Music Preferences and Family Language Background: A Computer- Supported Study of Children’s Listening Behavior in the Context of Migration

Turkish migrants are the largest national group in Germany. Nevertheless, neither in music psychology research nor in intercultural research can empirical data on the music preferences of Turkish-German primary schoolchildren in the migrational context be found. This study thus examined the music preference responses of children with Turkish language backgrounds, who were at the end of primary school education, to music examples representing the differences between occidental and oriental music systems. A total of 267 children participated in an investigation in the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein that involved primary schools that had relatively high and relatively low numbers of children with migrational backgrounds. The data analysis indicated interesting coherences between the children’s family language backgrounds and their music preferences. In the context of migration, however, the children’s responses represented varied possibilities of locating in a local, transnational, or global music culture