Research shows rock ‘n’ roll is the most popular music genre among both parents and teens

By Adele Zhou

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Junior McKinley Clayton shares a love of rock ’n’ roll with her father, Michael Clayton. Both have said that liking the same classic rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Beatles and AC/DC, gives them some common ground, benefitting their relationship.

“(Our music tastes) are really similar,” McKinley said. “Me and my parents both like the oldies. That’s mainly because when I was younger, in the car, they would always listen to their stations and I wasn’t allowed to change the channel. So I just grew up with it and got used to it.”

McKinley’s shared music tastes with her those of her father reflect a certain trait of today’s generation of teenagers and parents that did not exist previously.

Today, for every age group under 65, rock ’n’ roll is one of the most popular genres of music. According to a nationwide telephone survey done by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research organization in August 2010, 35 percent of respondents said they listened to rock often, and 30 percent saying they listened to it sometimes, placing rock ’n’ roll ahead of other popular music genres, such as hip-hop, country and jazz.

However, in the 1960s, the national opinion of rock ’n’ roll was extremely different. In a 1966 national survey, 44 percent of adults said they disliked rock ’n’ roll compared to other genres, and only 4 percent said it was their favorite kind of music.

Consequently, kids of this generation are more likely to share a love of rock ’n’ roll with their parents, which cannot be said for past generations, when there were major differences in music interests between parents and their children.

According to Randy Albright, a professor at IUPUI who teaches courses such as “History of Rock ’n’ Roll,” the music the adults preferred and the music the kids preferred varied in the 1960s.

“The parents of the kids who grew up in the ‘60s and the early ‘70s were not accustomed to music with such a heavy beat,” Albright said. “Their music came from the swing era. Swing music did have plenty of rhythm with a lot of drums, but the emphasis on swing music is on good musicianship, good singers, good soloists, horn players and all that stuff, and rock ’n’ roll didn’t emphasize that as much.”

Mr. Clayton said he remembers having different musical tastes than his parents.

“My parents grew up in the big band era, so there wasn’t any rock ’n’ roll or any of that kind of sorts,” Mr. Clayton said.

Albright said that the musical interests between parents and teenagers today are more similar than they were in the 1960s. “I think the reason that Mom and Dad and kids can like the same music or come closer to liking the same music is because Mom and Dad grew up with that beat, but their parents did not, and that’s what caused that big generation gap in the ‘60s and ‘70s.”

With McKinley and her father, it is clear that the musical generation gap has disappeared. Both said they sometimes go to rock ‘n’ roll concerts together.

“I’ve always gone to concerts with them,” McKinley said. “AC/DC came to Indiana for a concert—sophomore year maybe.”

McKinley said although going to concerts with her parents is different than attending them with her friends, she still enjoys the time she spends with them. “It’s cool seeing your parents jam and rock out to the same stuff.”

Mr. Clayton said that he enjoys attending rock ’n’ roll concerts with McKinley. “You feel like you have a connection when you go to concerts, and it’s fun being together and enjoying something together,” Mr. Clayton said.

Albright said having similar music tastes can be beneficial to the relationship between parents and kids. “I do know for a fact that it’s helpful, parents and kids at least try to listen to some music together and talk about it,” Albright said.

“It’s cool to talk to them about (rock ’n’ roll),” McKinley said. She said if rock ’n’ roll did not exist, “I guess we wouldn’t have something in common to talk about, and agree on something on the radio.”