Last FM

Last FM. Do you know it? Do you use it? I am aware of its concept, though I doubt I shall ever install it for myself. For those who are unfamiliar: Last FM is a music website/”radio station”. You install it as a plug-in to your regular music player and it collects data about what you have been listening to. It uses this to assimilate a profile on your music tastes. It recommends you more artists that you might like and makes you a personal “radio station” to listen to. “Radio station”, however, is a mere technicality to overcome illegality, and it is really just streaming you music from the web.

Recently I have become quite interested in the thought that Last FM might be able to build a profile of IQ based on a listener’s choices in music. Ever since I saw a “Nation’s IQ” type Saturday night programme on TV in which it was asserted that listeners of classical or rock music were the most intelligent while listeners of dance were the least, I have been fascinated about the real or imagined correlation between certain music genres and intelligence of listeners.

The conclusions of this programme were based on doing an IQ test of the audience (and available for viewers, although they were obviously not included in the results) and then asking them what kind of music they listened to. There are several problems with this, for example, how do you take into account the bias in allowing people just one answer? I’m sure most people listen to more than one genre. For example, I am currently simultaneously experiencing an irreversible obsession with two diametrically opposed bands: Tally Hall (pleasant, melodic and light, very Beatles-esque) and Lightning Bolt (genre: noise. And when they say that they mean it. The aural equivalent of one of those scary optical illusions). Another problem with the programme’s results was that Anne Robinson was the host. (*Stop reading here for a mildly derogatory comedic effect*) At the beginning of every question she would read the whole thing out, very slowly, subtracting from the time people had to concentrate on the actual question instead of her. I am sure this made everyone seem more stupid than they actually were, but some people, depending on what kind of brain they have, would be distracted more than others, and should this factor itself have a correlation with taste in music, this too would introduce a bias. I could probably worm out more reasons why the programme was biased, but I am not a psychologist, so I will not try. They might be lies.

But what better way to work out IQ vs. taste in music than to use Last FM data along with the results of a clinically conducted IQ test? I am sure this must be the least biased method imaginable.

I would be extremely interested in these results based on my own thoughts and experience on the matter. For example, who is to say that a classical fan is more advanced than a rap fan? Generally speaking, classical music is the champion of the upper classes while rap is favoured by working class CHAVS. However, while it seems evident that classical music is almost infinitely more complex in melody and structure, it puts next to no emphasis on vocals and lyrics. Rap, on the other hand, is pretty much retarded musically, but (assuming you choose the right artist; some rap music is just retarded, full stop.) is so much more lyrics-orientated, knotted with poetic sensibilities, and far too rich to take in with just one listen. However, having said all of this I am most likely the wrong person to ask anyway – I generally hate rap. Perhaps it is because I listen for musical artistry long before good lyrics.

For a second example, take dance music and its variants (trance, trip, electro, house, drum and base, industrial). I have recently grown very bored of it, whereas a year ago I was to be found increasingly fascinated with a genre I assumed to be moronic, presumably because of watching that programme. Again, I think the “intelligence” of this genre varies heavily depending on artist. For example, I cannot tell where I am in a Tiga or Goose song because it is so severely lacking in development that were I to skip to any random point in a song it would sound just the same as any other. On the other hand, take Nine Inch Nails (industrial vanishing into metal vanishing into beautiful. And yes, I am so sorry for bringing them into this AGAIN). Often I find with their songs that there are so many layers of sound caught between the catchy beats that every time you listen to it a new face presents itself. There is development and forethought in all of Trent’s composition, and the richness of sound relies not on distortion of a single tone, but the weaving of many minutely fine musical ideas (please listen to “La Mer”, and you will understand what I mean).

Also, context influences preference in music. I adore Chopin and may listen to it, for example, quietly as I try to study. However, it’s rubbish for trying to join in with singing and dancing. When I want to bounce off the walls I listen to Soulwax, and I am quite sure it would make horrendous bedtime music.

To conclude my ramblings I might add that as interesting as these Last FM results would be to see, I am not even sure what IQ is. It is no measure of worth: some of the people I respect least on this planet are also some of the most intelligent. What does an IQ test measure, other than aptitude at IQ tests? Perhaps a human being can be more intelligent but appear less so than another because they are rash and easily distracted, while the other, through diligence, achieves far more. What of the ambiguous “emotional intelligence”? Attitude to life? Moral and religious views? If there were a way to measure these, I wonder what these too would reveal in comparison with Last FM profiles.