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Music and substance preferences among festival attendants

Morten Hesse (Based at the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Sébastien Tutenges (Based at the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark)

Drugs and Alcohol Today

ISSN: 1745-9265

Article publication date: 8 June 2012

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Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to determine the prevalence of substance use among young festival‐goers and the associations between preferences for different types of music and recent use of different types of licit and illicit drugs.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is based on a cross‐sectional survey of 1,787 young adults attending a music festival in Denmark. Associations between preferences for music and substances were estimated using ordinal regression.

Findings

Prevalence of illicit drug use was higher in this festival going population than in the general population. Festival‐goers who favoured hip hop or electronic music were more likely to have used various classes of substances, while those who favoured pop music were less likely to have used all substances, except for alcohol.

Research limitations/implications

The data were collected under less than ideal circumstances with many respondents suffering from acute hangovers and fatigue after several days of consecutive partying at the festival.

Social implications

The information in the article can be used to inform outreach efforts.

Originality/value

The article adds further evidence to the observation that musical taste is an indicator of substance use.

Keywords

Citation

Hesse, M. and Tutenges, S. (2012), "Music and substance preferences among festival attendants", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 82-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/17459261211235100

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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