A couple of weeks ago, Spotify released a big ol’ batch of data on the Top 40 musical universities. The fine University of Wisconsin-Madison came in at 15, the top school in the Big Ten, though that last clause holds true on just about everything, not just how much students here listen to music through Spotify.
Among the things released in this report were what students do and don’t listen to, relative to the rest of the country in a series of lists and charts and all sorts of other things. Upon seeing this, I decided to see how much my own personal music taste varies from that of the school’s at large.
Let me give you some context. For those of you, who don’t often read my column, and by that I mean nearly everyone except for my Dad (thanks Dad), my music taste probably wouldn’t fall in line with the rest of the school’s. So for you, the reader’s pleasure, I’m going to go through all of this information and suss out just how divergent what I listen to is from everyone else on this fine campus.
As another piece of background, while I have a Spotify account, I hardly use it due to my bizarre love of owning all of my music. I harken back to an era where my computer and iPod had nary an Internet connection and my affinity toward bizarre bootlegs and live recordings, which even Spotify’s massive library doesn’t contain, was in full bloom.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what students on campus here like, according to Spotify. Timeflies is, “a distinctive favorite of this school,” while “straight edge” music is a genre listened to more than usual at this school. While the school has an aversion to “Christian” music, their favorite playlists contain 90s music, folk and soul.
In terms of popular artists, there were few surprises, with Beyoncé taking the top spot, followed in short order by Iggy Azalea, Coldplay, Calvin Harris and Kanye West. In terms of “distinctive artists,” meaning artists students at UW listen to more often than our counterparts at other schools, Timeflies takes the top spot, with G-Eazy, Bon Iver, Beyoncé and Pitbull rounding out the top-five.
So where does yours truly fit in all of this?
I have total disdain toward Iggy Azalea, but in the interest of not totally rehashing last week’s column, I’ll leave it at that. Kanye West had my ears when he was The College Dropout and again upon Graduation, but with every successive album, ‘Ye’s act has worn a bit thin on me.
In terms of the distinctive artists, Timeflies’ headlining performance at the Orpheum in a couple of weeks is a testament to their appeal here in Madison, though I myself am not really a fan, I get it, kind of. G-Eazy came on to my radar over the summer and I was convinced to go see him. Now I’m a fan.
Seriously though, to make a slight detour in this column, G-Eazy is as road tested as any rapper this side of Chance and has the stage presence and sound that translates just as well inside and outside of the studio. He’s playing the Barrymore in November and I’d be remiss to not throw a plug for that show somewhere in this column.
Bon Iver and I get along just swell and Justin Vernon’s Eau Claire roots can only help in this instance. Last but not least, I love 90s music just as much as the next guy, but probably not as much as the campus on the whole, while folk and soul seem like curveballs considering the top artists. Maybe a walk down a Lakeshore hallway on a Wednesday evening would enlighten me to such musical proclivities.
But what does this say about me or about the campus at large?
Music is a deeply personal thing and as much as I may try and convince everyone I know to come see Umphrey’s McGee with me when they play the Orpheum in November, if you want to listen to “All Night Longer” by Sammy Adams instead, which is the second most popular “distinctive track,” then by all means do that. Just please use headphones.
While I’ve been told numerous times that my music taste is “bad,” a story for another column, I’ll leave this column with one final note. On a campus of 40,000 plus students, your musical niche is out there. So while freshman year I was inundated with “unlistenable” rap music, the exposure to other genres of music has helped my own music taste grow. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your own G-Eazy, or G-Eazy himself.
Do you agree or disagree with Brian’s assessment of Madison’s musical tastes? Send him an email at weidy@wisc.edu
