My Thoughts On People's Taste In Music

On a recent Pew Research survey there was a question on musical performers. A list of 20 musicians was given and people were asked whether they "like a lot", "like a little", "dislike, or "haven't heard of" these musical performers. The survey was given to people aged 16 to "65+"

These are the results for "like a lot":

1. The Beatles (49%)

2. The Eagles (42%)

3. Johnny Cash (39%)

4. Michael Jackson (39%)

5. Elvis Presley (38%)

6. The Rolling Stones (38%)

7. Aretha Franklin (38%)

8. Frank Sinatra (34%)

9. Carrie Underwood (34%)

10. Garth Brooks (33%)

11. Jimi Hendrix (32%)

12. Bruce Springsteen (29%)

13. Mariah Carey (27%)

14. Bob Dylan (24%)

15. Jefferson Airplane (20%)
16. Nirvana (20%)
17. Madonna (19%)

18. Coldplay (18%)

19. Kanye West (17%)

20. The Grateful Dead (15%)

Not too surprisingly, the band that was most liked was The Beatles -- with 49% of respondents saying they like them lot.

At the bottom of the list was The Grateful Dead -- only 15% of respondents said they like them a lot.

Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks made it to the Top 10 for performers liked a lot...above Jimi Hendrix (#11), Bruce Springsteen (#12), Bob Dylan (#14), Nirvana (#16), Coldplay (#18)...

And The Eagles are good and all, but I don't know if I would say #2 good. Especially when you consider they're ahead of Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, etc. I was a little surprised by that.

However, these rankings are based on the number of people that said they "like a lot" a certain performer. I wanted to see what the list looked like when you combined "like a lot" and "like a little" to form the category "like". This gives a better sense of people that like a performer without necessarily being a huge fan. And this is the new list:

1. The Beatles (81% like)

2. Elvis Presley (79%)

3. Johnny Cash (76%)

4. Michael Jackson (75%)

5. The Rolling Stones (75%)

6. Aretha Franklin (74%)

7. Frank Sinatra (74%)
8. The Eagles (67%)

9. Bruce Springsteen (66%)

10. Mariah Carey (66%)

11. Garth Brooks (65%)

12. Jimi Hendrix (64%)

13. Carrie Underwood (63%)

14. Madonna (60%)

15. Bob Dylan (59%)

16. Jefferson Airplane (47%)

17. Nirvana (45%)

18. Kanye West (42%)

19. The Grateful Dead (41%)

20. Coldplay (39%)

That list seems better (though I still question some responses...). The Top 5 makes more sense. The Eagles are moved down to #8. Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood get moved out of the Top 10 (though, how did Jimi Hendrix get sandwiched between them?). Interestingly, Mariah Carey got moved up into the Top 10. And poor Coldplay got moved to last place (probably because so few people have heard of them...).

More people dislike Madonna than those that like her a lot -- 19% like her a lot, 41% like her a little, 31% dislike her. Madonna received the highest percentage of "dislikes" than any other musical performer on the list. The next most-disliked performer was The Grateful Dead at 26%; then Mariah Carey and Garth Brooks both at 22%; then Michael Jackson at 19%.

Just like Madonna, Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey are very polarizing. With Garth Brooks, 33% like him a lot; 32% like him a little; 22% dislike him. With Mariah Carey, 27% like her a lot; 39% like her a little; 22% dislike her.

The band most unheard of was Coldplay -- 45% of respondents haven't heard of them. Next highest was Jefferson Airplane at 36%; then Kanye West at 33%; Nirvana at 29%; The Grateful Dead at 26%. All the other performers had percentages lower than 20%.

Surprisingly, 4% of respondents haven't heard of The Beatles; 1% haven't heard of Michael Jackson; 3% haven't heard of Elvis Presley. Who are these people? The survey was conducted over the telephone, so they're most likely not living in a shack up in the mountains or a nuclear bunker. I blame the really old and the really young for this. It's one thing to not like a musical performer, but to never have even heard of them? I mean, I can kind of see (if I squint really hard) people not knowing about groups like Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead because they weren't as big or legendary or iconic as The Beatles or Michael Jackson, for example. Most people could name a Beatles song. I don't know how many could name a Grateful Dead song. And I can kind of understand people (old people) not hearing of "younger" bands like Nirvana and Coldplay. But we're talking about hugely iconic musical legends when it comes to The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley.

And I'm also personally offended 18% haven't heard of Bob Dylan and 11% haven't heard of Aretha Franklin.

I also liked when they broke down the "like a lot" answers by age group (I wish they would have done that with all the responses). Come to find out in the 50-64 age group, 9% likes Kanye West a lot; 10% like Nirvana a lot; 35% likes Michael Jackson a lot. In the 65+ age group, 1% likes Nirvana a lot; 4% like Kanye West a lot; 21% likes Michael Jackson a lot. Adorable!!