What is the most popular genre of music in the United States

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . If you limit your universe of responses to just those people willing to pick up the phone, you have already introduced a ton of unaccounted-for bias. . . .

And yet it works. They use the tools at hand to create a picture that turns out to be fairly accurate, within a margin of error that shrinks as sample size increases.

We can live with that. Sure, they could knock on doors or take clipboards to malls and gas stations or run ads on Facebook. but they'd still find people who don't want to talk with them. What they find is that phones work as well as anything.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

yea, the inconsiderate, lacking respect for anyone and anything, forcing their noise on the general public.
You won't find that inconsiderate attitude in the Country culture.

"... We say grace, and we say ma'am
If you ain't into that, we don't give a damn..." Hank Jr

There oughta be a law! Get off my lawn!!

"I'm a bit of a bore about noise."

"You abhor it?"

No. I create it."

Richard Farina, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me

 

[bholder]

Industrial Thrash Polka!

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

And yet it works. They use the tools at hand to create a picture that turns out to be fairly accurate, within a margin of error that shrinks as sample size increases.

Does it work, though? Because the results here purport to show that rock music is almost three times more popular than rap/hip hop. Which hasn't been true in more than 20 years. A poll that says rap/hip hop and jazz are at the same level of popularity is clearly not sound, for the reasons I've already stated. There is plenty of objective data on these points (album sales, ticket sales, radio airplay, streams/downloads).

I wouldn't have an issue if they just gave us the ages of the respondents. Because then we could see what I expect to be true, which is that most of the responses are going to be ages 45-65. If they framed this as: "We spoke to 1,000 people, mostly Boomers and elder Gen X, and here's what music they like the most" I could respect that. That tells us something true, if not particularly surprising. But to use skewed age responses to generalize "America's favorite music genre" is just not valid. Especially when age is such a crucial factor in musical tastes.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

Nate Silver is the pollster who called the Trump/Clinton election right when most of the others got it wrong.

The reason was that instead of asking people who they planned to vote for, he asked them who they thought would win.
[...] if more people you randomly poll think Fred Shmed is going to win, it's a strong indicator that he will.

This is interesting, and suggests the poll should have been conducted differently. Instead of asking for respondents' "favorite" genre, CBS should have asked what genre they believed was most popular. I bet the results would have been different (and more accurate).

 

[421JAM]

And yet it works.

It couldn't be more obvious that it doesn't work. Have you looked at the results? Classical is more popular than hip-hop? That's what the results say. It is easy to prove that is false.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Does it work, though? Because the results here purport to show that rock music is almost three times more popular than rap/hip hop. Which hasn't been true in more than 20 years.

At least not among the folks you hang out with.

A poll that says rap/hip hop and jazz are at the same level of popularity is clearly not sound, for the reasons I've already stated. There is plenty of objective data on these points (album sales, ticket sales, radio airplay, streams/downloads).

What people like and buy are two different things. Young people buy a lot more music than old people, but they don't like music more. Everyone likes music. You're right that the best way to track sales is to track sales. But this poll covers all adults, not just the heavy music shoppers.

I wouldn't have an issue if they just gave us the ages of the respondents. Because then we could see what I expect to be true, which is that most of the responses are going to be ages 45-65. If they framed this as: "We spoke to 1,000 people, mostly Boomers and elder Gen X, and here's what music they like the most" I could respect that.

That's a good point. I agree. It would tell us a lot more if they had segmented it into more than two age brackets.

But CBS News is one of the more conscientious pollsters. So my bet is that either:

1. they know that that fifty-year-olds are, say, 68% more likely to answer a phone poll than twenty-year-olds and do the math to adjust for that, or (less likely)

2. they know that all ages in the 18-to-64 bracket are equally likely to answer the phone.

It's certainly cheaper than cutting it up into more segments. And this is just an entertainment poll. The fate of nations isn't riding on the question. It's just for fun.

But it would've been more interesting and telling if they'd used more age brackets, right? And segmented for Latino/Latina, too.

That tells us something true, if not particularly surprising. But to use skewed age responses to generalize "America's favorite music genre" is just not valid.

When legitimate pollsters skew, it's to reduce error, not to create it.

Especially when age is such a crucial factor in musical tastes.

Yes, exactly. That's why it would've been more interesting if they'd broken it down more. So I don't doubt the findings. I just wish they'd have dug a little deeper.

But the real thing to keep an eye on is: We don't know how they did it. So what any of us assumes they did says more about us than about them — as I suggested in post 21.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It couldn't be more obvious that it doesn't work. Have you looked at the results? Classical is more popular than hip-hop?

It might just be because that there are a lot more people over thirty than between eighteen and thirty.

Under-eighteens aren't included in the survey, which makes a difference, right? It's strictly a survey of adults.

That's what the results say. It is easy to prove that is false.

You could be right. So how would we go about proving it?

 

[schmee]

According to CBS its country with rock close behind. I was actually surprised that rap and hip hop rated so low

CBS News asks: What is America's favorite music genre?

On Grammy Weekend, find out which musical styles are preferred in a new CBS News poll

www.cbsnews.com

Yes, but much of today's country is actually mostly just rock! Where today's "rock" is... hmmm... not sure! But it definitely isn't Rock n Roll!

 

[bottlenecker]

According to CBS its country with rock close behind. I was actually surprised that rap and hip hop rated so low

CBS News asks: What is America's favorite music genre?

On Grammy Weekend, find out which musical styles are preferred in a new CBS News poll

www.cbsnews.com

There's so much stuff that's called country. I love country music, but there's so much music I have zero interest in that is just as much country music as the stuff I love.

 

[421JAM]

You could be right. So how would we go about proving it?

Are you joking? This is a musician's forum, and this is basic music industry stuff every musician should know.

Sales and streaming figures, chart positions, radio play, placement in TV/movies/ads/video games/etc. are some of the ways we determine the popularity of music. In none of these categories does classical beat out hip-hop.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

"Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pa."


66.6% of Google reviewers of SSRS give the firm a 1 star rating.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Are you joking? This is a musician's forum, and this is basic music industry stuff every musician should know.

Sales and streaming figures, chart positions,

Those track sales, not preferences. Young people buy and stream more music than old people. That's why the industry mainly targets the youth market. That's where the big bucks are.

CBS wasn't telling us what people buy. It was telling us what people like.

radio play,

In commercial radio, formats are based demographics and aim to capture sales. It's not a balanced survey. It's not meant to be. For a business deciding where to spend its ad budget, a random survey would be useless. Arbitron tells advertisers who's tuning in to what. That's not the same thing as figuring out a population's preferences.

For instance, my wife and I never listen to music radio and only rarely buy CDs. But we have strong likes and dislikes. We're that older demographic that the industry doesn't waste its time and money with.

Pollsters, on the other hand, are interested in our opinions. They want to gather everyone's, cruch the numbers, and see what they get.

placement in TV/movies/ads/video games/etc. are some of the ways we determine the popularity of music.

Those also target youth. The CBS poll distinctly didn't. (To a fault, as I said above. I'm sure you agree.)

In none of these categories does classical beat out hip-hop.

Of course not. You get the difference between sales and listenership figures and randomly sampled surveys, right? Arbitron mainly pays attention to what young people are listening to, because that's mostly what's being played on air.

So that and other sales and listenership data sources are not where you'll find out what the adult population as a whole likes.

Also, keep in mind that hip-hop is more popular now than it was five years ago. Teens from 2018 are growing up, and new teens are coming in. And classical fans are dying off.

So if the poll were repeated today, I'd be surprised if classical still out-polled hip-hop. More hip-hop fans, fewer classical fans.

 

[black_doug]

Also, keep in mind that hip-hop is more popular now than it was five years ago. Teens from 2018 are growing up, and new teens are coming in. And classical fans are dying off.

So if the poll were repeated today, I'd be surprised if classical still out-polled hip-hop. More hip-hop fans, fewer classical fans.

Hip-hop more popular now than five years ago? I disagree.

As for classical, older fans may be dying but new fans are discovering it. That’s why it remains popular after hundreds of years.

 

[String Tree]

According to CBS its country with rock close behind. I was actually surprised that rap and hip hop rated so low

CBS News asks: What is America's favorite music genre?

On Grammy Weekend, find out which musical styles are preferred in a new CBS News poll

www.cbsnews.com

Well, maybe it is.
It isn't with me but, big deal.

 

[buster poser]

You won't find that inconsiderate attitude in the Country culture.

Sure will, have personally encountered it many times and I’ve heard country booming out of at least as many trucks as bass music from tricked out Hondas. Have never seen a Civic roll coal either and that’s before we get to David Allan Coe and Jerry Lee.

Sorry to be a downer but there are jerks in every genre’s fan base.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, Pa."

66.6% of Google reviewers of SSRS give the firm a 1 star rating.

Yup. It was an uninformative poll. They didn't include teens, they didn't break up the 18-to-64 into smaller sub-groups, and they didn't include Latinos and Latinas.

This was a throw-away poll just meant for entertainment during Grammy fever season.

To cut SRSS some slack, though, just because Google reviewers of SSRS don't like them, that doesn't automatically mean the company doesn't know its asterisk from its ebola.

Read through the responses on this thread. Lots of people don't believe individual polls and pollsters just because they don't believe polls and pollsters in general. Same goes for a lot of Google reviewers.

SRSS gets a C+ from www.fivethirtyeight.com. Not stellar, but a passing grade. For a throw-away poll, that's the kind of company you'd farm that kind of entertainment poll out to: cheap, but using accepted, if not rigorous, methods.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hip-hop more popular now than five years ago? I disagree.

As for classical, older fans may be dying but new fans are discovering it. That’s why it remains popular after hundreds of years.

I hear more of it, but I'm keeping in mind what I said above about not mistaking our own experience for the experience of the whole country.

So I'll bet you're right. Guess we'll have to wait for the next poll to come out.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

yea, the inconsiderate, lacking respect for anyone and anything, forcing their noise on the general public.
You won't find that inconsiderate attitude in the Country culture.
"... We say grace, and we say ma'am
If you ain't into that, we don't give a damn..." Hank Jr

There oughta be a law! Get off my lawn!!

I've gotta go with Buster Poster (#76) on this one. There's human debris everywhere.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

To cut SRSS some slack, though, just because Google reviewers of SSRS don't like them, that doesn't automatically mean the company doesn't know its asterisk from its ebola.

Yeah, my response was a glib commentary about the qualifiers for that poll and my general distrust in statistical shadow puppetry. The numbers I cited were from a total of 9 Google reviews, lol. No offense to statisticians committed to the science, but there are a lot shenanigans when it comes to polls. All the "10 Best Cities to Live in" *studies* come to mind.