The psychology of folk music fans, finally explained

Nancy Kim2 said:Because... Personally, I'd say... I'm listening! Always. The music I was listening to at that exact moment— It works!It’s all about how the music hits my mood—sometimes it just amplifies everything I’m feeling, and other times it acts like a shield to help me drown out the noise when things get rough. Honestly, since I spend so much time driving around, having that perfect soundtrack is basically essential road trip fuel. There are those moments where certain tracks just lift me up—you know, that feeling where the music makes you feel like you're actually some kind of prince or royalty? That’s usually when I’m diving into the classics. But then there are the moods where I need something more intense—something that builds this sense of epic, relentless energy, almost like fate is pulling you along. When I blast Valkyrie or Amazing Grace, it gives me that whole sense of unstoppable destiny. It's just how I roll!

Look, I already told you that it’s totally fine—I honestly don't get why you even felt the need to write all that out. It's like you're acting as if I was attacking you just because you chose to listen... which, by the way, isn't a crime!

Nancy Kim2 said:I’m telling you, whether someone calls that music "low quality" or whatever—it has absolutely nothing to do with my point regarding populist psychology. Not one bit. Regardless of how much people want to nitpick the genre, it doesn't change the core of my argument.

Oh, you again... honestly, it looks like you didn't even finish reading the whole thread! I didn't just start rambling about this out of nowhere—I was actually reacting to what a few people were saying earlier regarding whether that music is actually any good or not. 😠

I honestly can't stand people who subscribe to that populist psychology... I mean, seriously, could you even imagine going on a date with someone who actually listens to that nonsense? 🤔 Not me...

Taylor Howard36 said:I honestly can't stand populist music... would any of you actually date someone who listens to it? 🤔 Not me.

I suspect those preferences aren't actually dealbreakers if the attraction is strong enough. I know a girl who made the exact same claim, yet here she is, a year later, right in the front row at a country concert, fully embracing it.😍

Michelle Long10 said:I honestly don't think it matters if you start a relationship with someone just because you find them attractive enough... I know a girl who said the exact same thing, and look at her now—after a year of playing hard to get, she's sitting front and center at every single country music concert.😍

Oh, I absolutely believe that happens! 😍
I have this friend—total rock chick, loves her heavy metal—who’s dating this guy who’s constantly out hitting up various underground clubs... and she actually goes along with him sometimes! She tells me, "Hey, I just adapt!" 😬
I mean, I really don't know if I could ever pull that off myself... 😬

Taylor Howard36 said:I believe that definitely happens! 😍
I have a friend who is into rock music; she has a boyfriend who goes to various shows all the time... and she joins him once in a while too. She tells me, "Well, I just adapt!"😬
I am not entirely sure if I could handle that myself...😬

You would, provided it was someone you were truly invested in...👍

Sophia Allen12 said:even I wouldn't be able to 😍
I actually just wrote about this a week or two ago over in the men's section

Yeah... but let's say—just hypothetically—that I had a guy like that... and let's say he pulls up to pick me up on the edge of town... and then my mom asks, "So, where are you two headed tonight?" and I'm like, "Just out for some tea!"...

.............honestly, I think my family would absolutely tear me to pieces🤔 😂

I have to ask again: why on earth isn't this posted in the Teens subforum?

Some nonsense about "populist psychology," yet people are over here typing stuff like they "could never date someone who listens to country music" or how they’d "rather eat dirt."

What does any of that have to do with psychology? You know, as an actual science?

I "slightly" butchered this thread... my apologies if there were any collateral damage.
I’m repeating myself here... the issue isn't the music itself, but rather the type of people who listen to it.
Please stick to that point.

Regarding dating or "hanging out" with someone who listens to pop stars...
Would you date someone who exclusively reads Danielle Steel novels or spends their time watching cheap B-movie action flicks?
What’s the difference?

Linking certain music to specific psychological traits doesn't stem from the songs themselves, but from the social context and the reputation built around them.

Do you honestly believe listening to R&B or rock requires more sophistication or intelligence than listening to pop?

If there is indeed a pattern among those fans, it isn't tied to intelligence or personality—it's tied to social background.
In other words, social background is the latent variable influencing both their psychological profile and their taste in music.

Disperadun said:I figured I’d weigh in here, too, because there are so many idiots in this thread that I’m honestly starting to feel a bit nauseous. Isn't it just silly to judge someone's intelligence based solely on the music they listen to? 🙂

But I’ve come across some posts here—like the ones from Taylor Howard36—mentioning certain high-quality artists who lean into that populist psychology. 😕 Based on my own deductive observations, I’ve come to a certain conclusion: no one with a real musical education could ever argue that pop-folk or mainstream commercial hits are high-quality music. Most of these tracks are built from the exact same rhythmic templates and stripped down to just a handful of chords. There is absolutely zero musical depth! You don't see any original instrumental sections—like a soulful solo where an artist truly expresses their unique identity—because everything is just recycled through the same formulaic patterns. Isn't it interesting how repetitive it all becomes?

Furthermore, traditional American folk music has absolutely nothing to do with populist psychology or modern pop trends. Why should anyone feel embarrassed by the music of their ancestors? Personally, I just love the soulful sounds of classic Southern gospel quartets—there is something so incredibly moving about those rich, multi-part harmonies and the sheer vocal strength required to pull them off.

Regardless of how many people might take offense at my deductive reasoning here, I’ve come to a specific conclusion: those who gravitate toward populist psychology and turbo-folk tend to be more primitive individuals—though that doesn't necessarily mean they are less intelligent!

I honestly just love "It Wasn't Me, Honey," and then there’s that feeling of "Somewhere, Sometimes in Summertime." I also have a huge soft spot for Carmina Burana. And you know, someone might just hand you a gold ring chain, and then I'll just keep on loving more.
I’ve always been such a huge fan of Michael Jackson—*Thriller*, "Beat It," and "Who Is It" are absolute classics in my book. I also really enjoy Morales, and then there's the vibe of "Flesh for Fantasy" and "Sweet Sixteen." Honestly, I could go on and on with this list, but I have to mention FAITHLESS too!🙏 😍 😍 😍

Please don't criticize me for letting this topic wander—it actually perfectly illustrates the populist psychology at play here. It seems some people just won't ever agree on this, much like they won't on politics.

Who actually listens to folk-pop? Your average listener probably finished a trade school, served in the military, and then spent six months hunting for work. He’s likely still living with his mom, which gives him enough cash to head out and blow $500-$333 in a madhouse over the weekend. He never cared for history class, so after spending Friday losing his mind to songs by the ex-wife of some notorious North American warlord, he'll spend Saturday at a Johnny Štulić concert, shouting slogans along with an energized crowd of like-minded folks.
From Monday to Thursday, he'll be at work retelling stories about how wild the weekend was—and then Friday rolls around and it all starts over again.
That's the mediocre cycle: living like that until he hits 30, marries some girl he pumped up, has a kid, and suddenly has neither the time nor the desire for music or partying.

There’s really no point in taking these people seriously because there's no substance there. They just jump to those songs because they can follow the lyrics. There isn't a movement behind them like there was for New Wave, Grunge, or even the rise of Techno. They aren't out there preserving a Bob Dylan LP or a scrap of paper where Johnny Štulić wrote "Slut's Sons." I preserve things—and that's why my stuff will last forever. Ceca, on the other hand, is only good until Sunday morning.

urbannomad12 said:What kind of people actually listen to pop-country? Your average listener finishes community college, serves a stint in the military, and then spends six months hunting for a job. They still live at home, so they have enough cash for a night out and can drop 500-$333 at a nightclub on the weekend. They never cared about history, so after spending Friday losing their minds to songs sung by the ex-wife of some notorious American criminal, they’ll head to a Johnny Štulić concert on Saturday to shout slogans along with a hyped-up crowd of like-minded people.
From Monday to Thursday, they'll be at work retelling stories about how wild the weekend was, and then Friday rolls around and it all starts over again.
That's the mediocre life cycle. They'll live like that until they hit 30, get married because they managed to hook up with some girl, have a kid, and suddenly have neither the time nor the desire for music or partying.

... you really think it's like that?
I don't know where you're from, but here in Chicago, plenty of kids—even middle and high schoolers—listen to pop-country.
A lot of people listen to it who definitely don't fit the profile you described.
I remember seeing a news report from a madhouse... even quite a few American celebrities were spotted there.

There exists a certain breed of person who perceives music as a profound art form—something that actually elevates the soul. They dwell on it constantly, diving deep into its layers, utterly spellbound by the experience. They collect vinyl and instruments with a reverence usually reserved for sacred relics. That is certainly how I find myself behaving.
It doesn’t even have to be music; it could just as easily be literature or fine art.

Then, on the other hand, you have those who approach music through a purely consumerist lens, treating it like a fleeting fashion trend. For them, listening is much like eating an ice cream cone; the satisfaction is momentary, transient, and they lack any real conviction or sense of what it might represent in their lives. They are, most likely, the typical listeners of mindless pop radio hits.

Now, I am not suggesting that such individuals are necessarily unintelligent or narrow-minded.

It is simply that music, in its true essence, holds no interest for them.

urbannomad12 said:That’s exactly why there's no point taking these people seriously—there's zero substance there. They just jump on these songs because they catch the lyrics. There’s no actual movement behind them, nothing like New Wave, Grunge, or even the techno explosion. They aren't out here preserving a Bob Dylan LP or some scrap of paper where Johnny Štulić scribbled "Slut's Sons." I preserve this stuff, and that's why it lasts forever. Meanwhile, Ceca will be forgotten by Sunday morning.

Prejudice, jealousy, complexes, narrow-mindedness... honestly, I don't even know what else is oozing out of you.
First off, list all the trade schools in the country and how many people actually graduated from them in the last decade—that number will show you something pretty eye-opening 😉
Then, look at the average income for people who finished those programs.
Give me one logical reason why events from 5 or 500 years ago should dictate what kind of music someone listens to today (go ahead, check the historical relationship between Japan and America, Mr. Historian)
We live in an era where someone's decision to have kids might depend entirely on their taste in music.
It’s highly questionable how much you actually know about New Wave, punk, or disco...
And let's be real—it’s unlikely an LP or a scrap of paper is going to last forever either.

Brain chemistry affects everything from how we perceive the world to our musical tastes, and it’s rare to find anyone whose levels are actually balanced. 😉

There’s really no need to be harsh about it. We’re talking about a specific kind of emotional logic here: the idea that someone could be mistreated by you, yet still decide to sell their soul to the devil just to ride in on a golden chariot and shower you with affection.
Doesn't any man feel that way sometimes?

So, there’s this split gaining traction lately among music psychologists—and even occupational therapists who deal with music therapy—where they categorize music into three buckets: stuff for the heart, stuff for the brain, and stuff for the feet.

Just adding my two cents here.
Country music is basically something you listen to with your lower half.
If porn is just imagery meant to be "watched" with your genitals,
then country music is essentially the soundtrack to that experience—let's call it "pornophony."
If we can ever truly figure out the profile of people who watch porn,
we’ll probably crack the psychology behind country music too.
My takeaway?
People without certain... equipment... aren't really the target audience for country music.😁

I’m still sticking to my guns here: trying to find some universal pattern among people who listen to country music is a total waste of time. It all comes down to where you are and what kind of environment you're in.
Besides, if you ask me, rockers, metalheads, and punks are way more problematic than any country fan—and I’m talking about the real deal, too. Why? Because whenever people talk about rockers, they’re always painting them as these wild, drug-addicted lunatics. With country fans, the complaints are always just about them getting rowdy or drinking too much at a bar.
So, which group is actually the bigger headache?

cosanostra said:I’m still stuck on the idea that it's totally pointless to try and find some common thread among everyone who listens to country music—it really just comes down to where you happen to be living at the time.
Beyond that, if you ask me, rockers, metalheads, and punks can actually be way more problematic than the country crowd—and I’m talking about the real deal here, the true enthusiasts... Why? Because people always paint rockers as these wild savages, junkies, or straight-up lunatics... Whereas with country fans, the complaints are usually just about them getting rowdy or drinking too much at the bar...
So, which group is actually the bigger headache?

Well, look at me—I'm a rocker, and I'm neither a wild savage nor a junkie (I think we all know what I'm implying about that third one 😉 )

So, whenever someone asks me what I’ve been listening to lately, I just tell them: I listen to the radio.😍

What psychology? You only need to hear the name to know what's up.
Didn't care before and I don't care now. Honestly, just a totally uninteresting world to live in...
The only real downside is seeing kids who only listen to country music getting trashed in English class because their vocabulary sucks. It's common sense that listening to pop or rock actually helps you pick up words and actually learn the material...🙂

Desperado said:Look, I’m a rock fan, but I’m not some wild junkie (I’ll leave that third part alone 😉 )

I listen to a huge variety of stuff—since I went to music school, I was forced to sit through everything from classical to jazz, though I actually enjoy it (so don't go thinking I only listen to mindless pop trash), and I also appreciate country music, both our local Nashville style and what we hear from our neighbors.
Just because I might dig some country doesn't mean I've lost my mind. I'm educated, I'm not some degenerate, and when I have a few drinks, I'm not looking for a fight—if things get rowdy, I'm the first one heading for the exit.
If being a rock fan doesn't automatically make you a drug addict, then those tired old stereotypes about country fans aren't worth the paper they're printed on either. Amen.