Top40-Charts.com
Support our efforts,
sign up for our $5 membership!
(Start for free)
Register or login with just your e-mail address
Music Industry 14 November, 2009

'Nature Or Nurture' Study Reveals 'Musical Genes'

Hot Songs Around The World

Die With A Smile
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
227 entries in 26 charts
Birds Of A Feather
Billie Eilish
490 entries in 25 charts
Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido
Karol G
176 entries in 13 charts
Espresso
Sabrina Carpenter
644 entries in 27 charts
A Bar Song (Tipsy)
Shaboozey
530 entries in 22 charts
Grustnyi Dens
Artik & Asti
204 entries in 2 charts
I Had Some Help
Post Malone & Morgan Wallen
331 entries in 21 charts
Good Luck, Babe!
Chappell Roan
311 entries in 18 charts
Stargazing
Myles Smith
361 entries in 20 charts
Too Sweet
Hozier
517 entries in 23 charts
Tu Falta De Querer
Mon Laferte
192 entries in 3 charts
Castle On The Hill
Ed Sheeran
250 entries in 22 charts
Lose Control
Teddy Swims
883 entries in 25 charts
Beautiful Things
Benson Boone
815 entries in 27 charts
New York (Top40 Charts/ Nokia Corporation) - If you've ever wondered why a close group of friends might like completely different types of music, blame their genes.
A study by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) into the musical tastes of nearly 4,000 twins reveals genetic influences on the music people like varies with genre. While, on the whole, musical taste is determined just as much by nature as it is by specific individual experiences, nature's influence is strongest on appreciation of pop, classical and hip-hop music - indicating some people may be born to love Michael Jackson, Beethoven or Jay-Z.

Nature's influence is lowest on appreciation of folk and country, where family upbringing appears to play a role - so a CD collection full of Hank Williams, Dolly Parton and Joni Mitchell can't necessarily be blamed on genetics:

Genre - Nature's Influence
Pop/classical/rap/hip-hop - 53%
Jazz/blues/soul - 46%
Rock/indie/heavy metal - 40%
Country/folk - 24%

The study, conducted by Nokia and Kings' College London Department of Twin Research, investigated the listening habits of nearly 4,000 twins and looked at the influence of both genetic and environmental factors on musical taste.

"Previous studies have shown that perfect pitch ability appears to be partly inherent and with as much as 50% of our musical taste being predetermined, it appears there is a strong argument for the existence of 'music genes'" says Adrian North, Professor of Psychology at Heriot Watt University.

As might be expected, genetic influences decrease over time as individual experiences becomes more important. Excluding country music - on average for the under 50s, genes have more influence (55%)(1) than environmental factors (45%)(2) , whereas for the over 50s, the influence of individual specific environmental factors on a music collection increases to 60%(3).

Liz Schimel from Nokia commented; "Mobile phones are changing the way people experience music and, if we're to give music fans the music they want, we need to know what fuels their passions. While technology doesn't yet allow us to match DNA to playlists with Nokia Comes With Music service and millions of tracks in the Nokia Music Store, there's something for every gene."

Genetic influence ranking by genre for under and over 50s
Under 50s
- 56% Jazz/blues/soul
- 55% Pop/classical/rap/hip-hop
- 53% Rock/indie/heavy metal
- 0% Country/folk

Over 50s
- 43% Pop/classical/rap/hip-hop
- 42% Jazz/blues/soul
- 34% Rock/indie/heavy metal
- 28% Country/folk

Born to buy music, but not to listen to it
While genetic influence on the music we like (55%) is clear, genes have a significantly lower influence (25%) on our motivations for listening to music. According to the research, listening habits are influenced by a desire to soundtrack our day, wanting to set a mood, or simply to enjoy the listening experience rather than any 'play music now' gene.
A video including interviews is available at: https://nds3.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/Materials/Design_videos/Nokia_Twins Study_v3H480.mov

The research was conducted amongst identical (MZ) twins and fraternal (DZ) twins. MZ twins share 100% the same genes, whereas DZ twins share half the same genes, just like ordinary siblings. Assuming the shared environment they grew up in is equally similar for MZ and DZ twins, it is possible to conclude that any greater similarity in musical taste between identical twins than non-identical twins is due to genetic influences.

1. This figure is the mean of percentages for heritability in the under 50s, for indie/rock music (53%), pop/classical (55%) and jazz/blues 56%).
2. This figure is the mean of percentages for environmental influence in the under 50s, for indie/rock music (47%), pop/classical (45%) and jazz/blues (44%).
3. This figure is the mean of percentages for environmental influence in the over 50s, for indie/rock music (66%), pop/classical (58%) and jazz/blues (58%).






Most read news of the week


© 2001-2024
top40-charts.com (S6)
about | site map
contact | privacy
Page gen. in 0.9860311 secs // 4 () queries in 0.0038895606994629 secs


live