READ STORY HEREThe original Woodstock Music & Art Festival recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary. As a momentous cultural event Woodstock’s enduring impact on the music and entertainment industry is not lost on the folks at Rasmussen and Pew Research.
Peace & love vibes may have reigned supreme in 1969 but four decades later less than four in ten Americans are convinced a similar sized festival could gather peacefully.
According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll 39% of responders said Woodstock’s success in that regard could be repeated. 34% disagreed however with a large 27% suggesting they were uncertain and likely skeptical. Over 400,000 attended the original Woodstock festival at Max Yasgur’s six hundred acre farm in the small rural town of Bethel New York. While there were three accidental deaths, one rumored birth, a rain soaked audience and numerous facility issues the event was, on the whole, a massive success.
The most skeptical age-bracket are those old enough to remember the original Woodstock of forty years ago. Whereas 44% of younger Americans aged 18-29 and 53% of those in their 30s are optimistic a peaceful festival could be held with an audience that large, older citizens share a much more pessimistic view. 36% of those aged 50-64 think a crowd of 400,000 could pull off a peaceful display but just 20% of seniors 65 and over share in that opinion.
The optimism of thirty-somethings, nine percentage-points higher than the 18-29 year old crowd may look surprising at first glance. Perhaps their respective perceptions of civil obedience are affected by other Woodstock festivals. Most of the younger crowd surveyed here by Rasmussen may only remember the disastrous of events of Woodstock III held in 1999 when violence and destruction tainted the 30th anniversary proceedings. The 25th anniversary Woodstock II from 1994 on the other hand, a hallmark cultural event for many of those now in their 30s, was a far more pleasant affair.
Large festivals from the 60s and early-70s like Woodstock have had their moments of social and musical bliss as well as civil disobedience. The massively influential Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 drew around 200,000 fans in a peaceful affair of cultural "Flower Power". California’s Altamont Speedway headlined by the Rolling Stones was marred by disorganization and violence resulting in the death of one concert attendee.
1970’s massive Isle of Wight Festival in England was the last of its kind for over three decades with its proceedings marred by logistical problems and an, at times, unruly audience. Summer Jam at Watkins Glen from 1973 meanwhile holds the distinction of the largest festival in history with over 600,000 attendees and no major reports of violence.
Clearly inspired by the Woodstock anniversary Pew Research polled on a number of topics relating to the generation gap of today as opposed to the 1960s. What they found was a far more “subdued affair” today than the generational war waged four decades ago.
Rock and roll in particular has ventured from the defiant cultural soundtrack of the 60s to the most popular and accessible form of music in the 2000s. Rock music was largely reviled in 1966 when polls indicated that by a staggering eleven-to-one ratio (44-4%) more people claimed to dislike the format over those who considered it their favorite. In 2009 now 65% of the 1,815 people age sixteen and over surveyed by Pew said they listened to rock music “some” of the time or “often”. Only 22% now claim to “never” listen to it. Other rock influenced genres of popular music also score high including modern country, R&B and Rap/Hip-Hop.
By age group rock music’s appeal tapers off significantly only in the over-65 age bracket with just 8% listening to it often. Rap/Hip-Hop is almost as popular as rock music for 16 to 29-year olds (45-41%), but it too plummets in popularity with age groups after that. Country is statically the most stable category of music appealing to age groups of 16-29, 30-49, 50-64, and 65+ by percentages of 25, 21, 31, and 37% respectively. In terms of political groups Republicans show a slight preference for country, Democrats put rock and R&B at a statistical dead-heat atop and independents go for rock, followed by country, then R&B music.
Lastly Pew asked its responders to rate twenty different performers who represent different musical eras and styles since the 1940s. Of the top-20 performers a total of seven (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead) were associated with the 1960s. In terms of approval ratings the Beatles score the highest at 81%, followed by Elvis Presley at 79%, the Eagles at 77% Johnny Cash with 76%, and recently deceased Michael Jackson locked with the still active Rolling Stones at 75%.
The common denominator between generations seems to be the Beatles. The Fab Four from Liverpool continue to garner admiration from listeners well entrenched or born years after their 1970 breakup. The Beatles finish just behind Michael Jackson on this Pew Research list of twenty major acts for younger listeners between ages 16-29. They are actually third in the 30-49 grouping behind Jackson and easy listening rock band the Eagles. John, Paul, George and Ringo are fourth amongst the 65 and older crowd and tops for those performers who began their careers in the 1960s or later. Finally the Beatles are phenomenally popular with baby boomers aged 50-64. The number of those saying they “like” the British legends “a lot” stands at a lofty 65%.
Peace & love vibes may have reigned supreme in 1969 but four decades later less than four in ten Americans are convinced a similar sized festival could gather peacefully.
According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll 39% of responders said Woodstock’s success in that regard could be repeated. 34% disagreed however with a large 27% suggesting they were uncertain and likely skeptical. Over 400,000 attended the original Woodstock festival at Max Yasgur’s six hundred acre farm in the small rural town of Bethel New York. While there were three accidental deaths, one rumored birth, a rain soaked audience and numerous facility issues the event was, on the whole, a massive success.
The most skeptical age-bracket are those old enough to remember the original Woodstock of forty years ago. Whereas 44% of younger Americans aged 18-29 and 53% of those in their 30s are optimistic a peaceful festival could be held with an audience that large, older citizens share a much more pessimistic view. 36% of those aged 50-64 think a crowd of 400,000 could pull off a peaceful display but just 20% of seniors 65 and over share in that opinion.
The optimism of thirty-somethings, nine percentage-points higher than the 18-29 year old crowd may look surprising at first glance. Perhaps their respective perceptions of civil obedience are affected by other Woodstock festivals. Most of the younger crowd surveyed here by Rasmussen may only remember the disastrous of events of Woodstock III held in 1999 when violence and destruction tainted the 30th anniversary proceedings. The 25th anniversary Woodstock II from 1994 on the other hand, a hallmark cultural event for many of those now in their 30s, was a far more pleasant affair.
Large festivals from the 60s and early-70s like Woodstock have had their moments of social and musical bliss as well as civil disobedience. The massively influential Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 drew around 200,000 fans in a peaceful affair of cultural "Flower Power". California’s Altamont Speedway headlined by the Rolling Stones was marred by disorganization and violence resulting in the death of one concert attendee.
1970’s massive Isle of Wight Festival in England was the last of its kind for over three decades with its proceedings marred by logistical problems and an, at times, unruly audience. Summer Jam at Watkins Glen from 1973 meanwhile holds the distinction of the largest festival in history with over 600,000 attendees and no major reports of violence.
Clearly inspired by the Woodstock anniversary Pew Research polled on a number of topics relating to the generation gap of today as opposed to the 1960s. What they found was a far more “subdued affair” today than the generational war waged four decades ago.
Rock and roll in particular has ventured from the defiant cultural soundtrack of the 60s to the most popular and accessible form of music in the 2000s. Rock music was largely reviled in 1966 when polls indicated that by a staggering eleven-to-one ratio (44-4%) more people claimed to dislike the format over those who considered it their favorite. In 2009 now 65% of the 1,815 people age sixteen and over surveyed by Pew said they listened to rock music “some” of the time or “often”. Only 22% now claim to “never” listen to it. Other rock influenced genres of popular music also score high including modern country, R&B and Rap/Hip-Hop.
By age group rock music’s appeal tapers off significantly only in the over-65 age bracket with just 8% listening to it often. Rap/Hip-Hop is almost as popular as rock music for 16 to 29-year olds (45-41%), but it too plummets in popularity with age groups after that. Country is statically the most stable category of music appealing to age groups of 16-29, 30-49, 50-64, and 65+ by percentages of 25, 21, 31, and 37% respectively. In terms of political groups Republicans show a slight preference for country, Democrats put rock and R&B at a statistical dead-heat atop and independents go for rock, followed by country, then R&B music.
Lastly Pew asked its responders to rate twenty different performers who represent different musical eras and styles since the 1940s. Of the top-20 performers a total of seven (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead) were associated with the 1960s. In terms of approval ratings the Beatles score the highest at 81%, followed by Elvis Presley at 79%, the Eagles at 77% Johnny Cash with 76%, and recently deceased Michael Jackson locked with the still active Rolling Stones at 75%.
The common denominator between generations seems to be the Beatles. The Fab Four from Liverpool continue to garner admiration from listeners well entrenched or born years after their 1970 breakup. The Beatles finish just behind Michael Jackson on this Pew Research list of twenty major acts for younger listeners between ages 16-29. They are actually third in the 30-49 grouping behind Jackson and easy listening rock band the Eagles. John, Paul, George and Ringo are fourth amongst the 65 and older crowd and tops for those performers who began their careers in the 1960s or later. Finally the Beatles are phenomenally popular with baby boomers aged 50-64. The number of those saying they “like” the British legends “a lot” stands at a lofty 65%.
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