Freedomain Radio

What is it about certain personality types that are attracted to certain music?  It's like a formula, to the point where you can often tell what people are into just by knowing them for a few minutes.

-Hip Hop fans tend to be a certain way.

-Metal fans tend to be a certain way.

-Electronic fans tend to be a certain way.

The same goes for Jazz, Indie, Punk, Art-rock, Folk, Pop, R+B(aka crap) etc...

Any thoughts on this?

I've noticed that rap fans tend to be idiots...

Metal/Punk/Industrial/Electronic crowd tends to be a bit smarter, more rebellious, and have more confidence (I'll try not to praise my friends too much though). Although I've also known people that listen to the same genre of music (although not the same bands) and aren't so bright...

I think the music we listen to can certainly be a reflection of our internal state. In my teen years I was into metal a lot, and the music really resonated with me. When I listen to the same tracks these days, I get only a historical emotional experience though, nothing that hits me today.

I'm not sure I agree with the characterizations of intelligence as linked to music types, because I played in a few metal bands and lets just say that the other members weren't always mensa material ;) but I would say that myself and my best friend of the time (who was a guitarist) were on the other end of the spectrum. In one band in particular there was a harsh divide there and music was the only thing we had in common. Curiously though, the types of metal that the two groups liked were vastly different. My friend and I were into more melodic stuff, appreciated technical brilliance etc while the others were into stuff that was "fast and loud", so maybe there is something to it!

I can think of one, sort of. I knew this guy who was a hardcore gangsta rap fan, he went out and got drunk every weekend, and sometimes during the week, he hung out with people who just got out of jail, got into quite a few fights, and at one point someone went and set fire to his car while it was in his parent's driveway because apparently he slept with his girlfriend. He was into all kinds of nihilistic insanity...

Yet he still managed to stay at the top of the class and take all of the most advanced courses at our highschool. He got into Duke. It's people like that that make me wonder whether trying to be ethical is really worth it, lol.

I agree that what music someone listens to can be indicative of who they are, but it's important not to overstate the significance of the actual music versus the social context it's in. A large part of the capability to predict personalities based on music isn't rooted in the music itself, but in some other factors certain kinds of music are correlated with.

Preference of pop music or hip-hop can't in itself be a strong indicator of negative personality traits. It has more to do with the fact that those kinds of music are mainstream, and there's a high probability that a person who listens to that kind of music does so mostly because they are more apt to follow others rather than form their own opinions (or because of some other variety of conformity).

You can apply the same idea to any genre of music to any of the social subgroups. Some people like rock because it helps them fit in with some people by "rejecting" the mainstream.

If more people were attached to certain genres of music because of the musical content, there would be enough data to draw conclusions about the musical natures of individual genres. In the present, though, our data is way too noisy because of social factors.

Is there any way you guys know of to isolate the social factors?
 

HyperSniper:

I can think of one, sort of. I knew this guy who was a hardcore gangsta rap fan, he went out and got drunk every weekend, and sometimes during the week, he hung out with people who just got out of jail, got into quite a few fights, and at one point someone went and set fire to his car while it was in his parent's driveway because apparently he slept with his girlfriend. He was into all kinds of nihilistic insanity...

Yet he still managed to stay at the top of the class and take all of the most advanced courses at our highschool. He got into Duke. It's people like that that make me wonder whether trying to be ethical is really worth it, lol.

Well, the traits that you tell us he had - drunkenness, criminal friends, pugnacity, nihilism, etc - are not invalidated because he also happened to be intelligent and did well in school. Long-term, those traits - if he retains them - will be the death of him, whether in the literal or metaphorical sense. I would say that his choice of music was amply reflected in the other choices he made in his life.

HyperSniper:

I've noticed that rap fans tend to be idiots...

Metal/Punk/Industrial/Electronic crowd tends to be a bit smarter, more rebellious, and have more confidence (I'll try not to praise my friends too much though). Although I've also known people that listen to the same genre of music (although not the same bands) and aren't so bright...

I find this to be quite insulting.  I've listened to "rap" since the first moment I found music and I'm quite sure I'm not an idiot.  It's interesting though, because I've found this point of view to be quite common in people that are into extreme forms of rock, exclusively.  I agree with Stef that music is a reflection of personality in the moment, so what does this say about you and others who say the same thing?

The basic problem I have with this way of thinking is that it is just another form of bigotry.  Just as rock is wide-ranging in it's varieties, so is hip-hop.  I've gone from the early days of West-coast gangsta rap to some of the most obscure underground hip-hop with some songs that vibe with me strongly on an intellectual and emotional level, all the while listening to metal, grunge, punk, jazz, and classical.  So when you criticize hip-hop in a general way, you are in the same category, though of a far less offensive degree, of a racist or a Christian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ8BzCoV6Qg

I wouldn't ever write someone off just because they listen to a certain type of music. It's just a trend I've noticed, people who exclusively listen to only mainstream rap/hip-hop tend to be idiots, intellectually and/or in their decisions in life. I would guess that It's not the music, but the culture that goes along with it much of the time.

I'm big into experimental pop and experimental rock.

I think my core fascination with "alternative thinking" is the thing that brought me to Ancap AND Radiohead simultaneously 7 years ago.

There's a connection there, but I can't put finger on it.

I like any genre of music. In any genre there is good and bad music.

 Me liking every genre of music = Mecosystem?

HyperSniper:

I've noticed that rap fans tend to be idiots...

Metal/Punk/Industrial/Electronic crowd tends to be a bit smarter, more rebellious, and have more confidence (

You're joking right?
 

Carlos Morales:

HyperSniper:

I've noticed that rap fans tend to be idiots...

Metal/Punk/Industrial/Electronic crowd tends to be a bit smarter, more rebellious, and have more confidence (

You're joking right?

I'll retract the bit about intelligence, I really don't think that music has anything to do with how smart you are.