Music is the Most Influential Form of Entertainment Amongst Teens
The second
Global Youth Survey
conducted by Habbo revealed that music is the number one interest for today’s teens, forming a key
element of their social identity. Pop music is shown to still have a strong presence amongst
teenagers, with 67 per cent expressing a like for the genre. Rock, electronic music and hip hop
also fare well on a global basis with 64 percent, 56 percent and 49 percent respectively, showing
the styles that have the most influence amongst today’s young music consumers.
For the study, Habbo surveyed 58,486 teens between the ages 11 and 18 from 31 countries. The
results offer great insight into how music taste is linked to identity and interests. Music, along
with clothing and appearance, is one of the main ways of expressing identity to others, both
connecting and dividing today’s younger generations through the sub-cultures associated with
different genres. This is reflected by the three highly distinctive bands that emerge as most
popular on a global scale:
Fall Out Boy,
Linkin Park and
Tokio
Hotel.
Statistical analysis from the results reflects traditional stereotypes to a certain degree
but there are also some surprising findings. For example hip hop listeners are more likely to have
an interest in more traditional sports such as football and basketball, whereas extreme sports are
associated with an interest in rock. Cooking is rated highly by those with an interest in girl and
boy bands; however it is shunned by the rockers who are at the complete opposite end of the scale.
Those that love pop music also love the glitz and glamour of showbiz and celebrities but the small
percentage that like jazz take an interest in more highbrow pastimes. The worldwide figures
also show a high level of variation in musical tastes, with no specific genre dominating the
results.
The survey shows that music continues to be one of the most influential forms of
entertainment. This is the main reason why teenagers are such active music consumers and are very
opinionated about the artists they follow. Music helps them to identify with one another, and form
groups of like-minded people that shape and support their identity creation process.
Further information and to place an order for the 250 page research report, please visit the
Sulake webstore.
Check out also a
press
release about the survey.
