Richest US Millennials Listen to Classical Music, TD Ameritrade Survey Says

Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra performs at Carnegie Hall in New York on Sept. 18, 2015. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)

The type of music that Americans listen to may say a lot about their bank account. The richest millennials in the United States listen to classical music, according to the findings of a TD Ameritrade survey released this month.

About 1,500 participants were asked about their preferences among a range of musical genres that included classical, electronic, rap, hard rock, 80s/90s, pop/top 40, and country.

Respondents who most enjoyed classical music were the highest earners, with an average personal income of $114,000. On average, fans of rap or hip-hop earned an average of $69,000, while the lowest-earning group, with an average of $58,000, listened to country music.

For those who most enjoy classical music, 74 percent of them feel financially secure. Those who favor other music genres reported feeling less secure, with the second-highest percentage among those who listen to electronic music (59 percent); the lowest percentage again was among country-music listeners (34 percent).

That trend continued for respondents who say they’ve invested in the stock market, with the highest group again being classical-music listeners (74 percent), followed by electronic-music devotees (56 percent); once again, country-music listeners ranked at the bottom (39 percent).

Aside from finances, other studies reveal there may be more benefits in exposing one’s eardrums to the likes of Mozart and Bach.

A 2004 study conducted at the University of San Diego found that respondents who listened to classical music had “significantly lower post-task systolic blood pressure levels” than participants who heard no music. The study found that other musical genres didn’t produce better results when compared to silence.

Another study by the University of Southern California found that students who listened to classical music in the background of a one-hour lecture scored much higher in a quiz on the lecture when compared to a similar group who didn’t listen to any music.

“It is possible that music, provoking a change in the learning
 environment, influenced the students’ motivation to remain focused during the lecture, which led to 
better performance on the multiple-choice quiz,” the study’s authors wrote.