No state loves Bruce Springsteen like New Jersey does, Rhode Island listens to more Nirvana than any other state and Arkansas is bumping Wiz Khalifa louder than anywhere else in the United States.
In an interesting study conducted by Paul Lamere, the most distinctive artists in each state have been revealed. This doesn't mean that these are the overall most popular artists in each state, but that they are uniquely the top artists in each state that are more listened to than in any other part of the country. Based on the preferences of about a quarter million listeners, Lamere's research resulted in this map:
The results seem to imply that the Northeast is dominated by classic rock, jam bands and indie music, while the South has a taste for rap, country and R&B. However, as you head west, the preferences are more scattered, artists jumping genre from state to state. Even in the areas where there is a more centered palette, anomalies pop up (Connecticut is apparently blasting David Guetta on the daily).
Clearly, this map is just one slice of the pie when it comes to examining listening habits across the country, but it's a unique one. In a day when radio is rapidly coming into competition with self-controlled streaming services, the lines are blurring more and more, and we have to wonder what kind of weight regional differences continue to hold.
Head over to Lamere's blog to get more details on how he constructed the map, and if this intrigues you to learn more, you can use the app he built to examine the differences between states and regions.
What do you make of this map? What do you think it says, if anything at all, about our current listening habits?
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