Poll: How broad are your music tastes?

[AlexanderPeregrine]

This is just a poll wondering how wide a palette everybody here has. While music is a nebulous thing full of fusion, contradiction, and debate over what is what, I don't think it's too unfair to say there are five levels to somebody's palette. Please read all of these before voting to avoid confusion. Here are the choices:

Tier 1

Allmusic.com divides their coverage of music into the following categories:

Spoiler: Allmusic list

Avant-Garde
Blues
Children's
Classical
Country
Comedy/Spoken
Easy Listening
Electronic
Folk
Holiday
International
Jazz
Latin
New Age
Pop/Rock
R&B
Rap
Reggae
Religious
Stage & Screen
Vocal

Going by this, I define tier 1 as willingness to listen to two or more of these. I'm not sure I entirely agree with lumping Pop and Rock together since modern Pop way more resembles Rap and Electronic, but then again, Pop stopped being its own "pure" genre not long after the British Invasion and has been a thieving magpie stealing shiny bits from everywhere since. As far as fusions go, I would only count it towards whatever genre the person is partial to (i.e. somebody that only listens to Jazz and Steely Dan shouldn't count Rock as a taste just because they're a Jazz Rock group). Also, just liking one or two songs, albums, or artists outside the favored genre as an extreme minority shouldn't count.

Tier 2

Just one of the above-mentioned supergenres, but plenty of genres within (e.g. somebody that listens to Rock, Metal, and Punk).

Tier 3

Just one of the broad genres mentioned above, but with plenty of variety of subgenres within (e.g. somebody that listens to Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Gothic Metal, etc.). I guess originally specific but very influential movements would count so long as offshoots and fusions are part of the palette (e.g. Glam Rock, New Wave, Gothic Rock, Grunge, etc.).

Tier 4

A really specific subgenre or local scene (e.g. Symphonic Gothic Metal, Desert Rock, Anarcho-Punk, Shoegaze, pre-mainstream Seattle Grunge, etc.).

Tier 5

Only a very select few artists with a refusal to so much as give a chance to anybody else that doesn't sound nearly identical (e.g. only listening to Within Temptation, Nightwish, After Forever, and Epica). I would count somebody that branches out across wide genre lines but are still very closed-off to new material as this, too.

My choice

I'd say I'm a weak tier 1 in that I favor Rock and Electronic, but there are plenty of Soundtracks I love and there are some songs and elements within Jazz, R&B, Classical, and New Age that I like. I'm just a very picky listener without any particular "this, this, and this makes everything awesome"; the song has to work on its own terms. I have a wide set of mental and emotional states and listen to music accordingly.

How about you?

 

[Jazoni89]

I listen to a lot of genres, but I'm mostly Tier 4.

I'm always fascinated by small music scenes that had a huge impact on music today. Especially Shoegazing, which was hyped up a lot in the UK music magazines in the early 90's (Hell even Blur started as a shoegaze band back in the day), but as a whole the scene wasn't too popular, though despite all that it was popular enough to influence many mainstream artists such as Radiohead, and the Smashing Pumpkins. By the turn of the UK Britpop scene, Shoegaze pretty much died out with many bands going mainstream, or quitting entirely (such as Lush, The Boo Radleys, The Verve, and the aforementioned Blur). It was a shame too, because Shoegaze could potentially have been the future of British mainstream music, instead British music went backwards rather than forwards, and it just went downhill from there on. Revival bands such as My Vitrol, and A Place to Bury Strangers are all that's left of the scene now.

I also like the relatively small No Wave Punk scene in New York, the style of Punk, Noise and Jazz fusion hasn't been seen since then. The style was way before it's time in many ways. It's also quite insane that it does also have ties to Shoegaze, as is seen as a precursor to Noise Rock which eventually became a fusion genre with Dream Pop to create that genre in the late 80's.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

I'm Tier 1. Come on, my iTunes ranges from Cannibal Corpse to NSYNC to The Beatles to Eminem.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Just curious, where would videogame music figure in that list? That's what I'm listening to these days.

 

[JaceArveduin]

More or less T3. I mostly listen to metal, though I occasionally listen to some rock stuff, but mostly metal.

 

[Tom_green_day]

What if we listen to multiple genres? I study music and play various instruments, and although I of course have a favourite artist limiting myself to one genre is just that... limiting.

 

[redknightalex]

I voted Tier 2 because I believe that not only can I not fit into Tier 1 (Religious and Holiday are categories I do not touch with a ten-foot pole), but I do not understand how someone could fit into that category. Even people who rate music professionally have a specific niche that they tend to stick to, just as book and gaming reviewers do. If you think of this music list like a list of food types, I'm pretty certain most wouldn't like every type of food there is out there to eat. Unless you couldn't taste the food, which is entirely different.

That being said, I do consider myself to listen to a wide variety of music. I grew up listening to Jazz and the Blues (mother) and Country (father), I prefer rock as a huge genre but have a huge soft spot for soundtracks of all kinds. And then there's the more "pop rock" as well. And what of those sub-categories? Even the "pros" have a hard time figuring out which band falls into which sub-category.

As an aside, how does Comedy/Spoken become a musical category?

 

[Rawne1980]

Tier 5.

I only listen to a few bands and those are from the 70's and 80's.

I don't listen to anything "modern".

The only band I listen to on a regular basis is Queen.

 

[Vault101]

not sure I fit into any of those....

I guess I listen to a little bit of everything learning more towards eletronic/hip hop and "alternative" for that stuff thats hard to catagorize

 

[Shock and Awe]

Tier one easily. While I usually listen to Pop/Rock (under these definitions thats REALLY broad) I also listen to Rap, Classical, and a whole lot of Country.

 

[bananafishtoday]

I find it hard to imagine many people would vote other than Tier 1. Most of the other tiers sound less like people enjoying music and more like people identifying with a sub-culture.

^Basically this. I'd assume most people will listen to a wide variety of music genres, whether or not they're deeply involved with a specific musical subculture.

Of course, this might be different for different age-groups/generations. Some teenagers may narrowly limit their music listening to establish a group identity. People in cities tend to have much more varied tastes than people in rural areas due to broader exposure, ditto for those of us who grew up online. But music's not a zero-sum game. I've found (among adults, anyway) that people who get really into obscure subgenres also tend to be the people with the most varied tastes, as they're the type of folks who devote more of their time to music as a whole.

Also, I'd just like to express my disdain for anyone who says, "I like all music except rap and country."

 

[LarenzoAOG]

I count 8 genres on that list that I listen to, so I guess I'm around tier -1.

 

[mitchell271]

I listen to these, according to AllMusic
Blues
Classical
Comedy/Spoken
Easy Listening
Electronic
Holiday
International (only J-rock)
Jazz
Rock
Stage & Screen
Vocal

Mostly metal and classic rock. I do love jazz and musical though.

 

[AnarchistFish]

allmusic has always been hilariously awful when it comes to defining genres and categorising bands within them

Solid tier 1

 

[Something Amyss]

Hmmmm...Which do I listen to (in significant number)?

Blues
Classical
Country
Comedy/Spoken
Folk
Holiday (mostly only during the season)
International
Jazz
Pop/Rock
R&B
Rap
Reggae
Vocal

Yeah, I'm guessing I'm a strong tier 1.

I don't listen to all of these equally, but I do so significantly. Except Holiday during non-holiday times, but I don't think it DQs me.

And I loooove discovering new music.

 

[spookydom]

My taste range is vast,,,,,,,But saying that, just got back from the pub and listening to Miracle of sound V loudly. Have a good one all of you's guys

 

[thesilentman]

Tier 5. I can only listen to progressive rock, and good rock at that. The only artists I can stand are Dream Theater (first favorite) and Pink Floyd. I think it's because I look for good music construction along with the music sounding good.

 

[Eddie the head]

What the fuck dose "International" mean? I like Rammstein and AC/DC dose that count? I thought those where Metal and Rock respectively? If you mean music form different cultures, say that.