Schlager vs. Techno: Style-Specific Rationales for Musical Taste

Abstract

Musical taste is a complex phenomenon that has been researched primarily in breadth, revealing commonalities of musical preferences. Such research has led to the specifics of musical taste for different music being lost. To expand the research on musical taste in more depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with listeners of two very different musical styles, namely 10 who have a strong preference for techno 10 ten who strongly like German Schlager. The participants reported on the development and functions, the values associated with their musical taste (i.e., the musical, personal, and social values they ascribe to their music), and social acceptance of their taste. The analysis revealed both style-specific similarities and differences between the two groups of listeners. For instance, Schlager listeners often develop their taste within the family, enjoy singing along, and favor German lyrics, whereas techno listeners develop their taste through peer influence, enjoy dancing to the music, and prefer its rhythm. Interestingly, the qualities that the participants themselves value most about their style are also the qualities they suspect might make it unappealing to others. These findings illustrate the variability in the interaction between judgments concerning musical value and the functions associated with music listening, dependent on the specific style or substyle. Hence, recognizing the distinctiveness of different musical styles allows for a deeper exploration of the intricacies of musical preference to gain a more nuanced understanding of the complexity of musical taste.

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