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As far as I know, political parties favour some music genres more than others to sell their outlook and policies. Or at least I never heard classical music or death metal being used.

Which music genres are used most extensively by political parties?

Do these differ by party?

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    This is really a marketing question more than politics. It's all about targeting particular demographics.
    – user1530
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 23:56
  • @DA Sort of. But then what is the Heart of politics? The demos? => Demographics. Politics, as packaged into parties, is nothing but targeting demographics. Although the written word and speech are given more conscious recognition than music; despite the trend of music going back to oldest palaeolithic tribal roots and "this chieftain is cool".
    – LateralFractal
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 0:57
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    In the United States or world wide? I would suggest limiting the scope of the question to a particular question.
    – Affable Geek
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 2:21
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    ... and R-heavy demographics likes country music because that's the right music for demographics (rural USA), AND the only genre that's not at least partially left wing (aside from those Bush-dissing singers whose name escapes me).
    – user4012
    Commented Oct 30, 2014 at 1:35
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    We got both genres, country and western.
    – Tobia Tesan
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 22:22

1 Answer 1

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Apparently. A comparison of bands "Liked" on Facebook and the political affiliation of the Facebook profile found that some music was more usually liked by Democrats and other music more by Republicans.

Musical preference by party
(source: marketwatch.com)

As you can see from this graph, members of << your preferred party >> have far superior musical taste, preferring such talented artists as << band you like >>, whereas << opposed political party >> lacks taste entirely, preferring talentless hacks like << band you hate >>.

Analysis of data from Echo Nest, an API that provides data about music, also found differences in the preferences of Democrats and Republicans. Analysis of Echo Nest data found that Republicans had less diverse musical tastes.

However, the findings of Echo Nest seemed to contract analysis of Facebook likes. For example, Democrats consistently like The Beatles on Facebook, but Echo Nest found that the Beatles did not have a strong partisan association. So, while there seems to be a difference, it is not clear what that difference is. A quick Google search will turn up a whole number of analyses finding differences between the musical tastes of Democrats and Republicans.

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    AC/DC: BRINGING THE PEOPLE TOGETHER!
    – user1530
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 3:52
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    @DA. Naturally. It has AC and DC. ;-)
    – LateralFractal
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 4:19
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    I haven't even heard of most on the right, and I'm in England. That's actually really interesting.
    – PointlessSpike
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 8:12
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    My British friends, isn't it obvious? I've never heard of them either (Australia here), but surely those pale pinks must be Country Music.
    – MGOwen
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 10:28
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    @TenthJustice Pure selection bias. Most people who bother to post their favorite musicians on Facebook are younger, not older. Most people under 35 (to define a group young enough to have had to basically "seek out" The Beatles) who not just like the Beatles but actively list them as their favorite music are (apparently) more likely to be Democrats. I'm sure a poll of 55-65 year olds about their love of the Beatles and their politics would show them closer to the middle.
    – Kyle Hale
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 17:35

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