Music consumption and taste internalisation practices among educated Brazilian metal listeners and members of musical scenes

Abstract

This article characterises the taste internalisation practices of listeners engaged in the consumption of the metal musical genre, delimiting engagement as an active role in performing distinctive actions and/or establishing social relations that enable the metal scene in Brazil. We found that social actors and specialised media propagate the normative system among listeners, who get involved with the aural, visual and verbal dimensions of the style, while appreciating and updating the meanings inherent to it. Cultural competencies are developed for the judgement and expression of taste, considering the peers inserted in the scene. Social distinction is manifested through the elaboration of codes that affirm the particularity of the listener's musical taste. We conclude that the taste internalisation practices promote a process of learning and experimentation during the consumption of the metal musical genre, contributing to the insertion of a new listener and to guide the interactions among listeners already existing in this cultural field.