Study: Rich & Poor People Don’t Like the Same Music
According to a study recently published in the Canadian Review of Sociology journal, poorer, less 
educated people and those with better educations and a higher financial standing, do not like the same music.
Gerry Veenstra, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Sociology, led the study and based his findings on 1,600 telephone interviews with adults in Toronto and Vancouver. Each individual was asked for their feelings on 21 different music genres.
Veenstra’s results showed that those with lesser income and education are most attracted to rap, heavy metal, country, easy listening, disco and the golden oldies. Meanwhile, those on the higher end of the scale were most attracted to rock, pop, reggae, jazz, opera and classical music.
“Breadth of taste is not linked to class,” explained Veenstra. “But class filters into specific likes and dislikes. What upper class people like is disliked by the lower class, and vice versa.”
Veenstra also discovered that his least-educated respondents were more than eight times likelier to not be fans of classical music, compared to the better-educated types.
Meanwhile, the better-educated folks held a similar disdain for country, easy listening and the golden oldies.
-Adam Grant
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