Branded by your music taste
By Hayley Birch
Forget DNA, scientists now think they can tell us everything about ourselves from our music tastes.
When the first draft of the human genome was published in 2000, there was a media frenzy over concerns that insurers would soon be able to discriminate on the grounds of people's DNA. But psychologists at the Universities of Leicester and Milton Keynes have made it even easier: just ask the client what their favourite type of music is - that tells you everything apparently.
According to a survey carried out by the researchers, opera goers wash their hair less often than those who listen to DJ-based music, country fans have fewer sexual partners than dance fans, and hip-hop fans are more likely to have tried "a range of illegal drugs". Musicologist John Shepherd of Carleton University said music was "underrated in what it can tell us about societies and individuals".
Certainly any company brave enough to adopt such an approach might benefit significantly. Instead of employing people to ask you about where you park your car, whether you have a security alarm, yawn yawn, boring boring, car insurance companies could simply play you four different tracks and ask you to choose the one you like best. "Ah, Busta Rhymes you say? Hmm, that'll be £2,000 please." "Sorry, for this ancient lump of rusting metal sitting in my drive?" "Sir, you're a hip-hop fan, that makes you a very high risk driver." Well, of course.
A range of other rather odd statistics came out of the survey, including the fact that dance music types recycle less and are less likely to favour alternative energy sources than those who prefer classical music. Does that mean if we brainwash all dance fans with Mozart we can simultaneously save the planet and rid it of techno?
To read more about Hayley or to view more of her articles click here.
When the first draft of the human genome was published in 2000, there was a media frenzy over concerns that insurers would soon be able to discriminate on the grounds of people's DNA. But psychologists at the Universities of Leicester and Milton Keynes have made it even easier: just ask the client what their favourite type of music is - that tells you everything apparently.
According to a survey carried out by the researchers, opera goers wash their hair less often than those who listen to DJ-based music, country fans have fewer sexual partners than dance fans, and hip-hop fans are more likely to have tried "a range of illegal drugs". Musicologist John Shepherd of Carleton University said music was "underrated in what it can tell us about societies and individuals".
Certainly any company brave enough to adopt such an approach might benefit significantly. Instead of employing people to ask you about where you park your car, whether you have a security alarm, yawn yawn, boring boring, car insurance companies could simply play you four different tracks and ask you to choose the one you like best. "Ah, Busta Rhymes you say? Hmm, that'll be £2,000 please." "Sorry, for this ancient lump of rusting metal sitting in my drive?" "Sir, you're a hip-hop fan, that makes you a very high risk driver." Well, of course.
A range of other rather odd statistics came out of the survey, including the fact that dance music types recycle less and are less likely to favour alternative energy sources than those who prefer classical music. Does that mean if we brainwash all dance fans with Mozart we can simultaneously save the planet and rid it of techno?
To read more about Hayley or to view more of her articles click here.
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