What Do Rally Playlists Say About the Candidates?

[elleng]

Presidential campaigns have a sound. We analyzed the playlists of 10 contenders to see how the songs aligned with the messages.

'AUG. 19, 2019
Song playlists at campaign rallies tell you a lot about presidential candidates. The music is selected to reflect their values, their political messages, their “real” selves. The songs also say something about the candidates’ target audiences — whether they’re young or old, straight or L.G.B.T.Q., into country, disco or hip-hop.

The music booms as people enter the rallies, and then candidates take the stage to a “walk-up” song that can become associated with their platforms. The New York Times analyzed playlists used by nine Democratic candidates and President Trump to see how they help set the tone for each campaign.'

Turn your sound on.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/19/us/politics/presidential-campaign-songs-playlists.html?

[peggysue2]

1. That was fun!

Thanks for the link, elleng.

[elleng]

2. You're welcome!

Wouldn't work for me!

[ancianita]

3. haha... thanks! Great stuff! My favs are playlists have the fewest rock songs. So Harris, of course

[highplainsdem]

4. Very enjoyable! Thanks! I liked Biden's preferences best, from Springsteen to Lady Gaga.

I also liked O'Rourke's and Warren's choices.

And I especially liked what the Times' critics said about Biden's song choices:

The message in the songs, old and new, is momentum and redemption.

[highplainsdem]

7. Can you imagine both Springsteen and Gaga at an inaugural concert for Biden?

[hlthe2b]

5. I fully believe they have help compiling--not from "scratch" but from among their favorites--

such that their music DOES reflect their own personality and likes, but more importantly does not have only one genre, time period, nor listener cohort represented. I imagine the importance of that is lost on many at least initially, but I can honestly say that music makes a difference to me in terms of how long I want to remain in an environment, whether shopping, relaxing, eating, or yes, waiting to hear from a candidate. It only songs or music from a genre that I did not like were played, I would very likely "tune out" and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Seems as though they have accomplished both goals on these lists, though there are several I like more than others.

[highplainsdem]

9. Good point. I agree that these lists are compiled very carefully.

[highplainsdem]

6. I hate that Trump has misappropriated some great songs, often over the wishes of the artists.

It's as if he's some loathsome, smelly extraterrestrial beast that has to shit all over as much of our world as possible, to try to mark it as his own.

[hlthe2b]

8. I intentionally didn't look at his list. I can guess what is on it, but don't wish to associate with

him...

[Voltaire2]

10. What I get out of this is that the media

generally wants to discuss the superficial aspects of political campaigns rather than the substantive aspects.

[elleng]

11. Oh right, please do not read the NY Times.

'Julián Castro Is the 10th Candidate to Qualify for the Next Democratic Debate.

Mr. Castro, the former housing secretary, met the polling and donor benchmarks needed to earn a spot onstage in Houston in September.

The former housing secretary Julián Castro on Tuesday became the 10th Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the next round of debates, after a new national poll showed him earning 2 percent support.

The poll, conducted for CNN by SSRS, a research firm, was the fourth qualifying poll to show Mr. Castro having cleared that hurdle. He had already met the other qualifying standard set by the Democratic National Committee by receiving donations from more than 130,000 people.

In qualifying for the third set of debates, Mr. Castro joins nine other candidates who have also done so: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.; Senator Kamala Harris of California; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas; Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; and the entrepreneur Andrew Yang.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/us/politics/julian-castro-debate-2020.html?