Exploring the musical taste of expert listeners: musicology students reveal tendency toward omnivorous taste

Abstract

Musicology students are engaged with music on an academic level and usually have an extensive musical background. They have a considerable knowledge of music history and theory and listening to music may be regarded as one of their primary occupations. Taken together, these factors qualify them as ≫expert listeners≪, who may be expected to exhibit a specific profile of musical taste: interest in a broad range of musical styles combined with a greater appreciation of ≫sophisticated≪ styles. The current study examined the musical taste of musicology students as compared to a control student group. Participants (n = 1003) completed an online survey regarding the frequency with which they listened to 22 musical styles. A factor analysis revealed six underlying dimensions of musical taste. A hierarchical cluster analysis then grouped all participants, regardless of their status, according to their similarity on these dimensions. The employed exploratory approach was expected to reveal potential differences between musicology students and controls. A three-cluster solution was obtained. Comparisons of the clusters in terms of musical taste revealed differences in the listening frequency and variety of appreciated music styles: the first cluster (51% musicology students/27% controls) showed the greatest musical engagement across all dimensions although with a tendency toward ≫sophisticated≪ musical styles. The second cluster (36% musicology students/46% controls) exhibited an interest in ≫conventional≪ music, while the third cluster (13% musicology students/27% controls) showed a strong liking of rock music. The results provide some support for the notion of specific tendencies in the musical taste of musicology students and the contribution of familiarity and knowledge toward musical omnivorousness. Further differences between the clusters in terms of social, personality, and sociodemographic factors are discussed.

Music Preferences and Personality in Brazilians

“…This may suggest that individuals with strong Extraversion traits possess omnivorous musical tastes, being more open to appreciation and musical cultural diversity (Elvers et al, 2015). Regarding the positive correlations found, firstly, it was observed the highest association with Brazilian Mainstream Music, a musical dimension that adds music styles of mass consumption, frequently present in parties and clubs of different Brazilian contexts, thus corroborating the results published by Langmeyer et al (2012).…”

What is ‘open-earedness’, and how can it be measured?

“…An alternative to the Bourdieusian homology argument is that based on the concept of omnivorousness (see, e.g., Peterson & Kern, 1996): Chan and Goldthorpe (2007), for example, present two alternative perspectives: the individualisation argument, which places greater emphasis on individual characteristics such as age, gender or musical training than on social status in the formation of musical taste; and the omnivore–univore argument, in which so-called ‘highbrow’, ‘middle-brow’ and ‘low-brow’ taste patterns are defined in terms of cultural consumption rather than of social status. This latter argument is supported by Elvers, Omigie, Fuhrmann, and Fischinger’s (2015) empirical demonstration that musical ‘omnivorousness’ – the tendency to appreciate a wide range of musical styles, including those regarded as ‘highbrow’ or ‘sophisticated’ – tends to be positively related to musical training/sophistication. The results of Chan and Goldthorpe’s regression analysis, which includes a range of demographic and stratification variables, ‘provide little support for the homology or individualisation arguments.…”

Musical pantophagy: Is there an effect on changes in preference resulting from repeated exposure?

“…Peterson and Kern (2006) suggested highbrow listeners enjoy classical music and opera while eschewing other forms, but omnivores enjoy highbrow music as well as middle and lowbrow forms. Elvers et al (2015) report greater liking of sophisticated music by expert listeners, and also greater appreciation in general while possessing an omnivore taste. They suggest that this omnivorism may result from familiarity with a variety of musical styles.…”

“…In extant affective research, taste is generally defined as a long-term and enduring valuation of music (Abeles & Chung, 1996;Britten, 1996;Finnas, 1989;Hargreaves et al, 2006;Johnston, 2015;Macdonald, Hargreaves, & Miell, 2002;Russell, 1997), whereas preference is consistently defined as degree of liking or disliking of a musical stimulus (Bradley, 1972;Britten, 1996;Droe, 2006;Getz, 1966;Hargreaves, 1984;Leblanc, Jin, Simpson, Stamau, & McCrary, 1998;Moskovitz, 1992;O'Brien, 1986;Peery & Peery, 1986;Price, 1988;Radocy, 1982;Shehan, 1985). Investigators have examined breadth of musical taste in multiple ways., indicating that persons with musical training have higher preference for art music, persons from higher social classes like a greater number of different music genres, and persons with musical training have more broad preferences (Baumann, 1960;Birch, 1963;Bryson, 1996;Davis, 2015;Elvers, Omigie, Fuhrmann, & Fischinger, 2015;Emmison, 2003;Geringer, 1982;Geringer & McManus, 1979;Hargreaves, Messerschmidt, & Rubert, 1980;Kelly, 1961;Keston & Pinto, 1955;Peterson & Kern, 1995;Price & Yarbrough, 1987;Scheussler, 1948;K. Van Eijck, 2001).…”