Is my taste in music sexist? I noticed as I listened to the new Rough Trade "Best of 2019" list (https://www.roughtrade.com/us/albums-of-the-year-2019-top-100) that I was often giving female singers lower scores than male singers.
| Rating | Number | Male | Female |
| 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | 15 | 10 | 4 |
| 7 | 12 | 9 | 3 |
| 6 | 17 | 11 | 6 |
| 5 | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | 16 | 9 | 7 |
| 3 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 100 | 66 | 33 |
So, since I love statistics, I wanted to test that theory. My ratings follow a normal distribution quite closely (skewness=-0.0309 and kurtosis=-0.8327, which is pretty good). However, given my average album score of 5.73, I gave men an average rating of 5.88 and women a lower rating of 5.48.
| Percent Male | Percent Female | Weighted Male | Weighted Female | Mean-3*StdDev | Normal Curve |
| 0.67 | 0.33 | 40 | 20 | 0.030575 | 3.057518914 |
| 0.80 | 0.20 | 36 | 9 | 0.062806 | 6.280614472 |
| 0.67 | 0.27 | 80 | 32 | 0.106588 | 10.65880699 |
| 0.75 | 0.25 | 63 | 21 | 0.149447 | 14.94474606 |
| 0.65 | 0.35 | 66 | 36 | 0.173118 | 17.31178942 |
| 0.64 | 0.36 | 35 | 20 | 0.16568 | 16.56795327 |
| 0.56 | 0.44 | 36 | 28 | 0.130999 | 13.09993801 |
| 0.67 | 0.33 | 18 | 9 | 0.085574 | 8.557424954 |
| 0.57 | 0.43 | 8 | 6 | 0.046184 | 4.618388224 |
| 1.00 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0.020593 | 2.059260335 |
| 0.66 | 0.33 | 384 | 181 | ||
| Average | 5.82 | 5.48 | |||
| 0.58 | 0.55 | ||||
| z-value | 0.2829913 | 0.2885609 | |||
| NORMSDIST | 0.6135413 | ||||
| t-value | 0.6122992 | 0.6298863 | |||
My hypothesis is that my average rating for female singers of 5.48 is too far from the norm to be expected by chance. This gives a t-statistic of T = (pbar-p0)/(s/sqrt(n)) or (0.573-0.548)/(2.28/(33^0.5)). This equals 0.063. A two-tailed 5% p-value for 32 degrees of freedom is 0.950158, and that is much greater than 0.05, so my hypothesis is rejected. In other words, my average rating for female singers is NOT too far from the norm (at p < 0.05), at least I think so if I did the math correctly.
However, looking at my trending chart for "Ratings by Sex", I can see that at lower ratings, the percentage of female singers goes up. So, yes, I still worry that I am sexist, but not by a statistical significance.
| Checked out | Female-led | 0= bought it, 1 = Want to buy, 2 = Thinking about it | Name | Score | Notes |
| X | 0 | Beck "Hyperspace" | 10 | surprisingly synthy…. He knws where his money comes from | |
| X | 1 | 0 | Angel Olsen "All Mirrors" | 10 | I didn't want to like this so much, but she's really talented |
| X | 0 | FKA Twigs "Magdalene" | 10 | again, great consistency and talent. Above the usual "new RnB" trap | |
| X | 1 | 0 | Lizzo "Cuz I Love You" | 10 | loved "Good As Hell" more, but this is amazing |
| X | 0 | Tool "Fear Inoculum" | 10 | twelve years, and it's just this? Oh well, thanks, I love Tool | |
| X | 0 | Sturgill Simpson "Sound and Fury" | 10 | an amazing leap from his earlier hipster country music | |
| X | 0 | Thom Yorke "Anima" | 9 | just a soundtrack, but it's very good electronica | |
| X | 0 | Orville Peck "Pony" | 9 | am I giving him too much credit for being gay? Alt alt alt alt country | |
| X | 1 | Sandy (Alex G) "House of Sugar" | 9 | I thought he was going to be huge. He's talented, but is that enough? | |
| X | 1 | 0 | Vanishing Twin "The Age of Immunology" | 9 | moody, but great musicianship with varied instruments |
| X | 0 | Floating Points "Crush" | 9 | some of my favorite ambient electronica | |
| X | 1 | black midi "Schlagenheim" | 8 | all over the place, jazz metal, like nothing else I've ever heard | |
| X | 1 | The Twilight Sad "It Won't Be Like This All the Time" | 8 | what goth turned into, better than the Killers | |
| X | 1 | Rex Orange County "PONY" | 8 | YouTube-ready "Evan Hansen" songs for the teen in all of us | |
| X | 1 | 1 | Billie Eilish "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" | 8 | sonically fun, but it's barely there |
| X | 1 | 1 | Jenny Hval "The Practice of Love" | 8 | intelligent creative pop and synth, but still really pretty, like to hear her back catalogue |
| X | Sarathy Korwar "More Arriving" | 8 | too much rap, but I'm a sucker for interesting world music rap/jazz/Indian hybrids | ||
| X | Tyler Childers "Country Squire" | 8 | real country, and I have to admit the songs are catchy though stupid | ||
| X | 1 | Richard Dawson "2020" | 8 | baroque weird art-pop, too twee? | |
| X | 2 | Oh Sees "Face Stabber" | 8 | So grimy and blurry that I just can't get an emotional connection to it, but it's good | |
| X | 1 | 2 | Kim Gordon "No Home Record" | 8 | sonically so more interesting that Sonic Youth's later work, but I'm still not a fan |
| X | 2 | Sleaford Mods "Eton Alive" | 8 | it's that English rap-talking over basic beats, but for some reason they are good at it | |
| X | 0 | Drab Majesty "Modern Mirror" | 8 | smeary songs like a throwback to indie 80s English synth bands | |
| X | 1 | 2 | Weyes Blood "Titanic Rising" | 8 | mellow rock, cute songs, great string backgrounds, 70s California singer-songwritery |
| X | 1 | Swans "leaving meaning" | 8 | more mellow than their usual extremely messy loud curtains of metal | |
| X | 2 | Snapped Ankles "Stunning Luxury" | 8 | LOTF of great sounds here, too bad it's talk-singing without real songcraft | |
| X | 2 | Fontaines D.C. "Dogrel" | 7 | English talk-singing, but good guitars | |
| 1 | 2 | Ex:Re "Ex:Re" | 7 | really quiet, but still a beat, great female singer | |
| 1 | 1 | Sharon Van Etten "Remind Me Tomorrow" | 7 | I'm really caught with her songwriting, hate the cover | |
| 2 | The Murder Capital "When I Have Fears" | 7 | dark growly goth, shouty singing, but inventive guitars | ||
| 1 | Kokoko! "Fongola" | 7 | I'm a sucker for creative world music with synths and guitars rhythm | ||
| Metronomy "Metronomy Forever" | 7 | finally some fun electro-pop | |||
| 1 | The Rails "Cancel the Sun" | 7 | loud power pop duo, and I'm a sucker for that | ||
| 1 | 2 | Cate Le Bon "Reward" | 7 | sonically great, inventive but easy going | |
| Penguin Cafe "Handfuls of Night" | 7 | modern ambient, at times tries new things, but still | |||
| 1 | Jacques Greene "Dawn Chorus" | 7 | synth-wash electronica, and I need some of that always | ||
| Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes "End of Suffering" | 7 | real rock and I've missed that. Too bad it's too derivative | |||
| 1 | BlackWater HolyLight "Veils of Winter" | 7 | now THIS is a girl band... a quartet that's surprisingly heavy | ||
| 1 | The Comet is Coming "Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery" | 6 | next thing in jazz... techno and solos and everything in there | ||
| 1 | Kate Tempest "The Book of Traps and Lessons" | 6 | not rap as much as spoken word! so interesting, but not sure about replayability | ||
| Little Simz "Grey Area" | 6 | best rap of the year, great backing tracks | |||
| 1 | Jay Som "Anak Ko" | 6 | dreamy girl pop, but other instruments, too | ||
| 1 | Marika Hackman "Any Human Friends" | 6 | wildly all over the place pop, very nice | ||
| Fat White Family "Serfs Up!" | 6 | like the Flaming Lips, which is great but seems so *easy* | |||
| 1 | Karen O and Danger Mouse "Lux Prima" | 6 | she's great, he's great, it's what you'd expect | ||
| Pond "Tasmania" | 6 | stoner rock with a lot in the mix | |||
| Foals, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost (Part 2) | 6 | ||||
| Temples "Hot Motion" | 6 | that messy psychedelic guitar rock with fuzz | |||
| 2 | Alcest "Spiritual Incest" | 6 | I guess smooth beginner drone metal is fine | ||
| 1 | Bat for Lashes "Lost Girls" | 6 | |||
| Sault "5" | 6 | low-fi Talking Heads-style extended pointless jams, but still fun | |||
| Helado Negro "This Is How You Smile" | 6 | there should be a word like "non-cis" to mean non-white in a white culture, a little too lethargic tho | |||
| Toy "Happy in the Hollow" | 6 | sloppy breathy male singer over meanandering synths | |||
| 1 | Brittany Howard "Jaime" | 6 | I should really hunt down the Alabama Shakes, this is missing something | ||
| The National, I Am Easy to Find | 6 | ||||
| 1 | Kit Sebastian "Mantra Moderne" | 5 | Belle and Sebastian pop, more edge but not much more | ||
| 1 | The Delines "The Imperial" | 5 | slow pop with a 50s girl-group vibe | ||
| Durand Jones and the Indications "American Love Call" | 5 | modern RnB | |||
| Toro Y Moi "Outer Peace" | 5 | really good PBRnB, goes down easy and sounds sounically exciting | |||
| Pip Blom "Boat" | 5 | The Tings Tings meet the Raveonettes, not bad, but not really good either | |||
| Tyler. The Creator "IGOR" | 5 | I don't want to like this, but it sounds so interesting | |||
| Robert Forster "Inferno" | 5 | just an old guitar guy guitaring guitar songs | |||
| 1 | Girl Ray "Girl" | 5 | it's poppy, like a more laconic HAIM | ||
| 1 | Amyl and the Sniffers "Amyl and the Sniffers" | 5 | punk, but sounds easy. I have a soft spot, though | ||
| A.A. Bondy "Enderness" | 5 | a guy singing with slow songs that are often slow and pointless | |||
| Wilco "Ode to Joy" | 5 | ||||
| Iggy Pop "Free" | 4 | good for Iggy, but I'm tired of him | |||
| 1 | Crumb "Jinx" | 4 | moody atmospheric female-led pop | ||
| Purple Mountains "Purple Mountains" | 4 | ex-Silver Jews slacker rock | |||
| 1 | Cigarettes After Sex "Cry" | 4 | very lynch-ian atmospheric drone pop | ||
| Mac DeMarco "Here Comes the Cowboy" | 4 | bro with a guitar, could be worse | |||
| 1 | Aldous Harding "Designer" | 4 | strummy small songs | ||
| Joe Armon-Jones "Turn to Clear View" | 4 | 70s space keyboard jazz sometimes with hipster vocals | |||
| Slowthai "Nothing Great About Britain" | 4 | sonically interesting political rap | |||
| Dermot Kennedy "Without Fear" | 4 | that David Gray-ish pretty-good singer-songwriter songs that thinks they're being original | |||
| 1 | Tallies "Tallies" | 4 | spacious wash guitars and a beat with a female vocalist | ||
| Tindersticks "No Treasure But Hope" | 4 | this guy has bad sung personal multi-instrument ballads for years | |||
| 1 | Drahla "Useless Coordinates" | 4 | dark female-led guitar skronk, but more easier than difficult | ||
| Nerija "Blume" | 4 | just jazz, but ok | |||
| 1 | Julia Jacklin "Crushing" | 4 | so tired of quiet warbling earnest too-hip female guitarists today | ||
| 1 | Jade Bird "Jade Bird" | 4 | a girl, a guitar, and a lot of tunes that I'm too tired to get into | ||
| DIIV "Destroyer" | 4 | ||||
| 1 | Big Thief "Two Hands" | 3 | mostly twee female-led folk-rock | ||
| 1 | Barrie "Happy to Be Here" | 3 | it's ok, but way too slow and twee for me, just dream pop | ||
| 1 | Cross Record "Cross Record" | 3 | more atmospheric pop, just not much there | ||
| 1 | Shura "Forevher" | 3 | poppy but tiny, at times could be something better | ||
| Ohtis "Curve of Earth" | 3 | badly-sung pseudo-country, I don't need this | |||
| Flying Lotus "Flamagra" | 3 | it's good... I just think I don't always want hip-hop in my techno | |||
| 1 | Mattiel "Satis Factory" | 3 | grungy Excene Cervenka-like rock | ||
| 1 | Patience "Dizzy Spells" | 3 | smooth smooth female pop, so synthy! | ||
| Dehd "Water" | 3 | the reason why 60s garage rock should have stayed in the garage | |||
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Ghosteen" | 2 | so quiet, I just don't trust the guy | |||
| Turnover "Altogether" | 2 | ez-pop, man droning with jangly guitars and too much production | |||
| Jordan Rakei "Origin" | 2 | limp home-produced keyboard RnB songs that go nowhere and start there | |||
| 1 | Lana Del Ray "NFR!" | 2 | I really don't want to like her, but I have to admit she is good at her schtick | ||
| 1 | Jessica Pratt "Quiet Signs" | 2 | any more minimal piano and it wouldn't be there | ||
| Ratso "Stubborn Heart" | 2 | what if Leonard Cohen wasn't dead, but not as talented? | |||
| 1 | Stef Chura "Midnight" | 2 | guitar jangle jangle female guitarist. Nice and loud, but her voice is barely in control and it's tiring | ||
| Girl Band "The Talkies" | 1 | not a girl band. A bunch of guys doing punk that sounds really easy to shout-sing | |||
| Liam Gallagher "Why Me? Why Not" | 1 | he's talented, but I just can't get over the atitude. I don't wanna reward the jerk |