Arts & Entertainment

Northern monkeys like it faster.

By team ⋅ March 27, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

The Guardian, 5th February

Perhaps they’re dancing to keep warm. Or simply thumbing a nose at the more languid moves of the Southern softies. Whatever the reason, a study has revealed that music gets faster the further north you travel in the UK.
Research analysing music-buying habits and attendance at clubs and gigs has also demonstrated that despite the supposedly homogenising effect of modern media, different regions defiantly retain contrasting tastes.

According to Uncut magazine, which combined data from HMV stores and the Official UK Charts Company with analysis of local clubs, country music is most popular in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the folk tradition remains strong in the north-east, the West country is a mecca for world music and jazz, and Sheffield and Nottingham are ‘heavy metal central’.
Analysing the speed of dance music in each region revealed the average number of beats per minute was more than twice as high in northern Scotland, where happy hardcore remains popular, than in Bristol, a stronghold for jazz, dup and trip hop.