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How well does music predict your politics?

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Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#21

Post by DanielBMarkham »

I usually don't like stories along the lines of "scientists correlate brain size with political party" but I liked this one. I'm just not sure there's anything meaningful here.

Most folks in the states know that Democrats are by and large young, city folks. Republicans are older people who live in rural areas (fly-over country). So it's not very surprising that Republicans like country music and Democrats like younger pop music.

Two things stuck out. One, that Pink Floyd listeners trend Replubican! Who knew? Second, that Democrats have a much more diverse taste in music than Republicans (not news, probably, but interesting).

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#22

Post by jere »

mindcrime wrote: post #19
jere wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several others have identified country music. As an American, this a totally boring, expected result. Country music stars headline right leaning benefit concerts, conventions, radio shows, and TV shows. And there's a natural alignment between country music and conservatism: both celebrate certain attitudes epitomized by the cowboy persona (strong, independent, hard working, etc.) while simultaneously trying to forget…

both celebrate certain attitudes epitomized by the cowboy persona (strong, independent, hard working, etc.) while simultaneously trying to forget that those pesky intellectuals, liberals, foreigners, and minorities even exist. Meh... as much as I don't care for a lot of what passes for "conservatism" these days, one has to be fair and say that being conservative doesn't preclude you from being an intellectual, a fore…

I agree with you, but there does seem to be a correlation there. And if you disagree, then ask yourself how many Republicans would be vote for a gay, atheist, or Muslim president. Bill Maher put it best:

>Let me defend myself. I would never say and I have never said, because it’s not true that Republicans, all Republicans are racists. That would be silly and wrong. But nowadays, if you are racist, you’re probably a Republican.

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#23

Post by ajross »

mediocregopher wrote: post #7
bambax wrote: post #4

> Artists whose fans are most correlated to Republican > Artists whose fans are most correlated to Democrat I'm French. I have never heard of the first eight artists listed as Republican friendly; I know and am familiar with most artists in the Democrat list (all but two). Do "Republican artists" target something very American that doesn't appeal to an international audience?

Most of those "republican" artists are country music artists, while most of the "democrat" artists are pop/rap (although it's easy to confuse the two these days). I would expect the rest of the world would not find country music as appealing as pop.

Honestly, modern "country" is "pop". They're distinguished demographically (country artists and fans skew more white and rural than the general US population) and geographically (Nashville vs. LA as the centers of the business), not so much musically. Other than a handful of tells (the accent in which the music is sung, the occasional use of slide guitar or fiddle) there's very little difference.

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#24

Post by jbooth »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #21

I usually don't like stories along the lines of "scientists correlate brain size with political party" but I liked this one. I'm just not sure there's anything meaningful here. Most folks in the states know that Democrats are by and large young, city folks. Republicans are older people who live in rural areas (fly-over country). So it's not very surprising that Republicans like country music and Democrats like younge…

Seriously, Pink Floyd? Maybe it's a case of age outweighing the lyrical content and the overall cultural bent of the music?

I'd have accepted the beatles-ish even split, since everyone likes Pink Floyd and the Beatles even though both are very counter-culture. But leaning Republican is just plain weird for the band that made "Us and Them", "Another brick in the wall", "Have a cigar", etc.

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#25

Post by stoic »

jpwagner wrote: post #3

should consider throwing in age distinctions. [old music-old people-conservative] vs [new-music-young people-liberal] is neither interesting nor exciting.

Another Texan checking in.

It's worth pointing out that the artists listed in the red box do actually have younger fans (Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton).

Surprised to see no mention of Radiohead...

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#26

Post by mason55 »

mindcrime wrote: post #6

Metal fans could save us all from a two-party system. Hmm... I'm a huge metal fan myself, and very much an anarcho-capitalist / libertarian / voluntaryist / $whatever_term_you_prefer. But, to be honest, I haven't really noticed much correlation between a preference for metal, and 3rd party political affiliation, at least among my metal loving friends. If anything, I'd say that metalheads perhaps run towards "politica…

I would have liked a distinction between "this music could be either" and "this music didn't signify anything". Would help tease out the difference between political apathy and appeal to both parties

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#27

Post by kokey »

jpwagner wrote: post #3

should consider throwing in age distinctions. [old music-old people-conservative] vs [new-music-young people-liberal] is neither interesting nor exciting.

I think age is probably the most important. Second to that, I suspect a higher portion of the data set being on the Democrat side. Both factors are so strong that they have old sayings about both.

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#28

Post by mason55 »

bambax wrote: post #13
DanielStraight wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All those artists are part of a genre we in America call "country music". It is basically the modern, more pop-like evolution of the music of artists like Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams (senior), and Willie Nelson. And if you haven't heard of those artists, you should check them out. If you're interested, the best modern country artist (in my opinion at least) is someone not appearing on the list: Brad Paisl…

Oh, ok. I know and love Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette et al. I don't know existing country artists. I would guess this "music analysis" is in fact a proxy for other predictors such as location (inland / coastal regions) and age, no?

age

The first thing I thought was that I'd love to see this with age accounted for as well

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#29

Post by tokenadult »

jpwagner wrote: post #3

should consider throwing in age distinctions. [old music-old people-conservative] vs [new-music-young people-liberal] is neither interesting nor exciting.

[old music-old people-conservative] vs [new-music-young people-liberal] is neither interesting nor exciting.

Indeed. The saying attributed to Winston Churchill (he didn't actually say it)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/List_of_misquotations

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill#Misattributed

"Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains." is a familiar statement that people change their political opinions over the course of life. I might add that most observers of politics in the United States think neither "conservative" nor "liberal" are useful terms for describing where people fit in United States politics.

For the record, my radio presets in my car are to "classic rock" stations (of which there are usually at least two at any one time in my town) and most of the music I rip to my computer is similarly music that was top-airplay pop music for the Baby Boom. When the Baby Boomers were young, that was probably considered somewhat radical, antiestablishment music, but I've been surprised at how many of my contemporaries have grown up into middle-aged people who might be characterized as "conservative" politically active voters today, while keeping the same musical tastes.

Re: How well does music predict your politics?

#30

Post by waterlesscloud »

jere wrote: post #22
mindcrime wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

both celebrate certain attitudes epitomized by the cowboy persona (strong, independent, hard working, etc.) while simultaneously trying to forget that those pesky intellectuals, liberals, foreigners, and minorities even exist. Meh... as much as I don't care for a lot of what passes for "conservatism" these days, one has to be fair and say that being conservative doesn't preclude you from being an intellectual, a fore…

I agree with you, but there does seem to be a correlation there. And if you disagree, then ask yourself how many Republicans would be vote for a gay, atheist, or Muslim president. Bill Maher put it best: >Let me defend myself. I would never say and I have never said, because it’s not true that Republicans, all Republicans are racists. That would be silly and wrong. But nowadays, if you are racist, you’re probably a R…

Those words could only be spoken by someone who doesn't get out much.
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