From different traditions, research in the field of sociology of cultural taste and consumption has argued that contemporary societies are symbolically stratified through cultural engagement. These theoretical frameworks differ mainly in their explanations of the mechanisms that shape the relationship between culture and social stratification. Motivated by concepts from Pierre Bourdieu, Richard A. Peterson, and other key scholars, this thesis is focused on addressing the relationship between music consumption and social stratification. Due to its peculiar characteristics, music provides a good illustration of how people, through cultural engagement, draw boundaries that symbolically differentiate social groups. Although literature in the area has made great progress, there are still theoretical and empirical gaps. It is possible to find some passionate views which deny the relevance of some operationalisations and methods over others (Wuggenig, 2007; Chan, 2010a). From a comparative point of view it is questioned whether different dimensions of cultural practices can deliver consistent results (Peterson, 2005; Purhonen, Gronow and Rahkonen, 2011; Yaish and Katz-Gerro, 2012). Research which focuses on comparisons between societies frequently lacks detailed theoretical conceptualisations regarding how cultural items are distributed in different social settings (Katz-Gerro, 2011; Purhonen and Wright, 2013). Other important gap in the literature is the lack of understanding about how technologies act as an element of social distinction (López-Sintas, Cebollada, Filimon and Gharhaman, 2014). The main objective of this research is therefore to review how research has defined and studied the relationship between culture and society across several perspectives and to offer new insights which significantly contribute to the advancement of knowledge of the sociology of cultural taste and consumption. This is motivation for the development of four research articles which use several quantitative methods to analyse survey data from Austria, England, Chile, Finland, Israel and Serbia. This thesis shows that musical engagement, regardless of how and where it is measured, remains socially stratified. Age is the primary stratifying factor for musical engagement, highlighting the distinction between popular music preferred by the younger age cohorts, and the classical or traditional music of the older. Both are reinforced by educational level and social class. Individuals displaying broader musical preferences are more likely to be in advantageous positions. This concurs with arguments about omnivorism as a manifestation of cultural homology in the classic Bourdieusian sense (Lizardo and Skiles, 2012). Thanks to the innovative analysis of available data and the use of more specific cultural indicators it is possible to elaborate research questions to address the study of musical engagement and its place in society, integrating research methods, theory of practices, local and global contexts, and technologies as salient analytical dimensions.

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This doctoral thesis is about female rock musicians who are involved in two Swedish non-profit feminist music associations; Rockrebeller, which is situated in Uppsala and She´s Got the Beat in Umeå. The aim of the study is to analyze how the informants describe their lives as rock musicians and as active participants in these feminist music associations. The main issues are musicianship, identity, feminism and gender. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with ten informants – five from Umeå and five from Uppsala – and these interviews are complemented by a number of participatory observations. The focus of thesis is on the informants’ self-presentations: their stories and experiences. One central theme is the ways that the informants’ different identities are interlaced and closely knit together in different ways: as feminists, as musicians and as active participants in the associations. Two major themes in my thesis are music and politics and they can be regarded as two sides of the same coin; in order to make it easier for women to play rock music they have become involved in the associations, and this relationship is regarded as a form of political work. The informants have been influenced by punk and Riot Grrrls Movement – a feminist movement that is associated with punk bands and fanzines is sometimes seen as representative of a "third wave feminism". All the informants are members of rock bands, but many are also engaged in other projects, for instance in the role of a singer-songwriter, and these different identities as musicians are often seen as complementary to each other. Rock bands are generally considered to be fascinating but insecure experiences because bands tend to split up with time. Those who are also active musicians outside of the band (most often guitarists) usually regard their own individual identity as musicians as the most important thing; a safe harbor that is always there. Their ideological beliefs are for instance visible in a common vision of the ideal rock band as democratic, anti-hierarchic and where an equality of opportunity exists. Rock music is in some ways used as an expression for an alternative way of life, of rebellion, and is seen as politically subversive. One of the ambivalences of the source material is the kind of identity politics that the associations represent and whose purpose is to improve the gender equality in the field. There is a well-known dilemma involved in this practice; how is it possible to navigate from a marginalized, subordinated position, without using the method of categorizing that may increase the probability of reproducing their own marginalization? Their life as rock musicians is described as enjoyable rewarding, and as a means of expressing their cultural belonging and ideological beliefs, such as feminism. However, the overall picture highlights the pleasures of creating and making music, which serves as an explanation why they strive to make rock music more accessible for women. The descriptions of being in a band and performing on stage are varied and on the whole complex. The group dynamics of the band are portrayed as very meaningful but also trying at times, and playing in front of an audience is described as everything between ecstasy and a nerve-wrecking experience. However, there is an overall adaptation to the norms surrounding rock music; a sense that one has to adjust oneself in order to function as a rock musician. The informants´ statements generally emphasize gender, but from time to time they identify themselves with other male amateur rock musicians.

Tidigare forskning visar att det finns en koppling mellan musiksmak och social attraktion mellan människor, eftersom delad musiksmak ofta innebär delade personliga värderingar, och delade personliga värderingar kan innebära större chans för social attraktion. Målet med undersökningen har varit att ta reda på om musiksmak har någon korrelation med personliga värderingar, och vilka algoritmer som i så fall skulle kunna användas för att beräkna korrelationen. En modell ställs upp för en teoretisk perfekt matchningsalgoritm mot vilken de undersökta algoritmerna testas och jämförs praktiskt. Studien, som är uppdelad i tre delar, undersöker algoritmerna närmare med hjälp av testdata i formen av datorgenererade värden i den första och andra delen. Den första delen använder data i formen av heltal (antalet förekomster av musikpreferens) och den andra använder data i formen av binära tal (förekomst eller ej av musikpreferens). Den tredje delen använder sig av användardata, från 13 deltagare, från Spotify samt från en enkät om personliga värderingar. Resultaten visar ingen uppenbar korrelation mellan personliga värderingar och musiksmak, vilket troligtvis beror på datamängderna; det kan vara så att det krävs mer detaljerad och strukturerad användardata än den som inhämtats och använts i denna undersökning för att få tydliga resultat. / Earlier research shows that there is a connection between music taste and social attraction between people, because shared music taste usually means shared personal values, and shared personal values could mean greater chance for social attraction. The goal with the project has been to find out if music taste is correlated with personal values, and what algorithms can be used to calculate that correlation. A model is defined for a perfect matching-algorithm against which the studied algorithms are tested and compared practically. The study, which is divided into three parts, investigates the algorithms closer using test data in the form of computer-generated values in the first and second part. The first part uses data in the form of integers (the number of occurences of a music preference) and the second part uses data in the form of binary numbers (occurence or not of a music preference). The third part uses real user data, from 13 participants, from Spotify and from a survey regarding personal values. The results show no apparent correlation between personal values and music taste, the cause of which is most likely the data; it could be that it takes more detailed and structured user data than the one used in this study to get clear results.