Beyond Simple Sums: Similarity-Weighted Measure of Musical Taste Breadth and Social Stratification in Contemporary Germany

Since Peterson's influential work on musical omnivorousness, researchers have debated whether broad musical tastes serve as markers of high socioeconomic status in modern Western societies. However, existing measures rely on simple genre counts or problematic a priori assumptions about genres’ social associations. This study introduces a novel continuous measure of musical taste breadth that accounts for both the number of liked genres and their sonic-social distance, based on expert ratings. Using a representative German sample ( N = 2,086), we tested core assumptions of omnivore theory while examining relationships between taste breadth and sociodemographic factors through Sinus lifestyle milieus. Our similarity-weighted measure revealed greater differentiation than simple sum scores. The results challenge general assumptions on cultural omnivorousness. While breadth increased slightly with socioeconomic status, effect sizes were small, with high-status individuals liking only one additional genre on average. Contrary to expectations, classical music lovers showed only average taste breadth, while fans of funk, jazz, and non-European music demonstrated the broadest tastes. The most pronounced differences emerged along cultural distance rather than social hierarchy: High-status groups preferred culturally distant genres (soul, blues, non-European music), while low-status groups favored familiar, domestic genres (Schlager, German traditional music). Linear regression models revealed that individual attitudes—particularly openness to experience and reorientation toward new values—were stronger predictors than socioeconomic status alone. These findings suggest that broad tastes are not a strong means of vertical social distinction in contemporary Germany, but that tastes have become increasingly aligned. Social distinction now operates primarily through high-status rejection of domestic “trivial” genres rather than broad inclusive tastes, highlighting the importance of considering both sociological and psychological factors in cultural taste research.