Społeczne zróżnicowanie gustu muzycznego
Social Differentiation in Musical Taste

Summary/Abstract: The sociological understanding of the relationship between social position and taste in music has been profoundly challenged by the debate about omnivorousness. Focusing on it we argue that empirically investigating the range of musical likes is at least as important as investigating what people prefer and how. Liking the same things does not necessarily indicate that class differences wane, as a given object can be appropriated in different ways. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative interviews with the individuals located in different class position in Wrocław, one of the largest Polish cities, we show differences between occupational categories in the number of appreciated genres. Next, we address the question of the extent to which different genres cluster into specific patterns. We conclude that a difference in the breadth of tastes is neither the singular nor the most salient possible difference in taste between status groups. What matters, too, are musical taste patterns, musical orientations (towards other people or towards relaxation) and ways of living with music.

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