The context and genesis of musical tastes: Omnivorousness debunked, Bourdieu buttressed

This paper contributes to the growing qualitative counter-attack against the statistics-based thesis that musical tastes are increasingly ‘omnivorous’ in character, at least amongst the privileged, and that this can be explained via the quasi-Bourdieusian notion of a new ‘open’ or ‘cosmopolitan disposition’. Drawing on a research project examining life histories and lifestyles in the UK city of Bristol, it argues that, when the nuances of Bourdieu's perspective and shifts in the musical field and social conditions are taken into account, not only the genesis but also the differentiation of musical tastes that, on the surface, seem omnivorous are wholly consistent with the original model laid out in Distinction. Clear differences between preferred types of music and familiar aesthetic orientations are present, as are their origins in classed resources and experiences. That they have not been detected hitherto is, it notes, due more to the methodological decisions and categories of extant research than anything else.

► The life histories and musical tastes of 55 people in Bristol are examined. ► Omnivorousness is shown to be spurious. ► Symbolic mastery and musical apprenticeship are key to dominant tastes. ► Bodily movement and realist lyrics are key to dominated tastes. ► Cultural goodwill exists amongst the upper-dominated and upwardly mobile.