Musical Preferences

Scientific American has an interesting article about how teenagers choose their music. Apparently it is much like how people choose anything, through peer pressure.  Miley Cyrus sold 4 million albums last year dispite having little to no talent.  Similar things happened when Brittany Spears, Ashley Simpson, any boy band, etc became popular.  Kids tend to choose their music based on what they perceive other kids will like.  Anyways, here is the article.

But how do these paradoxical success stories take off?  It probably begins like any movement.  Popular people make their choices and others copy it.  Malcolm Gladwell describes this phenomenon in The Tipping Point.  The people that can start the fire on a popular movement are called connectors, mavens, and salesmen.  They usually have good skills, but they have to be respected by their peers.  The salesmen group may have the most effect on Miley Cyrus.  No one advertises better than The Walt Disney Company.