August 30th, 2022, Rishad Dsouza
Background music is central to the gym-going experience, so in this piece we use YouGov Profiles to explore the tastes in music of those with gym memberships.
Among Americans with gym memberships, there appears to be a significant preference for jazz music when compared against the national population. Almost three in ten Americans with gym memberships (28%) rate it as one of their favourite genres compared to only a fifth of all Americans (20%).
A particularly interesting finding is that millennials with gym memberships (30%) are almost twice as likely as all millennials (17%) to say that jazz music is among their favourite genres.
Americans with gym memberships (13%) are noticeably partial towards world music compared to the national population (9%).
Other genres of music that gym membership holding Americans show a relative preference for include classical, Latin, blues, and dance & electronic.
On the other hand, Americans with a gym membership are slightly less likely than the overall population to rate rock and R&B as favourites.
Among Brits, the sharpest relative difference in music preference among gym goers and the national population is for Rap or Hip-Hop. A quarter of Brits (26%) who hold a gym membership rate Rap as one of their favourites compared to only 15% of the broader population.
Brits with gym memberships (23%) also show a significant preference for Electronic & Dance Music compared to all Brits (17%). They are also 7-percentage points likelier to pick ‘90s music’ as a favourite, which is a category that also enjoys significant popularity among the national population.
New age music and Latin music, although one of the less popular categories among both audiences, are the favourites of almost twice as many Brits who hold gym memberships than all consumers. Other genres that enjoy increased favour among Brits with gym memberships are alternative (or indie), pop, world music, R&B and funk.
Catering to these music preferences might be one way for gyms to deliver a tailored experience in a bid to generate loyalty among customers. Using YouGov Profiles, gyms can look into this data with greater granularity through the lens of a variety of demographic and psychographic filters.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.