Proof that teens really do have the best taste in music
The next time your parents tell you to turn down that Taylor Swift song, you can say, “First of all, how dare you” followed by “I have better music taste than you.” Because it’s true.
Every time you listen to music, Spotify stores that data in a “Taste Profile.” A recent study looked at these profiles for US users and compared the data with the popularity rank of different artists. All in all, it found that teens listen to the most popular music, but that this declines with age. People in their thirties have “matured” out of the mainstream, and their tastes become varied and, let’s face it, not as fun.
The study discovered some other interesting stuff as well. Both male and female teens listen to the same kind of mainstream music, but guys are quicker to decline into the less-popular sphere. Also, anyone with kids, no matter their ages, listens to far less popular music than their non-parent peers. I assume that’s because all their kids let them listen to is Frozen‘s “Let It Go,” and for good reason.
Ajay Kalia, who conducted the study, has two explanations for this decline in listening to popular music:
Of course, taste is subjective, and there’s bound to be those of you out there who would argue that the less popular music is actually better. To each their own. I’d argue that knowing what’s popular and supporting those artists is a crucial part of growing up — and, let’s face it, there truly isn’t a better song out their than “Uptown Funk” for getting groovy. At least that’s something we can all agree on!
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