older. And quite frankly, it's a fact. It all depends on charts, sales, and the people you hang out with. The majority of society is influencing you with a generic taste so you naturally think it's good. And don't come up with bullshit like: "I don't really like that type of music therefore it sucks" after listening to an unusual song for 30 seconds on youtube No. You just don't like it, because you're not used to it and think that popular music is the only good thing out there. Most of you guys listen to pop music with a horrible judging mind. If a certain artist does a bad thing or isn't loved by the majority of the people anymore, it's a flop and is considered trash the next day. Less thinking and more listening please.

I've read this 2 times and can't figure out whether it's your opinion or you're just stating the way people's judgements work.. but personally I'd say it's really rather silly that a pop fan immediately gets more credible because they happen to like the (still very pop) Beatles or Bowie.
It also feels like a very mainstream idea of 'listening out of the box'. If someone would say "I don't just listen to pop, I also like David Bowie" I'd probably take them less serious then if they didn't.

[Nate]

The idea you can judge someone on their taste of music is slightly barbaric to me. HMV are the worst for it, I find myself flirting with a guy in there maybe once or twice a month, and he always gets surprised because he saw me holding a Robyn cd, decided I was obviously into pop music, but then was shocked when he saw me holding The Black Keys, Kanye West or Nero because he just pigeon holed me. My friends are those people that usually listen to whatever's in the charts but when you sit and they open up to you about what they like, you learn your friends are deeper than you thought. I have one friend who's massive on 90's R&B and rap, and other who loves K-Pop and reggae, but on the face you just think "Probably has 'Price Tag' as their ringtone".

[bay4r]

I've read this 2 times and can't figure out whether it's your opinion or you're just stating the way people's judgements work.. but personally I'd say it's really rather silly that a pop fan immediately gets more credible because they happen to like the (still very pop) Beatles or Bowie.
It also feels like a very mainstream idea of 'listening out of the box'. If someone would say "I don't just listen to pop, I also like David Bowie" I'd probably take them less serious then if they didn't.

It doesn't matter if it's my opinion or not. Just putting it out there to not limit yourself to one certain genre like made-for-the-charts generic pop music (excluding Beatles and Bowie which are pop in a VERY different way). I'm sick of these people that think they listen to the best music in the world when they listen to another boy band or a trashy UK/Euro act that's going to be forgotten after like 2 years max. The worst part is that they are sometimes older than 20 years. Do they ever grow up? Have you ever seen a pop album made for the charts on a serious Top 100 Albums list? No. And of course out-of-the-box listeners get more credit for liking other music than just pop. I'd rather talk to someone with a knowledge and listening history of the most iconic artists/bands in the world that has made the most genre defining music ánd liking pop music on the side instead of a fucking Spice Girls fanatic. It's like you said, people that watch dumbed down tv shows, only listen to top 40/radio or don't read books are the ones we rather ignore than talk to.

What I'm trying to say is that a music taste says EVERYTHING about someones personality.

[Mvnl]

Well, the reason I mainly wondered if it was your opinion was because I wondered for a second if you're here as a fellow music fan, or you mainly registered to tell all these horrible pop lovers that pop sucks..
I get what you're saying now though, although I only half agree. I'm pretty much sticking to pop myself, yet I have over 98.000 songs in my itunes. That does not feel limited to me. I know, there's more to explore, but in the end to many music is just a way to relax/enjoy themselves, and I don't think there's anything wrong with sticking to what you like. Does the person who loves watching thrillers háve to watch at least one romantic comedy every once in a while because 'there's more out there than thrillers'?. Life's way too short to spend time doing/listening/watching things you don't really care for. Not when there's still plenty and plenty of new stuff coming out within the genre you love and you already have trouble keeping up with that. When I just stick to pop releases there's already about 3 or 4 new albums a week I really want to hear/buy! (and that's ignoring the +/- 25.000 songs in my collection I have yet to play for the first time)
I'm not celebrating narrow mindedness here. I really don't like that. But that goes both ways. I don't like people instantly going 'meh, don't care for that,it's not a hit, it's boring' with everything that isn't a top 40 smash, but I don't like people concluding other people must be completely ignorant and superficial to 'only/mostly listen to pop music' either. If that's what they enjoy, good on them!

(That all said, my definition of pop is rather wide. The Beatles, Bowie and Radiohead personally really don't do much for me, but my collection does range from pure pop to rockish pop, triphop-ish stuff to urban pop, motown to dance, and all around and in between. Yet at the end of day my favourite albums/artists still are mostly pure pop ones, while I can appreciate other stuff as well. No idea what this says about my personality. I do know that all people I get along well with always have a far more alternative taste than me though.. put me at an alternative festival and I'll love the crowd but feel indifferent to the music, put me in a hypercommercial club and I'll like most music, yet I'll feel pretty uninspired by most of the crowd... so yeah... Puzzling really, how I definitely see a pattern in liking people with a particular taste.. yet the taste isn't mine.. and most people who have a taste more similar to mine aren't 'my kind of people' at all.. so I'm not sure if this is a testament to 'taste reflects personality' or actually the complete opposite)

[SunshineConcubine]

The thing is, a lot of people who claim to listen to music outside the box only listening to the obvious, mainstream 'alternatives'. So many people are fans of The Beatles, but don't listen to anything else from the 60s, or love Nirvana, but have never heard another grunge band, or deride the mainstream while listening to Adele and Coldplay.
I don't think musical taste tells that much about personality, yes, someone who likes dance music probably likes to dance, and someone who likes stripped-back music could be a deeper type, but equally they might just mix in circles with people who like that kind of music- going crazy at a club when GaGa comes on is pretty much the same reaction as moshing at a rock concert, and loving Wannabe because it reminds you of your childhood is the same as loving The Beatles because their music has been everywhere since the day you were born.
The person who refuses to listen to anything outside of the top 40, and the hipster who hates anything that is will give very different answers when questioned about musical taste, but they have at least one personality trait in common.

[Mvnl]

Pretty much agree with everything you said there, Sunshine!

This reminds me of a question Gwenno (from the Pipettes) once tweeted, whether music should give you something to think about, or actually give you the distractions/'escapism' to stop thinking about stuff for a second. I think both are important, and it might depend on the (kind of) person what part music plays in their life.

So, despite checking out all kind of genres, at the end of the day I find most enjoyment in pure pop and throwaway romantic comedies.. now does that say I'm superficial as hell, there's not really much going on in that little head of mine, and I prefer my life without any challenges or things that might make me have to think for a second? Yeah, that sounds like me... erm... except, if anything, I think an awful lot abóút everything, and my life is pretty damn challenging as it is.. so maybe even because of that, when I allow myself some minutes off, I like to just get lost in something simple, fun, uncomplicated? It's anyone's guess. It's interesting to think about though.

[invertedbutterfly]

It doesn't matter if it's my opinion or not. Just putting it out there to not limit yourself to one certain genre like made-for-the-charts generic pop music (excluding Beatles and Bowie which are pop in a VERY different way). I'm sick of these people that think they listen to the best music in the world when they listen to another boy band or a trashy UK/Euro act that's going to be forgotten after like 2 years max. The worst part is that they are sometimes older than 20 years. Do they ever grow up? Have you ever seen a pop album made for the charts on a serious Top 100 Albums list? No. And of course out-of-the-box listeners get more credit for liking other music than just pop. I'd rather talk to someone with a knowledge and listening history of the most iconic artists/bands in the world that has made the most genre defining music ánd liking pop music on the side instead of a fucking Spice Girls fanatic. It's like you said, people that watch dumbed down tv shows, only listen to top 40/radio or don't read books are the ones we rather ignore than talk to.

What I'm trying to say is that a music taste says EVERYTHING about someones personality.

Not for the first time I'm left thinking Mvnl is a lot more reasonable than me by only disagreeing with some of this. While there are some points in there which might have some substance to them, I find the whole tone so objectionable, that I'm loathe to agree with any of it.

For a start, I've never met someone who thinks their taste is the be-all and end-all of quality. Especially on here! Even PJ users who I regularly disagree with fundamentally seem essentially open-minded musically. I can just about envisage the type you describe, who only listen to what's fed to them on a top 40 platter, but I'm inclined to suggest those people are never proper music obsessives in the way that many people on here are.

More importantly, there's such a rockist assumption in proclaiming that there is something inherently less worthy about liking 'trashy' pop than the 'worthy' artists you mention (I can't believe I'm having to say this on here!). You seem to think that those pop fans are mindless consumers that are fed what to enjoy - well, what about those people who love Radiohead/Dylan/the Beatles/Led Zep/whatever else? I've met *so* many people whose personal predilictions are defined by the sorts of cultural tastemakers who make those Top 100 lists. Just as many people refuse to listen to/acknowledge the quality of anything that charts highly/sells well as the other way round. Isn't that essentially the same thing? Or are they excused because their conformity is acceptable because it subscribes to a (widely accepted or not) notion of quality? The term 'rockism' sprung up because many of those people are completely closed minded to anything they see as 'pop' or commercial. Isn't dismissing music for those reasons just as bad as embracing it for them?

And if you've never seen commercial pop on credible Top 100 lists, you've been reading the wrong lists. Slant Magazine - completely credible as a source in my view - tends to put Madonna on every list they ever make. Q Magazine always has commercial pop on their year end and decade lists. As does Rolling Stone. Pitchfork probably doesn't, but I avoid sites like that like the plague because they fulfil every negative rockist stereotype I have.

I, for one, would never decide whether I would want to talk to someone based on their taste in music (or books, or TV). Because I genuinely don't think it reliably says anything useful about them. It's the height of condescension to prejudge that a Spice Girls afficionado will be a less than worthy verbal sparring partner. As I've made clear, I'd be far more well disposed to talk to them than a rockist bore who is likely (from past experience) to ridicule my taste from a place of complete ignorance. Sure I don't really understand why people would limit their taste to one genre, or whatever, but I'm certainly not going to judge them for it.

Mostly, I just don't agree that you've backed up your premise that music taste says 'everything' about someone's personality. Unless I'm missing something, all you've said is that it indicates their relative open-/closed-mindedness and therefore in your opinion their whether you'd be interested in talking to them or not. I don't get what you think it reveals about personality at all. Maybe I'm missing something. Which is quite possible, as I've just woken up.

On which note, apologies for any typos, I don't have the heart to go through this correcting it. And I want to point out that I'm not trying to have a go at bay4r or anyone in particular, but express my distain for rockist elitist snobbery, which I've never felt the need to do on these boards before. I may well regret this rant, but nevermind.

[invertedbutterfly]

I do know that all people I get along well with always have a far more alternative taste than me though.. put me at an alternative festival and I'll love the crowd but feel indifferent to the music, put me in a hypercommercial club and I'll like most music, yet I'll feel pretty uninspired by most of the crowd... so yeah... Puzzling really, how I definitely see a pattern in liking people with a particular taste.. yet the taste isn't mine.. and most people who have a taste more similar to mine aren't 'my kind of people' at all.. so I'm not sure if this is a testament to 'taste reflects personality' or actually the complete opposite)

That's an interesting point. I think my close friends all probably have more 'credible' music taste than me (although after being friends with me for a while, I tend to have a 'bad' influence on their listening habits...). I think I'm probably drawn to people with more alternative taste too - certainly true of most of the people I've dated. Do I fancy certain types of men, as evinced by their music tastes? Maybe I've been wrong all along and music taste says something incredibly profound about the listener's personality? (No).

Actually, with (many of my) friends, while we have fairly different music tastes overall, we bonded early on in our friendship over certain artists (as well as films, TV, art or whatever). Maybe it just says something about my schizophrenic tastes that my liking of those artists isn't particularly revelatory about my tastes overall.

[Eric Generic]

Not for the first time I'm left thinking Mvnl is a lot more reasonable than me by only disagreeing with some of this. While there are some points in there which might have some substance to them, I find the whole tone so objectionable, that I'm loathe to agree with any of it.

I want to point out that I'm not trying to have a go at bay4r or anyone in particular, but express my distain for rockist elitist snobbery, which I've never felt the need to do on these boards before. I may well regret this rant, but nevermind.

Oh, don't regret it! I'm glad someone's said, so that I don't have to..because I don't think I'd be as polite either haha. Rockist snobbery is so tedious, all this cliched tastemaking rubbish that's set so much music back decades and left it chasing its own tail in the quest for some kind of dubious authenticity. There is no difference at all in the open-mindedness, musically-speaking, between those who only acknowledge the Stone Roses, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Led Zep, Bowie, Velvets blah blah as real music, and a pop music nut who loves his Girls Aloud, Sugababes or Gaga to the exclusion of anything else. If anything, the rockists are worse because they do genuinely believe their tastes are superior.

[citoig]

Yes. Yes it does. Judging "those" people isn't a bad thing as long as you don't do it loudly in a harsh way. Everybody demands respect and no one likes to get mistreated. Pop music fans tend to have a reputation of having the worst taste in music ever, because of how basic and structured pop really is. Add manufactured, importance of sales and hits to it and it becomes a serious judgement. It's the best to not limit yourself to only one genre and explore more unusual (good) artists and (good) bands to get more respect, because it does have its differences to have a much wider taste in music. We all love music so why not search for more? If a person during a conversation says that he/she likes The Beatles, David Bowie or Radiohead, they are already considered good music listeners over any typical pop listener that likes some girl group (all of them) or a talent show winner (all of them). Especially when those pop fans are 20 years or older. And quite frankly, it's a fact. It all depends on charts, sales, and the people you hang out with. The majority of society is influencing you with a generic taste so you naturally think it's good. And don't come up with bullshit like: "I don't really like that type of music therefore it sucks" after listening to an unusual song for 30 seconds on youtube No. You just don't like it, because you're not used to it and think that popular music is the only good thing out there. Most of you guys listen to pop music with a horrible judging mind. If a certain artist does a bad thing or isn't loved by the majority of the people anymore, it's a flop and is considered trash the next day. Less thinking and more listening please.

I agree with the psychology question approach. Catching people off guard is a fun thing to do especially on a professional occasion like a job interview. I would've loved a question like that. If only...

It doesn't matter if it's my opinion or not. Just putting it out there to not limit yourself to one certain genre like made-for-the-charts generic pop music (excluding Beatles and Bowie which are pop in a VERY different way). I'm sick of these people that think they listen to the best music in the world when they listen to another boy band or a trashy UK/Euro act that's going to be forgotten after like 2 years max. The worst part is that they are sometimes older than 20 years. Do they ever grow up? Have you ever seen a pop album made for the charts on a serious Top 100 Albums list? No. And of course out-of-the-box listeners get more credit for liking other music than just pop. I'd rather talk to someone with a knowledge and listening history of the most iconic artists/bands in the world that has made the most genre defining music ánd liking pop music on the side instead of a fucking Spice Girls fanatic. It's like you said, people that watch dumbed down tv shows, only listen to top 40/radio or don't read books are the ones we rather ignore than talk to.

What I'm trying to say is that a music taste says EVERYTHING about someones personality.

These two posts are A) Two of the worst posts I've ever seen on this forum, and B) Part of the reason it exists in the first place. Listening to "serious" music, and keeping "pop music on the side"? What absolute bollocks. Pop can be, and often is, just as good as any "serious" music. Hell, it can even be just as serious. Talent show winners can be good. Girl bands can be good. But why does that even matter? If people enjoy the music, I don't see any need to call for them to "grow up". Better that than listening to bands like Radiohead just because it's the done thing (who I do actually love, so it's not a dig at them, just an example). If pop's what they enjoy, then it's what they should listen to, without people like you criticising them.

As for for your rubbish about it saying everything about someone's personality, today I've listened to Solange, Kelly Clarkson (one of those god awful talent show winners), Nas, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Conspiracy, 2ne1, Rihanna, Warpaint and Robin Sparkles. I also sing with a metal band. And we do a damn good cover of Tatu's All The Things She Said. So please, doctor, give me a run-down of my personality. Seeing as it's just that simple.

[Karma]

I don't think it says anything at all.

[SophiaSophia]

I agree I have an broad taste in music ranging from Classical to Pure Pop if someone was to see me in a music shop they wouldn't know anything about my personality one minute I could be looking at Dance compilations next Indie then Pop. No one would know I was a introvert and a bit of a nerd unless I told them or if they would try speaking to me and would get me looking away not giving a response. Plus also I find generally on this site most of the users are very open minded when it comes to music and most of the popjustice favourites are those that don't chart or haven't done in years so their point is rather flawed in some ways.

[Mvnl]

True as the latter is I do feel favourites often become favourites because of their underdog status.. I think that somehow dóés say something about people (or just human nature in general), but I'm not even gonna try to analyze it.

[letuinmybackdoor]

I'd say more that liking music, whatever style it is, is an essesntial for me in terms of friendships/relationships. My ex really wasn't into music and as it was my major passion, I found it very difficult to relate to someone who had no passion for music of any sorts. I love listening to music, going concerts and all taht goes with it. I love arguing with 'my music tastes are better than yours and that therefore makes me a better person' types. Music shapes all I am, an whilst I don't expect other people to have the same passion for it, I feel they have to have some passion.

[marie_05]

Loads of interesting replies here!
The idea of being caught off guard in a job interview definitely rings true to me, considering that the actual job had absolutely nothing to do with music.

I don't think music taste is particularly relevant when it comes to friendships. Me and my friends actually have very little in common in that respect, despite the fact that some of them aren't exactly a million miles away from me in terms of personality, background, lifestyle and general values. One of them only listens to Irish folk, a few of them are metalheads, another mainly likes hip-hop, etc.

What rooting for underdogs says about a person is an interesting point. Personally I do have a tendency to back underdogs over winners. When two artists are being compared, I prefer the less successful one 90% of the time (which isn't a conscious decision, it just happens). I have no idea where this comes from or whether or not there's a psychological reason for this. Best I can come up with for now is that it's always more fun if there's something to root for.

[marie_05]

I agree I have an broad taste in music ranging from Classical to Pure Pop if someone was to see me in a music shop they wouldn't know anything about my personality one minute I could be looking at Dance compilations next Indie then Pop.

Actually I think that does give one personality trait away. Being interested in multiple genres would suggest open-mindedness, no?

[Eric Generic]

^ I was thinking exactly that as well!

Also, our backgrounds/family heritage might play a part in what we like and how much of a variety we like. Maybe one of the reasons I'm big on folk/celtic music is the Irish/Scottish ancestry on one of my parent's side, then being a bit average-middle-class could explain why I like a lot of my music to be quite structured and traditional, and...well, "nice" haha. I've never looked for anything that rocks the boat in music, it's never been a way of making any kind of political/social point, it's simply been the thing that I need in my life, and that I turn to, to enjoy and feel good about. In a very anal, methodical, like-everything-that-exists sort of way!

Plus, if liking all kinds of music is anything to with your wider personality, maybe that explains why my friendships in life have nearly always been with people of just about every type, sexual orientation and nationality. Or maybe it has nothing to do with it at all.

[Nate]

Today I saw something that destroys any theories on this. I was taking my dog for a walk and at the traffic lights was a large 3 wheeler bike. On it were these two large people, leather bound and tattoo'd to the eyes, and topped with German storm trooper helmets. Blaring from a large boombox strapped to the bike was One Direction's 'One Thing', and the person at the back was singing along. Don't judge a book and all that.

[Mvnl]

Well that still doesn't say a thing about their personality!