Exploring Musical Preferences: An In-Depth Qualitative Study of Adults' Liking for Music in Their Personal Collections

Abstract

A wide range of psychological approaches have been used to explore musical preferences, yet few studies have focused on people's own preferred music. This article reports the results of a qualitative study into the breadth, content, and rationale of musical preferences. In-depth interviews were conducted with adults (age range 18–73 years) at home with their music collections, which acted as an aide memoire to their preferred styles. Results show that people typically prefer a wide range of styles, providing support for the increasing trend towards omnivorous musical tastes; that there are considerable differences in the extent to which musical characteristics (e.g., lyrics, instrumentation) and responses to music (e.g., cognitive, affective) shape preferences; and that musical preferences play a key role in shaping self-identity. Findings highlight the merit of using qualitative interviewing, with its emphasis on subjective perceptions, interpretations, and evaluations for exploring musical likes and dislikes, and have implications for future studies in the field. In particular, the research underlines the need for a shift away from approaches that explore musical preferences by presenting listeners with a list of predetermined style categories, as these are likely to be interpreted in different ways.