Déclarer son goût musical

Cultural taste and practices are ordinarily analysed through pre-established lists of generic categories that are provided to participants in quantitative surveys. The French inquiry on cultural practices conducted in 2018 offers the possibility to examine categories given by participants to an open question about the “type of music” liked by French people. The aim of this article is both methodological and analytical: First, this article operates a double categorisation, typological and generic, and second, it provides a reflection on the categories of music tastes. Although genre appears as the dominant category to express one’s taste, other categories, referring to “traditions”, “artists”, “use value”, as well as the absence of preferences are also observed. The article discusses what a declared preference for music via an open-ended question consists of, and how it differs from an expressed response about taste in a closed question.