Earlier this week, the yearly pop culture phenomenon on Spotify, Spotify Wrapped, was released. Every year, people scramble to justify their selection of embarrassing artists and songs that make up their list.
When speaking to Marjon students, a similar result presented itself. Students immediately responded to my questions with remarks like “mine’s so bad” and “it’s wrong, I swear!” However, the few students I did get an honest answer out of presented me with a clear leading genre.
I spoke to Sophie, a journalism student, who told me about her constant support for Taylor Swift, the artist who’s taken the top spot on her last “for the last 5 years straight”. I also asked her why she liked her, too, which she said, “I just like her music,” showing clear enthusiasm.
I also asked another journalism student, Lucy, about her favourite artist, James Marriot. She’s been a fan of his before the start of his music career, staying when “he went back to… music” after his stint as a YouTuber and Twitch streamer.
Through these interviews, we can see that Marjon students have a strong preference for long-standing preferences between media forms. Furthermore, the genre that most students seem to stick to strays away from the upbeat, house, rock and rap that usually take the top spots in current pop culture.