How College Students Listen: One Nation, Under Spotify

Graphic via Spotify

Last week Spotify announced a report on the listening patterns of college students across America. Based on internal metrics and subscription, they determined which schools listen to the most music—as well as how, when, and what artists their students are listening to the most. This might be another subtly creepy reminder that everything we do on the internet can be tracked, but did you know that students listen more Pop Music than EDM and Hip-Hop combined, and that some of these students listen to so much Nickelback that they cannot possibly be doing so ironically?

In college, my friends and I used to play a trick on one another at the library. Whenever someone got up to go to the bathroom we would just barely unplug their headphones from the jack in their laptop—not enough to dislodge the cord completely, but enough so that it wasn’t noticeable. When the friend came back and turned on their music, the library would suddenly explode with Beyoncé, and everyone would laugh at their expense. There’s something inviolable about the music we listen to in the privacy of our own headphones, yet there’s also something intriguing about turning it into a public spectacle when we are caught unawares. Spotify is doing the same thing for the 40 colleges on the list below. Here’s a subjective rundown of the “Most Musical Universities in America”—50 States, 40 Schools, One Nation, Under Spotify.

Top 40 Musical Universities in America (In Order of Plays By Student Subscribers):

1. California Polytechnic State University
2. Iowa State University
3. University Of California Los Angeles
4. University Of North Texas
5. University Of Washington
6. Texas Tech University
7. Arizona State University
8. Northeastern University
9. University Of Arizona
10. Georgia Institute Of Technology
11. Miami University
12. University Of Missouri Columbia
13. University Of California Berkeley
14. Cornell University
15. University Of Wisconsin Madison
16. University Of Oklahoma
17. University Of Colorado Boulder
18. Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University
19. Purdue University
20. Texas A&M University
21. Ohio State University
22. University Of Minnesota Twin Cities
23. University Of Arkansas Fayetteville
24. Michigan State University
25. University Of Central Florida
26. University Of Illinois Urbana Champaign
27. University Of Virginia
28. Brigham Young University
29. University Of Michigan Ann Arbor
30. University Of Southern California
31. Pennsylvania State University
32. University Of Pennsylvania
33. University Of Florida
34. University Of Alabama
35. New York University
36. Florida State University
37. Auburn University
38. Indiana University Bloomington
39. University Of Texas Austin
40. University Of Georgia

Don’t Believe The Stereotypes

Berkeley is a top school for “Mainstream” music, and Texas A&M follows fewer “fads and trends” than any other school.

Though Some Stereotypes Are True

The University of Colorado’s “normalized number of plays” peaks around 4:20 PM daily. They are also the top school for the “relax” tag.

Schools For Which Athletic Excellence Is Inversely Correlated To Good Taste In Music, Apparently

According to the data, Alabama loves Kings of Leon, Florida State lists Lorde as a distinctive “un-favorite”, and USC is all about that Lana Del Rey. Apparently even excellent defense can’t save you from an onslaught of poor taste.

University Doppelgängers

UCLA and USC have almost identical music preferences and listening patterns. If Flume, Haim, Sam Smith, and the xx doesn’t scream “So-Cal”, I don’t know what does.

Kanye West Is Very Popular At:

University of Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Cornell, University of Virginia, University of Florida, University of Missouri Columbia, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota—basically, everywhere.

If School Mascots Were The Musicians Their Undergraduates Are Obsessed With...

Then New York University would be the “James Blakes” and the University of Virginia would be “the Vampire Weekends”. Ohio State’s “Brutus Buckeye” would be Luke Bryan.

Hilarious Distinctions

Auburn University is the top school for both “Nickelback” and “Juggalo” playlists. Meanwhile, the University of North Texas has a penchant for “Piano Bar Music Specialists”.

Sorry To Air Your Dirty Laundry, But:

Fall Out Boy is very popular at Purdue, One Direction is very popular at the University of Texas (Austin), and Texas Tech is the top school for Justin Bieber.

Question

Students at the University of Missouri Columbia listen to more Rise Against than all other schools on the list. Are y’all reviving them or did you never stop listening?

Ivy League Darkness

At the University of Pennsylvania, “Metal” and “Melancholy” are two of the highest-placing listening categories. When I think “The Wharton School”, I almost definitely think “Slayer”.

A Lot Of You Like Coldplay

Brigham Young University, UCLA, Alabama, Miami University, and University of Central Florida are amongst the multitudes of schools for which Coldplay as a Top-5 artist.

But Some Of You Do Not Like Coldplay

At Arizona State, Coldplay is a “distinctive un-favorite”.

Pac-12 Loves Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris’ “Summer” is the single most popular song at every Pac-12 school on this list—USC, UCLA, University of Washington, University of Colorado Boulder, Berkeley, University of Arizona, and Arizona State.

The Beygency Is Coming For The University of Colorado

The University of Colorado is the only school on the entire list that registers “Beyoncé” as a “distinctive un-favorite”.

Pack your suitcase. They’re coming for you.