Will that be country or opera? UBC study says your musical taste says a lot about your social status

Do you rock out to Metallica or bliss out to Dvorak? Do you hate Miles Davis or despise Dr. Dre? Sorry, but it may say something about your social class.

That's the word from a recently published UBC study in the Canadian Review of Sociology.

According to UBC sociology prof Gerry Veenstra's survey of 732 adults in Toronto and 863 adults in Vancouver, summarized in a report called “Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing-Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks”, social class informs our cultural attitudes and the way we listen to music.

In his study, poorer, less-educated people tended to like country, disco, easy listening, golden oldies, heavy metal, and rap. Wealthier and better-educated repondents preferred genres such as classical, blues, jazz, opera, choral, pop, reggae, rock, world, and musical theatre.

Of the highbrow tastes, all but jazz are disliked by lower class people, and of the lowbrow tastes, country, easy listening, and golden oldies were disliked by higher class people.

Interestingly, a person's wealth and education didn't affect his or her breadth of musical taste. In other words, you can keep your shit-kicking country and your easy-listening on the same playlist—just don't let your friends find out.