Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments

Prior, Nick

doi:10.1111/soc4.12020

Cited by 50 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…For example, appreciation for Bach's The Well‐Tempered Clavier was prevalent among the most highly educated members of Bourdieu's survey sample from the 1960s. “As legitimate culture, classical music gathers around it the highest values of aesthetic formalism associated with Kantian ‘distinterestedness’” (Prior :183). The French upper class also rejected with disgust “the most popular and most ‘vulgar’ singers, such as Les Compagnons de la Chanson, Mireille Mathieu, Adamo or Sheila” (Bourdieu [1979] 1984:60).…”

Section: The Bourdieusian Homology Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing‐Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks

Veenstra

2015

Canadian Review of Sociology

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The longstanding debate between the homology and omnivorism approaches to the class bases of cultural tastes and practices rages on in cultural sociology. The homology thesis claims that class positions throughout the class hierarchy are accompanied by specified cultural tastes and specialized modes of appreciating them while the cultural omnivorism thesis contends that elites are (increasingly) characterized by a breadth of cultural tastes of any and all kinds. This study tests the applicability of these theses to musical tastes in Canada through the application of multiple correspondence analysis, latent class analysis, and logistic regression modeling to original telephone survey data (n = 1,595) from Toronto and Vancouver. I find that musical omnivorism, an appreciation for diverse musical styles, is not dispersed along class lines. Instead I find a homology between class position and musical tastes that designates blues, choral, classical, jazz, musical theater, opera, pop, reggae, rock, and world/international as relatively highbrow and country, disco, easy listening, golden oldies, heavy metal, and rap as relatively lowbrow. Of the highbrow tastes, all but jazz are disliked by lower class people, and of the lowbrow tastes, country, easy listening, and golden oldies are concurrently disliked by higher class people. Consistent with the homology thesis, it appears that class position is aligned with specific musical likes and dislikes. Le vieux débat entre les approches de l'homologie et de l'omnivorisme aux bases des classes des goûts et des pratiques culturels fait rage dans la sociologie culturelle. La thèse de l'homologie prétend que les positions des classes à travers la hiérarchie des classes sont accompagnées par des goûts culturels spécifiés et des modes spécialisés permettant leur appréciation. La thèse de l'omnivorisme culturel, en revanche, soutient que les élites sont (de plus en plus) caractérisées par un éventail de goûts culturels de toutes sortes. Cette étude expérimente l'applicabilité de ces thèses aux goûts musicaux au Canada à travers l'application de l'analyse des correspondances multiples, de l'analyse des classes latentes et du modèle de régression logistique aux données d'origine de l'étude collectées par téléphone (n = 1,595) de Toronto et de Vancouver. Je me rends compte que l'omnivorisme musical, une appréciation de styles musicaux divers, n'est pas dispersé le long des classes sociales. Bien au contraire, je trouve qu'il existe une homologie entre la position des classes et les goûts musicaux qui désigne les blues, la chorale, la musique classique, le jazz, le théâtre musical, l'opéra, la pop, le reggae, le rock et la musique du monde/internationale comme des styles des classes au niveau intellectuel relativement élevé. Cette homologie désigne la country, la disco, la musique d'ambiance, les anciens succès, le heavy metal et le rap comme des styles des classes au niveau intellectuel relativement bas. Des goûts des classes au niveau intellectuel élevé, tous les styles à l'exception ...

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Section: The Bourdieusian Homology Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing‐Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks

Veenstra

2015

Canadian Review of Sociology

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“…Finally, the data analyzed in present study were collected in 1999 and do not account for the evolution of digital technology and the means by which individuals now consume music. New musical devices, services, and purchasing models have proliferated since 1999, providing far greater access to musical content and experiences than ever before (Prior ). Increasingly accessible and affordable personal listening devices such as iPods and MP3 players have been found to enable enhancement of subjective well‐being and mental health (Skanland ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeling the Beat and Feeling Better: Musical Experience, Emotional Reflection, and Music as a Technology of Mental Health

Semenza

2017

Sociological Inquiry

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Using data from the 1999 Arts and Religion Survey, this article builds on the work of Tia DeNora and the understanding of music as a technology of health by focusing on an important aspect of music's impact on mental health, emotional reflection. The study first examines the relationship between musical experiences and the perceived effectiveness of music as a coping tool in everyday life. The results indicate that musical experience is positively associated with the perception of music as an effective coping mechanism, controlling for relevant demographic and artistic factors included in the survey. The analysis then assesses the relationship between music's perceived effectiveness as a coping mechanism and emotional reflection, indicating a positive association between the two. Aesthetic disposition and parental education are also positive predictors of using music to cope and emotional reflection. The study demonstrates that those who value music as a means of coping may be more emotionally reflective and in turn, experience benefits related to positive mental health. The results also highlight the importance of considering both micro‐ and macro‐theoretical approaches to understanding musical practices and their role in health improvement.

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“…It is unclear whether such variations are due to globalisation, regardless of nationality, whether omnivorousness is indeed a peculiar feature of the American society, or if it is only spread across some specific countries (Rimmer 2012;Prior 2013). Although its true meaning remains unclear (Atkinson 2011), nowadays it is broadly accepted that homology and omnivourism are indeed compatible (Tampubolon 2008a;Lizardo and Skiles 2012).…”

Section: Distinction and Omnivoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is broadly recognised that Peterson's conceptualisation offers a partial explanation of the distribution of musical likes and dislikes (Lizardo and Skiles 2012;Prior 2013), but no research has proved before that omnivourism/eclecticism does not work in the same way in different social structures. Music, as every other cultural form, is a domain where national repertoires collaborate on shaping boundaries, tying musical works and artists in terms of similarities and differences to expectations from audience members.…”

Section: Omnivourism Distinction and Beyond: A Cross-national Perspmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this regard, Frith (1996) claims that the individual's evaluation of musical genres is based on a range of discursive practices which have evolved over time. Broadly speaking, the author's three defined judgmental discourses recognize that similarly as taste for highbrow music is a reflection of class, engagement with rare and exclusive popular music produces symbolic profit (Prior 2013). Art discourse is where music provides a transcendent experience available only to people with certain abilities.…”

Section: Intensity Of Musical Judgementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Global Omnivore: Identifying Musical Taste Groups in Austria, England, Israel and Serbia

Leguina¹,

Widdop²,

Tampubolon³

2016

Sociological Research Online

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This research offers a unique opportunity to revisit the omnivore hypothesis under a unified method of cross-national analysis. To accomplish this, we interpret omnivourism as a special case of cultural eclecticism (Ollivier, 2008;Ollivier, Gauthier and Truong, 2009).Our methodological approach incorporates the simultaneous analysis of locally produced and globally known musical genres. Its objective is to verify whether cultural omnivourism is a widespread phenomenon, and to determine to what extent any conclusions can be generalised across countries with different social structures and different levels of cultural openness. To truly understand the scope of the omnivourism hypothesis, we argue that it is essential to perform a cross-national comparison to test the hypothesis within a range of social, political and cultural contexts, and a reflection of different historical and cultural repertoires (Lamont, 1992).

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Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Recent Developments

Cited by 50 publications

References 38 publications

Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing‐Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks

Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing‐Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks

Feeling the Beat and Feeling Better: Musical Experience, Emotional Reflection, and Music as a Technology of Mental Health

The Global Omnivore: Identifying Musical Taste Groups in Austria, England, Israel and Serbia

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