60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll
February 8-12, 2014
Music
· Which one of the following is the way you most often listen to music?
In the digital age, radio is alive and well.
For all the new ways one can listen to music, it’s the radio that Americans turn to the most. 49% of Americans say they listen to music most often through the radio, more than every other method combined. A distant second choice are digital music services like Spotify, Pandora, or Last.fm (17%), which in turn is more listened to than iPhones, iPods, or other mp3 players (15%). CDs are now picked by just 9% of Americans as the way they listen to music the most. 6% most often listen to mp3s on their computer, while just 1% of Americans most often listen to music on those spiral-grooved, rotating disks that produce analogue sound - vinyl records.
Radio is king now, but change may be afoot. While older Americans listen to radio most often, it comes in only third among Americans under the age of 35 (24%). Instead, the top choice among Americans 18-34 is some form of digital music service (35%) followed by iPhones, iPods, and mp3 players (29%).
How Do You Most Often Listen to Music?
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
The radio 49% 24% 55% 57% 63% 64%
Digital music service 17 35 15 12 8 3
iPhone, iPod, mp3 player 15 29 14 12 8 1
CD player 9 2 8 9 16 18
Computer 6 8 6 8 2 2
Record player/turntable 1 0 0 1 1 4
· If you had to pick one, which type of American music do you think is more important?
Even young people say Jazz is more important than Hip hop.
Hip hop music may have reached a global marketplace, but Americans don’t think it compares to Jazz in terms of importance when comparing these two widely-influential musical forms. 73% of Americans pick Jazz as the more important type of American music, while just 19% pick Hip hop. Blacks and whites agree on this: 77% of blacks and 73% of whites both think Jazz is more important than Hip hop.
Most Americans of all ages think jazz is more important, but younger Americans are more likely to concede more importance to hip hop. About eight in 10 Americans 45 and older think jazz is more important, though this drops to two in three Americans between 18 and 44.
Jazz or Hip hop: Which is More Important?
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Jazz 73% 65% 66% 82% 81% 78%
Hip hop 19 32 29 11 10 7
· If you had to pick one, which of the following musical forms is the most likely to have reached its peak and won’t get any better?
Americans think hip hop is the most likely to have reached its peak.
Compared with other forms of music, Americans are most likely to think Rap or Hip hop has reached its peak and won’t get any better. Though a recent phenomenon compared to the other musical forms on the list, 50% say Hip hop is the most likely to have reached its musical heyday, far ahead of Country (20%), Rock (10%), Pop (9%), and R & B (7%). Both whites (51%) and blacks (48%) think Hip hop is the most likely of these musical forms to have reached its peak.
Like Americans overall, those under 35 pick Rap or Hip hop as the most likely to have reached its peak (34%), though nearly as many instead pick Country (30%).
Which Musical Form Has Reached its Peak?
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Rap or Hip hop 50% 34% 48% 58% 64% 54%
Country 20 30 16 15 18 16
Rock 10 11 17 6 4 11
Pop 9 14 8 10 5 4
R & B 7 8 8 4 6 5
· A song sounds best when it’s sung in which one of these languages?
Americans like their songs sung in English.
Other languages may seem more romantic, but when it comes down to it, most Americans think a song sounds best when sung in English. 64% of Americans pick English, far ahead of Spanish (13%), Italian (10%), and French (6%). Wagner-lovers may be dismayed to find only 2% of Americans think songs sound best in German, and Bossa Nova lovers may be disappointed that only 1% pick Portuguese.
Both men (69%) and women (60%) think a song sounds best in English. Hispanic Americans, like non-Hispanics, are also more likely to say a song sounds best in English, but many – 39% - pick Spanish as the language a song sounds best in.
A Song Sounds Best When Sung In…
Total Hispanic Not Hispanic
English 64% 47% 68%
Spanish 13 39 8
Italian 10 5 11
French 6 5 6
German 2 1 2
Portuguese 1 1 1
· If your child were to study the music of just one of the following artists, who would you choose?
Baby-boomers would prefer their children study the Beatles over Mozart.
If they could have their child study the music of just one artist, Americans are divided between classical and rock. 33% say they would pick the Beatles as the one artist they would have their child study, while nearly as many – 32% - choose composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. These are the top two choices from a list that also includes Michael Jackson (14%), Billie Holiday (9%), and Jay-Z (5%).
There are generational differences in whether one chooses Mozart or the Fab Four. Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 – the age group most closely matching the Baby Boomer generation – pick the Beatles over Mozart. This preference is particularly strong among those between 55 and 64: older Boomers who would have grown up right at the peak of 1960s Beatlemania. Americans under 45 and Americans over 65 are more likely to pick Mozart over the Beatles.
Which Artist Would You Want Your Child to Study?
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
The Beatles 33% 30% 29% 39% 42% 26%
Mozart 32 34 32 30 24 37
Michael Jackson 14 19 15 13 12 8
Billie Holiday 9 4 11 10 10 15
Jay-Z 5 7 5 4 3 2
For parents who actually have a child under 18 to teach music to, Mozart (35%) is a clear preference over the Beatles (27%). A more striking difference is between blacks and whites. While whites are divided between the Beatles and Mozart, black Americans are more interested in their children studying the other artists on the list, all of whom are African American. For them, Michael Jackson is the top choice at 43%, far ahead of Billie Holiday (21%),and Jay-Z (12%), while Mozart (11%) and the Beatles (8%) are picked last.
Which Artist Would You Want Your Child to Study?
Total Parents Non-parents Blacks Whites
The Beatles 33% 27% 35% 8% 36%
Mozart 32 35 31 11 36
Michael Jackson 14 19 12 43 9
Billie Holiday 9 6 10 21 7
Jay-Z 5 4 5 12 3
· Which one of the following decades had the WORST music?
The worst music of the last 44 years is now.
Which decade had the worst music since Woodstock? Americans think it has never been worse than this decade, even with just four years to choose from. 42% say “this decade” has the worst music, far ahead of the 2000s (15%), the 1990s (13%), the 1980s (14%), or the 1970s (12%).
Nor it is simply a matter of nostalgia for older Americans: those under 30 are also most likely to think this decade, at least so far, has had the worst music since 1970.
Which Decade Had the Worst Music?
Total 18-29 30+
This decade 42% 39% 43%
The 2000s 15 14 15
The 1990s 13 11 14
The 1980s 14 13 14
The 1970s 12 18 10
· If you could go back in time and see one of the following bands in concert before they lost their lead singer, who would you choose?
Older Americans would go back in time to see Buddy Holly, while younger Americans would choose Freddy Mercury.
Many rock bands have lost their lead singers over the years, and Americans are divided as to which one they would go back in time to see if they could. If they could go back in time and attend a concert, 22% say they would see Buddy Holly & the Crickets, the 1950s trio whose lead singer died in a plane crash in 1959 along with Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper”. But nearly as many – 21% each – would either choose 1960s counter culture icon The Jimi Hendrix Experience (whose front man Jimi Hendrix died in 1970) or the 70s superstars Queen – whose lead singer, Freddy Mercury, died of complications from AIDS in 1991. Further down on the list are Jim Morrison and The Doors (13%) and Kurt Cobain and Nirvana (11%).
Americans 65 and older overwhelmingly favor going back to see Buddy Holly & the Crickets (50%), and he is also the top choice among Americans between 55 and 64 (27%), though by a much smaller margin. Americans under 55 have a slight preference for seeing Queen.
Which Band Would You Go Back in Time to See?
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Buddy Holly & the Crickets 22% 8% 14% 17% 27% 50%
Queen 21 26 23 27 20 6
The Jimi Hendrix Experience 21 23 19 25 23 12
The Doors 13 10 15 17 19 7
Nirvana 11 23 21 5 * 1
None (vol.) 9 7 7 7 9 17
· If you had to attend one of these concerts with your daughter, who would you most like it to be?
Americans would rather take their daughter to see Taylor Swift over Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber.
If forced to, Americans are more likely to choose Taylor Swift as the artist they’d most like to see with their daughters from a list of five artists popular among teen-aged girls. 39% pick Swift, ahead of Katy Perry (26%) and the English pop boy band One Direction (11%). Last on the list are two performers who have recently taken on a less squeaky-clean image than they had when they first began. Just 5% pick Disney-darling-turned-twerker Miley Cyrus, and just 3% pick Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, who has been arrested repeatedly in recent months for various legal offenses.
Both moms (35%) and especially dads (47%) pick Taylor Swift first, though moms (33%) are far more likely than dads (24%) to pick Katy Perry.
Who Would You Most Want to See with Your Daughter?
Total Moms Dads
Taylor Swift 39% 35% 47%
Katy Perry 26 33 24
One Direction 11 15 14
Miley Cyrus 5 3 3
Justin Bieber 3 5 3
· Which one of the following is the sexiest instrument for someone to play?
Guitar is sexier than the sax if you’re under 35.
What’s the sexiest musical instrument for someone to play? Americans pick guitar first (26%), edging out the saxophone from first place by just one percentage point (25%) from a list of six instruments. Close behind is piano at 21%, followed by violin (14%), drums (7%), and flute (5%). For women, the sexiest instrument is guitar (28%) followed by saxophone (25%), while for men the sexiest instrument is saxophone (25%) just ahead of guitar (24%).
Younger Americans find the guitar to be sexiest, but as they age, they come to appreciate the sexiness of the saxophone more. 34% of Americans under 35 pick the guitar as the sexiest instrument to play, outdistancing the saxophone (17%) by two to one. For Americans between 35 and 44, the two instruments are equally sexy (27% each), while Americans 45 and up tend to think the saxophone is the sexiest.
The Sexiest Instrument to Play
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Guitar 26% 34% 27% 21% 19% 23%
Saxophone 25 17 27 30 32 26
Piano 21 20 26 21 21 18
Violin 14 13 13 12 13 19
Drums 7 10 5 10 5 3
Flute 5 5 -- 3 7 6
· If you could be in a rock band, which would you want to be?
Women want to be the lead singer, while men want to play drums.
What position would they like to have if Americans could be in a rock band? While lead singer is the top choice at 29%, nearly as many Americans would like to sit in back behind the drums (27%). 19% would most want to be the lead guitarist, and 14% would go with keyboards. Bass players get the least love: just 8% of Americans would most want to be the bass player if they could be in a rock band.
Women are quite a bit more likely than men to want the limelight as the lead singer: 34% pick that as the position they’d want most, compared to 23% of men. Among men, lead singer comes in third, behind drummer (29%) and lead guitarist (25%). Women are least interested in being the bassist (5%), while men are least interested in being the keyboardist (9%).
Who Would You Most Like to Be in a Rock Band?
Total Men Women
Lead singer 29% 23% 34%
Drummer 27 29 25
Lead guitarist 19 25 13
Keyboardist 14 9 19
Bassist 8 12 5
____________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted by telephone from February 5-9, 2014 among 1,017 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by Social Science Research Solutions of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3 percentage points. The error for other subgroups may be higher. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll
Music
February 5-9, 2014
Q1. Which one of the following is the way you most often listen to music?
********** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *************
************* Age ****************
Total 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
% % % % % %
The radio 49 24 55 57 63 64
A digital music service like Spotify,
Pandora, or Last.fm 17 35 15 12 8 3
iPhone, iPod, or other mp3 player 15 29 14 12 8 1
CD player 9 2 8 9 16 18