In the heat of the semester, many students find themselves turning to music as a way to de-stress. 

While walking through the UT Austin campus, it is rather noticeable how many students are listening to their headphones. Whether it’s 8 a.m. or 3:30 p.m., almost every student walks around the 40 Acres jamming to their music. This isn’t just at UT-  around the streets of Austin, it’s easy to spot many locals listening to their favorite audio entertainment.

Although we all spend time listening to our headphones, it’s likely we are all listening to vastly different genres and artists. 

Using the Instagram “questions” function, I created a poll where people were able to submit a response of either their favorite song, or artist, in the hopes of comparing the similarities and differences of the responses. This is similar to the internet trend, “Excuse me, what are you listening to?” with the same goal, of discovering what songs are currently the most popular. From the audience, many avid music listeners chimed in with their answers.

All responses were unique, but some were similar in style and genre. One person responded with “Live Well” by Palace, another answered “Pool House ” by The Backseat Lovers, while a third said “Fade into You” by Mazzy Star. Although they responded with different artists and songs, all three responses were very similar in style. The songs mentioned are indie/alternative, and are  all songs one would find on the same playlist. Another response was “Waste” by the band Brand New. This is also an alternative song, but it is different from the other responses because it sounds more like an alternative rock song. Because of this, it shouldn’t be categorized with the first three. 

Some responses weren’t as easy to put together. One person responded “Both of Us” by B.o.B featuring Taylor Swift, which is a hip-hop/rap song. In another response, someone said that their favorite artist is Kanye West, who is also known for making hip-hop/rap music. On paper, it would make sense to compare these responses, as they are the same genre. The song “Both of Us” sounds similar to a song that Kanye might create, a rap song featuring a pop singer for the chorus. That said, taking the specific artist into account made it more difficult to decipher how to categorize these two. Many people who listen to Kanye West would probably never listen to a song with Taylor Swift in it, and vice versa. 

There were three more responses, each one drastically different from the other. First, one respondent mentioned their current favorite artist is a Latin group called Fuerza Regida. Following that, another person mentioned the song “Maria Tambien” by rock/ soul group Khruangbin. Lastly, the only response for a pop song, “All around the World” by Lisa Stanfield.

 To get a better idea of what the audience is listening to, I also had people vote on their favorite genre of music. This was executed using the Instagram “poll” function. Instagram limits its users to 4 categories per poll. Of the 26 people who answered the poll, 36% voted pop, 32% voted rock, 20% voted Rap, and 12% voted country.  Had indie/alternative been a choice, these results would probably be more representative of the initial responses. The first question offered more freedom to the audience, and many who responded named a genre that was not listed in the second poll. That being said, the percentages voted for rock, rap, and country show similarly to how people responded in the initial response. 

While many people enjoy similar genres and styles of music, there is a wide variety of options that one can choose. Even those who appreciate the same genre, have their own unique artist and songs that they hold close. No matter the genre or artist, one thing is clear– when it comes to music, there is no right or wrong answer to the question, “what are you listening to?”