Happy Fathers' Day-ta!

♫ Papa don’t preach…your music tastes on me! ♫

Do you have fond childhood memories of listening to the radio in the car with your dad? Do you and your dad perhaps share a favorite karaoke tune to sing out loud to at the top of your lungs on family road trips? Was he responsible for introducing you to one of your all time favorite tracks, which now reminds you of him every time you hear it?

Since the advent of radio, listening to music with our parents has been a powerful bonding experience, one we carry through to our adult lives. But how has the change in the types of devices we use to listen to music affected the way we listen to music with our families?​

In the run up to Fathers’ Day, we decided to take a closer look at how dads today connect with music by surveying more than 1,000 dads across the U.S. Here's what we found:

  • Dads love the radio, with over 75% saying they “always have the radio on when they are driving”

  • Millennial dads not only have fun when listening to the radio with their kids, singing out loud and dancing around, but also see the radio as a useful parenting tool

  • Dads of all generations see being able to stream music on their phones or tablets as a “must have” for their family vacation, preferring to have streamable music over fast food, books and magazines!

  • Country and alternative music emerged as the two genres of music dads love the most, though millennial dads tended to prefer hip-hop/rap

  • Virtually all dads agree that while they love sharing their favorite music with their children, they want them to develop their own independent music tastes

  • Relatedly, 43% of millennial dads say their own fathers influenced the music they listen to today (compared with only 17% of Gen X dads)

Although music is constantly evolving, it’s clear that radio is (and always will be) an important and cherished part of fathers’ relationships to their kids. So this Sunday, why not take some time to rock out with Dad with a few stations that are perfect for Father’s Day!​

Thumbnail/banner photo: Getty Images
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