Skip to main content
Aug 8, 2017 - Technology

What Americans are listening to — based on where they live

headshot

Matt Sayles / Invision / AP

The New York Times' Upshot compiled a list of maps detailing breaking down the country's popular music tastes geographically, so if you're ever wondered where The Chainsmokers are most popular (answer: Northeast college towns), now you know.

  • The method: The Upshot took the 50 most-watched artists on YouTube over the past year from this spring's Billboard Top 100 and used YouTube's geocoded streaming data to tally up their plays in metropolitan areas across the United States. The maps reflect each artist's relative popularity across the country.
  • Some takeaways: Coastal and southern hip hop — Future, Migos, Lil Yachty — really doesn't play well out West. Artists with a rock/pop flavor — Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga — aren't hugely popular in the South.
  • Politico's Kevin Robillard tweets the truth: "This article makes one thing clear: Americans in every section of the country have truly terrible taste in music."
Go deeper