Does music taste say anything about personality?

[bay4r]

Wow, somebody's a snob.

I'm not even going to bother commenting on all the different points you've made in this thread cause I'd just end up getting even more annoyed.

I just wanted to point out the following things:

- To me it feels really hypocritical for you to say "But Lady Gaga and Madonna are ok!". They're not doing anything different than other pop acts. Their music is also made of the "overproduced detailed beats" you mock other acts for, sometimes they co-write or write their own songs, but just as well they have some of their songs handed to them. They are the perfect examples that it takes craftmanship from the songwriter (be it the singer themselves or a professional one) to make a brilliant "fun" song. They're not doing anything else than other pop acts, they just (arguably) do it better.

- You say Radiohead's experimental albums are better than their mainstream ones. How can you not see that in pop it works the same way? You have a scope of quality, from brilliantly made pop to cheap "this'll do" pop. No, wait, you're probably just going to say your "proper" music is "more and less better" and pop is "more and less shit". Nevermind.

- There's tons more I want to say, but I'll save myself the annoyance of having to read through your posts again, except for this last point. Why is writing your own music such a big deal? You don't see people saying "Ugh, Meryl Streep is the worst, she didn't even write her own lines for The Iron Lady!" Pop songs are written by professional music writers and sung by professional singers, I fail to see why a track becomes "worse" because someone else is singing it? Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting, it's shit either way because it's pop. If your argument is that a singer cannot put emotion in a song unless they've written it themselves then you've been listening to some really poor "proper" singers.

"They're not doing anything else than other pop acts, they just (arguably) do it better." Well there you go.

I don't really need to explain the rest, because that one line sums it up perfectly. They do it better. They ARE better. No need for me to listen to average pop-sounding music or artists that don't even mind writing their own stuff. I'm a more indie/alternative-based person in music (and a very critical one at that) so that's just what I prefer in music. People writing their own damn thing. Is that so hard? No it's not. Not if you have actual talent and knowledge of music. And you guys wonder why people see pop as an overproduced made-for-the-chart manufactured soulless genre. Be glad we have these two women in pop. Otherwise we would had Britney, Rihanna, or Katy Perry representing us with: "Really cool fun music".

I'm done.

[Mvnl]

People writing their own damn thing. Is that so hard? No it's not. Not if you have actual talent and knowledge of music.

Erm, well, there's all kinds of talents, you know, and not every person has them all.
An amazing songwriter can make for a horrible singer, a great singer can make for an incredibly uncharismatic performer, etcetera etcetera.
Not being able to write good songs doesn't render you talentless. I think it would be a waste if people who can write great songs but can't/have no desire to sing would stay out of music, and the same goes for those who have a great voice, or were born to entertain, but just don't make for the best writers. And in case of the latter, I'd rather they recognize their strength and stick to what they're good at. Can those so-called 'entertainers' be compared to true 'artists' who do poor out their heart and write all their stuff themselves? Well, when it becomes a 'do or don't they write their own stuff?' discussion, it's rather pointless, because they have different talents, different ambitions, and probably completely different goals with their music as well. Some persons are artists, some are writers, some are performers.
And I must add I love when all of it comes together in one person. Especially live. I love a good spectacle, but I also want to hear some actual singing in a concert, and so where Britney or a person who just sits behind a piano all night fall flat for me, Madonna and Gaga (and for me Pink too) sure stand out when it comes to that because you get the full package.
But at the end of the day it all comes down to what you want to get out of an artist. And perhaps thát does say something about a person's personality... if it weren't for the fact that there's also plenty of people who like a good mix of everything and listen to music for different reasons at different moments.

[Resi12]

Not everything has to be 'serious' and self written, what a bland world pop would be in that case. I listen to music for personal enjoyment, whether it be unknown or not, self produced or not, meaningful or not. You're very one dimensional, you could do with some 'super fun music' or however you put it.

Not one bit of offence is meant by this but I don't get people like you, by that I mean we've had users in the past who say they hate most mainstream pop which perplexes me to no end because that's practically 80% of the genre (and this website). That's not me saying you can't like pop if you don't like Rihanna etc but for me anyway, thinking of signing up for a dubstep forum when I hate the majority of the genre seems pointless.

Also your views on age and music make me laugh, who sets these age limits of when to stop listening to certain songs? I love 2NE1 and I'm 21, I don't see how songs about partying, feeling alone, insecure, unloved, happy or loved have any age frame. You can feel all those things at 15 or 70. Perhaps the sound it's delivered in isn't appealing to all ages but the topics for me don't seem like they can only be liked by teenagers and in some countries can't even be related too (like drinking/clubs) till you're 21. They might not be sung over electric guitars or written by the actual singers but why on Earth does that make the subjects any less relevant to the listener. It's a very narrow minded view of not only pop but music in general.

[Mvnl]

Not one bit of offence is meant by this but I don't get people like you, by that I mean we've had users in the past who say they hate most mainstream pop which perplexes me to no end because that's practically 80% of the genre (and this website). That's not me saying you can't like pop if you don't like Rihanna etc but for me anyway, thinking of signing up for a dubstep forum when I hate the majority of the genre seems pointless.

While I get that sentiment, if I'd find one place where a particular artist/movie/tv-show I like gets discussed in a great way, while the rest of the topics doesn't really appeal to me that wouldn't necessarily stop me from visiting it. Not everyone might be here for the community as a whole, and to religiously check every single topic. Now if bay4r goes into every single topic about an artist he doesn't like to tell people how wrong and childish they are to appreciate them, I'd really start wondering what he's doing here, but in case of this topic people's musical taste is clearly up for discussion, it being the subject matter and all.

[Resi12]

While I get that sentiment, if I'd find one place where a particular artist/movie/tv-show I like gets discussed in a great way, while the rest of the topics doesn't really appeal to me that wouldn't necessarily stop me from visiting it. Not everyone might be here for the community as a whole, and to religiously check every single topic. Now if bay4r goes into every single topic about an artist he doesn't like to tell people how wrong and childish they are to appreciate them, I'd really start wondering what he's doing here, but in case of this topic people's musical taste is clearly up for discussion, it being the subject matter and all.

I guess that is true, I just haven't seen any other comments from him/her besides this topic so I was a bit confused. Ignore me, I really didn't mean it in an offensive manner. Sorry bay4r, I was more so trying to understand who/what you do actually like in pop.

[Jonathan27]

Well, I thought I'd stop in and say that I think music taste can certainly play into personality. One of my friends that I've grown very close to in the past year loves rock and alternative (that's such a broad genre), basically 30 Seconds to Mars, Taking Back Sunday and Panic! At the Disco. She only listens to music for the lyrics and loathes any song that sounds 'too happy' (examples include Hey Soul Sister, Pocketful of Sunshine, and Domino). She suffers from depression and what I believe to be undiagnosed bipolar disorder. She enjoys some of my music lyrically, but doesn't like to actually listen to it. We argue a lot about music.

On the flip side, another of my best friends likes a wide range of incredibly processed and produced pop music. What many consider trashy. His favorite artist is Britney, but he loves Miley, Heidi Montag, Paris, some country, etc. For him, the more a song repeats itself lyrically, the more he enjoys it. One by Sky is one of his favorite songs ever. He is an incredibly fun and outgoing individual, but can also be vapid and intellectually shallow.

I'm a mix, I suppose. I love pop and I love a good phrase. Taylor Swift is my favorite artist, because for me she combines the catchiness of a good hook with some outstanding lyrics. I get sad, but I think I can be really fun as well.

Basically, I think the more diverse one's music taste is, the large the diversity of the friends they are going to be able to make will be. I can get along with pretty much anyone, while studious people often tilt their chin to the latter friend and the fun clubbing frat party-going crowd often become uncomfortable around the former friend. I'm realizing that this may make me seem like I'm painting myself in a positive light, but I simply mean to emphasize the point that parallels can be drawn, at least in how your relationships with people are. I'd also like to note that the best friend I ever had also had the closest taste in music to me. Go figure.

[MissGranolaSuicide]

I've been thinking this morning about this idea that you should grow out of pop music or that it's only for kids. For me it has been very much the other way around. I was a an alt-rock / indie kid as a teenager and the first pure-pop I was a huge fan of was the Spice Girls when I was 18 / 19. Since then I have enjoyed the trashy extremes of pop mixed in with my rock etc but it's only really been in the last few years (I'm now 35) that I have begun to consider myself a pop fan in any meaningful way. I think this is partly because pop is in an upswing at the moment whilst (in my opinion) rock and particularly alt-rock is pretty poor right now. But possibly it's also just because I have changed as I've got older and pop now appeals to me in a way it didn't when I was 15 and mad as hell at the world!

[Resi12]

I don't see why an older person can't like pop? Yes it's not it's target market but to say that is like saying it's wrong for a young person to listen to alternative music which is stupid.

[SunshineConcubine]

Some of the greatest songs ever were written by people other than the performer, and some of the best musicians were never performers. There's been hugely influential people behind the scenes who have created entire genres that have inspired people for decades since. No one really cares if Elvis Presley or The Supremes wrote their own songs, but they're still popular decades on.

Some performers are just amazing performers, and not much more. Madonna is a provocateur, she's a great businesswoman and she's an icon. She's got a mediocre singing voice and when she does attempt to write her own songs there's a risk it'll end with her rhyming dorks with New York. Lady GaGa is undoubtedly talented, but without her producers she wouldn't be the star she is today. If all artists are expected to write their own lyrics, are they expected to then write the music, produce the tracks and direct the video too? There are very few people who can do it all.

Some of my favourite artists are singer-songwriters, but equally I'm not going to hold it against Britney (groan) if she employs someone who actually knows how to craft a song for her.

On an unrelated note, as a big fan of Courtney Love, I sincerely hope I'm not drawn to artists with similar personalities to me.

[MissGranolaSuicide]

On an unrelated note, as a big fan of Courtney Love, I sincerely hope I'm not drawn to artists with similar personalities to me.

I, and my avatar, agree with you!

[MFW]

I love that Pop fans all love to throw shade at each other and other artists, which is probably picked up off the artists themselves. People tend to emulate certain parts of their favourite artist's personality. I reckon.

[Mvnl]

Well, I thought I'd stop in and say that I think music taste can certainly play into personality. One of my friends that I've grown very close to in the past year loves rock and alternative (that's such a broad genre), basically 30 Seconds to Mars, Taking Back Sunday and Panic! At the Disco. She only listens to music for the lyrics and loathes any song that sounds 'too happy' (examples include Hey Soul Sister, Pocketful of Sunshine, and Domino). She suffers from depression and what I believe to be undiagnosed bipolar disorder. She enjoys some of my music lyrically, but doesn't like to actually listen to it. We argue a lot about music.

On the flip side, another of my best friends likes a wide range of incredibly processed and produced pop music. What many consider trashy. His favorite artist is Britney, but he loves Miley, Heidi Montag, Paris, some country, etc. For him, the more a song repeats itself lyrically, the more he enjoys it. One by Sky is one of his favorite songs ever. He is an incredibly fun and outgoing individual, but can also be vapid and intellectually shallow.

Well, those are interesting examples.. but then I also suffered from depression last year, and Friday and Till The World Ends got me through it.. So although sometimes taste can fit a person's personality I think there's just as many personalities.

(But then, I'm also not sure if you could see depression as part of someone's personality.. isn't it more like a mood, and disease? Everyone gets sad, angry, happy sometimes, it's how you handle it that's telling about your personality)

[Mvnl]

I love that Pop fans all love to throw shade at each other and other artists, which is probably picked up off the artists themselves. People tend to emulate certain parts of their favourite artist's personality. I reckon.

I reckon if this happens it is something that mostly applies to very influencable teenagers. At least I'd hope most adults have enough of an own mind to not think 'oh my god, Rihanna dissed Britney, now I hate Britney too!!'

[Jonathan27]

I don't necessarily consider my friends the be-all-end-all of it, but I found it interesting when thinking about it that the type of music my friends are into can be traced back to their music tastes. Depression isn't necessarily personality-related, but there are enough other aspects to that friend of mine, such as her quick temper and several other factors that tie back to that sort of music. Another friend of mine was very into rap music in high school and at the time was also probably the most impulsive person I knew. I find it odd that these coincidences keep happening with my friends, when I know it isn't the standard.

[kermit_the_frog]

I've loved reading this thread - personally, I'm not sure whether 'type' or genre of music indicates personality, but I'm definitely drawn to people who have a knowledge of the music they like.

I adore Girls Aloud but detest the Spice Girls. Wake Me Up is a more intelligent and thrilling song than the entire Spice Girls catalogue put together. I could argue for hours with someone who has also listened to both groups and feels the opposite.

I could happily tell someone why I think Blackout shits all over In Rainbows in terms of 'artistic merit' but I'd be frustrated if that person hadn't actually bothered to listen to Blackout before deciding it was inferior. I listened to In Rainbows as a big fan of Radiohead and while I think it's a good album, I don't think it's great. I don't believe in simply reading a derogatory remark about a record and taking it as given. Sometimes I think that 'non-pop music fans' do this without even realising it and I've often defended Britney's songs (as one example of many) to people who seem to have a negative opinion on something they haven't even listened to. Often these are the same people who would rightly attack a Daily Mail reader for mouthing off on a subject they hadn't bothered to investigate, think about and consider. A bit hypocritical, I think.

I think that Lady Gaga is a bit try-hard and not very exciting. I once got into a row with (the longtime absent member of these forums) Debord, when I said that Madonna was 'not a songwriter'. What I was trying to explain was that, much as I loved her, her role as a lyricist was not the reason she is a bloody great popstar. Her songs frequently excite me in spite of their lyrics, not because of them. I sometimes wish she'd let someone else do that job for her and concentrate on her strengths.

I think that the way I've written about a few acts I like and a few I don't says more about my personality (positive or negative) than simply listing the acts themselves.

My current "most-listened to" records are by Sebastien Tellier, Betty Davis, Miike Snow and Toddla T. I'm a big fan of Atlas Sound (and Deerhunter), Gil Scott-Heron, Grace Jones... I could list names forever, because I like lists...

My ultimate favourite is (of course) Prince.

I think Motivation by Kelly Rowland is one of the best songs of 2011. I think that Down For Whatever by Kelly Rowland is one of the worst songs of 2011.

Touching on what Eric Generic posted earlier, maybe I label myself a 'pop music' fan because, of all the genres I love, pop music is the underdog that needs defending? It's as thrilling as any other genre when it's good and as boring as any other when it's bad. Why is 'pop' always regarded as a throwaway production line of identikit songs? You could apply that dismissal to almost every genre.

Again, elaborating on that probably says more about my personality (positive and negative) than simply saying I love Girls Aloud. All types of people love Girls Aloud for all types of reasons. I'm not sure that it suggests any common personality traits between them.

I'll stop now!

[marie_05]

I think my personality matches my music taste. That might have to do with me liking artist that have similar personalities to me though.

I wonder how important relating to popstars is to people in general.
I usually don't care that much about popstars' personalities when it comes to enjoying the music and buying albums, but if there's absolutely nothing relatable about a pop act I don't think they could become an all-time favourite. The difference between 'like' and 'love' is key here.
I think I've always preferred artists who let the songs speak for themselves to artists who are batshit crazy and attention-seeking. Basically, I think I'm a 'substance over style' person for the most part. Perhaps that says something about me?

However, I know that many people prefer their popstars to be nothing like themselves or people they hang out with because "the whole point of popstars is that they shouldn't be like us mere mortals, they're POPSTARS after all!". I suppose it's different for everyone.

[Mvnl]

I just quickly went through my list of favourite popstars, and yes, likeability seems to play a part there as well. Which doesn't mean they're all bubbly girls next door. Madonna hardly is the most pleasant person out there, yet I'd much rather spend a night hanging out with her than with Britney who'd probably be smiling her way through it without really saying much.
Oddly groups often seem to be an exception to the rule, because when I think about it there's plenty of people in my favourite groups who don't come off like they'd become particularly inspiring persons if they had to go and get a 'real' job. But then I suppose there's always the advantage of each member having traits that another one is lacking, making them altogether still look better than just a group of people I'd have hated in high school. I'm not sure where I'm going with this....?

Oh yeah, personality being important... I guess it can be a bonus. But unless I'm really into an artist and follow every step they take it's easy to have an idea of their personality which might be very very wrong. There's been several times I liked a popstar, but once I finally caught a proper interview with them I realized besides performance skills there was really not much there. I can't think of (m)any popstars where I really feel 'they are like me/my friends' though.. but then, if they were, they probably would never have chosen to become a popstar in the first place.
Plus, I think, much like with friends and such, the people who are most like me, tend to make music that's least for me.

[Charley]

"They're not doing anything else than other pop acts, they just (arguably) do it better." Well there you go.

I don't really need to explain the rest, because that one line sums it up perfectly. They do it better. They ARE better. No need for me to listen to average pop-sounding music or artists that don't even mind writing their own stuff. I'm a more indie/alternative-based person in music (and a very critical one at that) so that's just what I prefer in music. People writing their own damn thing. Is that so hard? No it's not. Not if you have actual talent and knowledge of music. And you guys wonder why people see pop as an overproduced made-for-the-chart manufactured soulless genre. Be glad we have these two women in pop. Otherwise we would had Britney, Rihanna, or Katy Perry representing us with: "Really cool fun music".

I'm done.

Katy Perry has written on all songs from both her albums.

[MollieSwift21]

I think the personality things is interesting as I don't inherently like them because of their personality but almost all of the singers I love have similar ones to me. I think mine is closest to Shania Twain and then Taylor which happen to be my favorites as well. Also I remember the last time I went to Taylor Swift concert there was definitely a Taylor Swift fan look.

I also agree with Kermit-the-frog about liking music despite the lyrics. I know Lady Gaga has made it a point that she has written her own songs but I don't really find it an accomplishment because i find her to be poor at it and when I do like one of her songs it's in spite of the lyrics. Miranda Lambert writes most of her songs yet her best one "The House That Built Me" wasn't penned by her. Also as Mvnl said earlier about really talented song-writers that either aren't good at singing or don't want to be a singer should their songs go to waste? No

[SophiaSophia]

Good music is good music regardless of its background and how it was made, writing your own material doesn't make it more or less credible than manufactured music.

As for my favourite artists a lot of them are people I have huge respect for or people I aspire to be and being relatable pays a huge part too. For example a lot of girlbands I like are people I could imagine being friends in real life which is why I prefer The Saturdays to say Stooshe. However there are lots of songs I like by artists that I'm indifferent to them as a person (Britney being one) but I can just enjoy the music for what it is. Also there's nothing stopping a person from changing their mind either on artists you don't particularly warm to, I wasn't a huge fan of The Gossip but I like their new album.

[Jonathan27]

I thinking the situation that people who advocate singer-songwriters don't understand is that lyrics aren't the be-all-end-all of a song. Just because someone writes it doesn't mean it's suddenly better than a song that wasn't written by another artist. MollieSwift's example is perfect: I consider The House That Built Me to be Miranda Lambert's best song (and one of my personal favorite songs ever), and she had no hand in writing it. There are so many other aspects to a song than just who sat down and wrote. Like was stated earlier (I apologize for not knowing who said it), actors aren't held to that standard when they don't write their lines. Why should singers be any different?

I think this ties into the thread because people who only listen to music for the lyrics, at least all the ones I come across, tend to not like pop. They tend to actually rather dislike it, and personality-wise, I've always come to the conclusion that they tend to rather narrow-minded in that sense. They're usually the alt-rock lovers or the Starbucks type (forgive the blanket statement). Though I think when one gets as passionate about pop music as a lot of people on here do, it becomes a matter of just getting along with someone when they don't share the sentiment. There are a lot of people who don't respect my music, and personally I take that to heart. It may be oversensitive, but I prefer to keep company with whom I can have a mutual respect on various levels. If they respect someone else's taste in something as simple as music, I think that says something about their character.

[Eric Generic]

I wonder how important relating to popstars is to people in general.
I usually don't care that much about popstars' personalities when it comes to enjoying the music and buying albums.

I listen, enjoy and buy music pretty much purely on merit; I'll cut some of my favourite acts a bit of slack and play something new from them automatically, but a new act has to work harder to grab my attention as I've gotten older. That's not to say it can't be done - Lana Del Ray got me after one listen of Video Games, and Plan B's got me now after his slot on Later, but so much of the recent and current crop suffer from coming along some 30 years after my first rush of pop-music love. I hear too much of things that went before, or the imagery/artwork does the same.

When it was all much newer to me, I suppose certain aspects of an act had to click with me, to get through the novelty of it all and help me start to figure out who I liked more than the rest. Howard Jones was a major case of that, and the Frankie Goes To Hollywood phenomenon had most of us 13 year olds hooked on everything to do with them. Mostly, I just liked what I heard and the rest was trimming - if anyone came across as a bit of a prat, it didn't really matter - I bought the first two King albums, after all haha. There simply wasn't the depth and ubiquity of media coverage back in the 80s to render anybody truly obnoxious or over-saturated. Nearly everyone in (mainstream) pop was channelled through a carefully-presented prism by the record labels, TV and the teen press. The acts from America largely remained a bit mysterious and impenetrable, which only added to the appeal!

I've met a few of my all-time favourite artists, albeit some years after their peak, and they never disappointed because by nature they aren't people who created an especially false or outlandish persona. I doubt you'd get more than an awkward mumble from Paul Buchanan in real-life, for instance, even though his merest whisper on record is enough to bring out the goosebumps. It just doesn't matter, really, although again by nature most of my favourite artists are what would be called "decent" people.

[Uno]

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.

This is truly the best post I've ever seen here on PJ. I agree in every sense.

bay4r, do you ever listen to pop, or do you dismiss ALL pop as trash? Because if you did, you would just be contradicting yourself when you said "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."

To me, it seems like you're the only one being closed-minded here.

As for the topic at hand, I think it would require someone to follow stereotypical trends to think anything you listen to says something about your character. For example when Nate said he saw bikers listening to One Direction, you'd assume that the biker would listen to something more heavy, and you'd assume that their personality would be one of a hard ass. The link between music taste and personality exists only in a stereotypical sense.

[Mr Blonde]

I don't think so. I think you can determine broad and superficial details about a person based on things like music taste, but I think personalities are too dynamic to be simplified by "Likes Gaga = flaming homosexual" "Likes Radiohead = hipster asshole" etc.

I have a very eclectic selection of music on my iPod and I doubt anyone would be able to determine what I really like to listen to based off of just speaking with me. On the flip side, I feel like when people find out certain artists I like they quickly categorize me and assume that I am a 1-dimensional robot. I don't like to judge people based on their music because I don't like to be pigeon-holed based off of the last 5 songs I played on my iPod.

I guess that's just how I was raised. The sound of my childhood was a juxtaposition of different types of dance, decades of rock, folk, pop and hip-hop.

[benm]

Not for me, I like pop and some RnB but consider myself serious minded, more into politics and social affairs.