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

Abstract

A representative German sample (N = 2,086) was surveyed on their musical taste with a questionnaire that asked about their liking not only of a number of genres, but also of relevant sub-genres and -styles. Using Latent Profile Analysis to analyze sub-genre liking patterns, four to six distinct taste classes were found within groups of those n = 1,749 people who liked either European classical music, electronic dance music, metal, pop or rock based on their sub-genre ratings. Across genres, two types of taste classes emerged: one with three classes that differed in the degree of liking all sub-genres, another with one to three classes that were biased in their liking or disliking of easier and more mainstream variants of a genre as compared to harder and sophisticated ones. Logistic regression models revealed meaningful relationships of genre fan groups and within-genre taste classes with sociodemographic variables and BIG-5 personality traits. In sum, our results demonstrate meaningful taste differences within genres and show that these translate to differences in person-related variables as well. These findings challenge earlier genre-based conceptualizations of music tastes, since we find similar structures already on the sub-genres level. It also suggests that different reasons and factors underlie tastes for genres and sub-genres. Future studies should therefore ask about taste in a more nuanced way.