Lovers of music: gradated performances of taste

Taking note of Hennion’s pragmatic approach to understanding taste this study explores the tastes of lovers of music, from contemporary classical music to punk rock. Taste is seen as an activity through which attachments are anticipated, developed and formed, and then tested. While the gradated tasting trajectory unfolds over time it is in the momentary anticipation of tasting, the emotional absorbance of live music or listener experience and the states of readiness for it that can move our understanding of taste beyond a perspective that view music tastes as being defined and determined by social labels.