According to this study, metal, EDM, and reggae music are unwelcome at your local beach.
Airlie Beach music festival (Source: Supplied)
Research conducted by Spotify and provided by Censuswide has found that 78% of Australians surveyed would support a ban on loud or offensive music being played at their local beach.
The sentiment isn’t a new one, with Portugal already imposing a fine of 36,000 euros for playing loud music on a beach – it’s surprising to see Australia’s beach-loving, larrikin culture instead wanting quiet and censoring local communities.
48% of the 1001 Aussies surveyed also believe it’s rude to blast music too loud, while 57% of participants claim there should be fines or penalties for people who violate beach music etiquette rules. 51% think there should be loud and quiet zones on the beach.
In addition to those statistics, 62% of Aussies are okay with music played at the beach as long as it remains at a reasonable volume and reasonable genre (more on that soon).
Queensland has proven to be the most relaxed state – 65% of Queenslanders are happy to listen to communal music at the beach. It’s not all that simple, though: some genres of music are unwelcome if you play them by the water.
Bad news for people with heavy metal, electronic, and reggae music on their summer playlists: your fellow beachgoers don’t support those genres being played in the sun. Instead, the top three music genres for acceptable beach music are pop, rock and country.
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According to the study, these are Australia’s top 10 beach songs with the words ‘beach’ or ‘summer’ in the title or lyrics:
Declan McKenna - Brazil
Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer
Bakar - Hell N Back
Frank Ocean - Lost
Spacey Jane - Booster Seat
Empire Of The Sun, Mac Miller - The Spins
Empire Of The Sun, Wiz Khalifa - The Thrill
Vance Joy - Riptide
SZA - Kill Bill
OneRepublic - I Ain't Worried
The Spotify and Censuswide survey on your beach beats, Should Australia ban playing music at the beach?, questioned 1001 participants over the age of 16 between 22-28 November 2023.
Other interesting findings include 57% of participants getting annoyed about litter on the beach and 26% about music being too loud in public.