And on a lighter "note"...

[crfriend]

... we have this link, by way of Some Random VIP (who wishes to remain Anonymous) and Sapphire:

Music That Makes You Dumb

It's actually a reasonably-well researched bit of work -- vastly better than some of the hare-brained hypotheses I come up with -- and caused me quite the bit of mirth this evening.

I found it sad that some of my favourite groups and composers were omitted, but the sample set seems to date to 2009, so I can forgive the "participants". I did find it gratifying, however, that when the study was run, there were quite a few youngsters at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (which is down the street from me) who were listening to Queen. After all these years.

Enjoy.

[dillon]

Based on my own tastes and SAT score, the chart is right on the money.

[skirtyscot]

I'm sure you could use that to start all sorts of arguments or confirm your prejudices! But as far as I'm concerned, it mostly shows that I don't listen to much pop music. There are a large number of singers and bands I've never heard of.

[Sinned]

I wouldn't know what my SAT score is or how to calculate it - I'm a CompSci graduate with three A Levels.

I note that two of my favourites - Simon and Garfunkel and The Who appear nowhere. And I like such as The Carpenters, The Osmonds, ELP and Abba. Does that mean that I am the dumbest of them all?

[skirtyscot]

No, it means the sample was entirely made up of young people.

[pelmut]

It doesn't even list the genres I prefer, let alone any of the performers or composers. Obviously the author and the subjects of the experiment have a very narrow knowledge of music.

[dillon]

No, it means the sample was entirely made up of young people.

Since The Grateful Dead were prominently featured, and the Beatles, I don't think that is correct. Garcia has been gone for twenty years, Lennon for thirty. It probably has more to do with die-hard fan following, i.e., artists that attract a certain level of interest and devotion beyond the average. I think that may have been the criteria for assessing that poll, not just enjoying an artist, but following one in a more or less devoted way. And it revealed that I am not the best and brightest, just nested somewhere in the center of the range. Luckily my self-esteem has nothing to do with a single test score from forty years ago. But I do miss the Dead!

[Tor]

If you look at the method, you will note that the songs/artists that appear are those that are popular enough to have been listed in at least several facebook college statistics top ten favourite artists/bands. That's probably a pretty narrow list, and if it could be redone with a top 25 I suspect you'd find a rather broader array featured. Not really "following in a more or less devoted way", but you've probably got to have a fair number doing about that to get into a college student body's top ten favourites.

For myself, it shows that I don't pay attention to or care about popular music, since I know little enough about most of them (either completely unknown or a name I recognize as being a band but have no idea what their music sounds like).

dillon, take a look at "The Music", where you may well find that quite a few of the best and brightest are listening to what you like quite a bit.