So we've already covered how personality affects our musical preferences. And we already know that rap and rock music listeners have the same personality traits as classical music listeners. So why then are classical and jazz music classified as "high brow" music genres while rock and rap are "low brow"? Is it because we associate classical music with wealth? Bingo! |
It is a widespread belief that classical music is for the culturally seasoned individual. One who listens to classical music probably does so at their weekly outing to the symphony while munching on caviar and sipping champagne (or so we think). But in a recent study performed with over 36,000 people around the world, the results yielded something drastically different. The study hypothesized that higher income would reflect a positive relationship for preference of "high art" styles of music such as classical and jazz. However, the study found that "there were negative relationships between income and liking for the classical and jazz metastyles, among several others, even though these represent the most 'high art' of the styles considered, whereas the metastyle giving rise to the strongest positive relationship with income was dance” (North 205). North says she doesn't see the connection between high income and affinity for dance music, but I do: frequenting dance clubs requires a hefty bank account.
So there you have it. Dance music listeners aren't those ecstasy-pill-popping, rave-going teens you see in the movies (well... yes, they are) but they are also more likely to be the Bill Gates and Oprah Winfreys of the world. So for all those people out there trying to put on airs by listening to Mozart in certain company, you're better off picking up Daft Punk's latest album if you want to give the impression of having a lot of money.