Daily soundscapes predict musical preferences: A survey on sonic affinity cause-effect processes.

Abstract

This study aimed to provide a quantitative frame for the theory of sonic affinity (Campos, 2016), according to which humans tend to assimilate and reproduce the sounds of the aural environments that surround them since the prenatal phase and throughout a lifetime. It consists of a survey carried out with 148 Spanish teenagers with limited formal musical training. Three "soundscape exposure/musical preference" relational axes were tested: intensive use of digital devices in relation to preference to electronic dance music, watching TV with rap/hip-hop, and home/neighborhood aural intensity with heavy metal. Statistical results supported there is a relevant association in the first two relational axes, with more restricted variables than the broader ones considered by Campos ( 2016): specifically, between playing video games (regardless of computer usage) and preference for electronic dance music; and between watching Disney movies (also watching TV in general) and preference for rap. Emotion and (the search of) identity probably play a considerable role in both positive correlations. The third relationship could be neither proved nor refuted because the data examined were not enough, and the findings remain inconclusive.