As a thirty-something male, the popular music industry (specifically, the conglomerate record labels and Clear Channel) obviously isn’t interested in selling their wares to me anymore so my opinion doesn’t really count. However, those in the prime age group from 13 to 25 are. So this led me to wonder about what type of music do Dopers in this age group listen to. Do you only (or mostly) listen to just one genre? Would, for example, someone who listens to hip-hop also listen to rock (or vice versa)? Does rock still matter to people in your age group or is on its way to being regarded like swing or big-band as “old folks music?” Do your peer play a big role in determining what type of music you listen to? Are you, on the whole, dissatisfied with the steady stream of audio pap that the big record labels, MTV, and Clear Channel are pumping out? I’m curious about your opinions and would like to know what they are.
(BTW, although the subject matter of this thread is concerned with Dopers between the ages of 13 and 25, I’d also like to find out the opinions of those outside this age bracket.)
I’m within that age range, and I’m completely dissatisfied with the radio and TV. It’s not that I don’t like the style of music–I appreciate good pop as much as the next guy–but I hate the commercialism of it, and the overplaying doesn’t help either.
I’ll give anything a chance. What matters to me most is the skill of the players and the creativity involved in a piece. That said, I’m very definitely a metalhead, with a strong preference for avant garde black metal.
I listen to rock (some “modern”, and “classic”), metal, and “classical” (in quotes because it’s a generic term for lots of specific genres).
My peers play no role in determining my musical tastes.
I am so satisfied with the music on the radio that I have taken to listening to AM talk stations in the car when not listening to CDs. I haven’t watched MTV in years.
At home, I’ve started listening to the Music Choice stations on DirecTV instead of radio. MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more variety, it tells you on the screen the band, song, and album (unlike radio where they hardly ever announce the information anymore). I don’t know how they select what they play on those channels. . .I suspect it might be pay-for-play or something like that, but it seems to allow more bands to get exposure. I’ve bought CDs of bands I never would have heard of if not for those channels.
I listen to the country station. I’m very addicted to all of it, most specifically Rascal Flatts. But I’ve always disliked the “popular” genre, save my momentary lapse of judgement in which I thought boybands were good music…bleh.
Someone once described my taste as college radio, and I guess that’s fair. I don’t feel like I can qualify my taste into one category really, but I wouldn’t know what to pick anyway. If someone wants to offer me a category, here’s a partial list: Ben Folds, Better Than Ezra, Fleming & John, Guster, Cake, TMBG, Moxy Fruvous, Weezer, Radiohead, Pete Yorn, Fountains of Wayne (and the list goes on).
I don’t pay much attention to the stuff MTV/Clear Channel or z100 (for others in the NYC/LI area) plays, but now and then there’s a mainstream pop hit I’ll like.
19, almost 20. I listen mainly to stuff like Metallica, RATM, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. I like some of the new bands like 3 Doors Down, Audioslave, Staind and the Foo Fighters.
I also listen to older stuff, like Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and “classic rock” bands.
I love country. Specifically, older type country like Hank Williams Jr., David Allan Coe, Steve Earle, Alan Jackson, George Strait and the likes. I don’t much care for female country, or pop country like Rascal Flatts.
I’m also big into punk. I like Good Charlotte, Blink 182, MxPx, the All-American Rejects, and Simple Plan.
New Age:David Arkenstone, Vangelis, Kitaro Metal:Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Arcturus Early Music:Dufay. Praetorius, Gesualdo, Monteverdi Contemporary Classical:George Crumb, Schoenberg, Webern, Glass Electronic:Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream, Amon Tobin, Lamb Folk:Richard & Mimi Farina, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch Prog Rock:Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Spock’s Beard Goth/Ambient:Sopor Aeternus, Russell Mills
There are other genres that I like (southern rock comes to mind) but not really to the extent that I would list it as a main interest.
I don’t listen to the radio or watch much MTV, but on the whole I don’t really mind what they do. There’s alot of finely crafted pop music that those mediums highlight, and given how easy it is to find and buy other types of music, I don’t really have a problem with the situation. But the commercialism is annoying and I wish some of the song-writers in the pop industry got more attention- everyone knows Britney, but who were the people that wrote her songs?
But still, a mainstream prog-rock radio station would be rather nifty…
My peers haven’t had much affect on my musical tastes, but my family and education has. My mom introduced me to folk and rock music, while my sister shared her interest with new age, ethnic and electronic music with me. And my education as a music major has exposed me to alot of new stuff as well.
I largely disagree with what makes it on the airwaves these days, to put it rather bluntly. That said, here’s what I generally listen to (examples follow):
Rock/Pop: Steely Dan (as well as Donald fagen solo), Ben Folds (Five), Seals and Crofts, etc.
Country: George Strait, John Conlee
Jazz: Dave Brubeck (Quartet as well)
Fringe things: As a rule, I like things from the seventies, as well as old popular music from the fifties to the 1910s (thanks again, Eve), singing quartets, etc. I find that I listen to a lot of songs just for the musicians featured rather than for the song itself. I have also become a fan of bass singers such as Paul Robeson and Thurl Ravenscroft.
I’m 18, and listen to classic rock (Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd), jazz and jazz fusion (Weather Report, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck), the occasional '80s and '90s (Dead Kennedys, Nirvana), classical (Dvorak, Gershwin) and the weird stuff I dig from soundtracks (the Sopranos theme, the Kill Bill soundtrack).
Aida Soundtrack (Disney version, not the opera) Black Ivory Soul, Angelique Kidjo Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd Essential Vivaldi Kind of Blue, Miles Davis LOTR: FOTR Soundtrack Mirrorball, Sarah Maclachan These Are the Vistas, the Bad Plus A Richard Smallwood Christmas
My iTunes stuff is similar, though with slightly more pop. I’m 18.
Just turned 25 here. I agree with Mr. Jim’s assessment - the real target demographic right now is a full decade younger than I am. I rarely listen to the radio or watch MuchMusic because there’s just nothing I like being played.
As for what I do like, I’ve been listening to a lot of British stuff lately - Coldplay, Travis, Starsailor, Idlewild, etc.
Mostly current independent rock(Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Dismemberment Plan), alt rock of the 90s (Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins) and I’ve recently been getting into some oldies (big Beatles fan, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Neil Young, John Lennon).
I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t watch(or have) MTV, and I hate rap.
19 here. Can’t stand the majority of the stuff on ClearChannel-controlled radio, and am more or less indifferent to the rest. My tastes run pretty eclectic otherwise. The bands I’ve been listening to most lately: Radiohead, Jeffries Fan Club, R.E.M., Sigur Ros, They Might Be Giants, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, The New Pornographers, NOFX, Ozma, Shiner, and various orchestral movie soundtracks.
I’ve got an odd taste in music, but nothing that they play on pop stations or MTV. Most of the music I listen to falls into one of two catagories: Music from the 80s or Music my boyfriend introduced me to (things like Lamb or Massive Attack).
There’s also a smaller, third catagory of songs used in car commercials. Don’t ask me why…