With “pop music” I mean the music genre, not just “popular music”.
So basically this is no mystery. Women definitively like pop music more than men do, and pop musicians are normally more directed towards women. Be it female singers who normally cater to girls or women, or male singers that sing about women and are liked for being hot. There are some more “neutral” or even “male-oriented” pop artists, like Bruno Mars, and of course many men like people like Taylor Swift or Ricky Martin, but usually the top most listened to tend to be female-oriented, and mostly listened by women. Meanwhile, men seem to listen mostly to Rock, Rap, Metal or EDM, and also seems the listeners of “niche” genres such as Extreme Metal or experimental stuff, and also men seem more “exclusive”, only listening to a few genres, while even women who normally listen to stuff like Rock or Metal listen to pop occasionally.
Why is this? Do discographics intentionally cater to women more than men? Why do they do that? Has it always been like that?
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Hmmmm I figured surely that meant women listened to music more often than men, kind of like clothing stores having overwhelmingly more women’s clothing than men because women buy more, but no, significantly more men listen to music daily than women.
Could be just what works for them.
why would Taylor swift stop her current style when she‘s already making millions? No need for a change.
Might be….
Pop music tends to be focused on love and deep feelings, and men tend to avoid that stuff. Men will actively mock other men for liking romantic pop songs, female singers, etc.
Whereas genres like rap are more focused on sex. Rock/punk about feeling lonely, being an outsider, rebelling against society etc. Promoted as being more masculine and for men.
There’s also popular singers/bands than men like and will refuse to admit they’re pop. So men can and do enjoy pop, but don’t want to admit that it’s pop they like.
We see this in lots of different areas. Like… books! Men will get mocked for reading romance books, called sissy, gay, etc. Enjoying romance is seen as feminine, there’s a lot of push for men to focus on and care only about the sex aspects.
It’s because popular music is designed to hold attention long enough to sell ad space on the radio. Most ads are focused on women 18-34.
First, probably more men than you think like pop, though they tend to be younger.
Second, the genre is by definition lighter and more “feminine” sounding, and it usually deals with themes and experiences that women tend to be more interested in.
Third, music targeted toward women is more profitable. That’s for the simple reason that if you draw in women, men will follow. Bars play pop music because they want women to hang out there. A man is more likely to his girlfriend control the music in the car. And a woman is more likely to drag her boyfriend to a Taylor Swift show than he is to drag her to his Metallica show.
TLDR: If you want to make the big bucks, you gotta get the women.