Do You Love George Strait? This Map Says You Do

A new map that made the rounds on the internet yesterday claims to identify each state’s most distinctive artist, whatever that means. For Texas, that artist is George Strait. But if you think this map gives you any meaningful insight, then I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. Paul Lemere, of the blog Music Machinery, decided to conduct a statistical analysis to determine regional listening preferences, state by state, because one person’s idea of fun is not necessarily someone else’s, and Lamere derives pleasure in crunching numbers until you can categorize things into weirdly specific categories. He used music stream statistics to determine which artist had a distinct popularity in one state when compared to the rest of the United States. You can read his post for details on his methodology. When you compare which artist is called up on music streams most often, George Strait is more likely to be played here in his home state than any other. The results doesn’t mean the country music icon is Texas’ favorite artist. That honor goes to Drake, Canada’s Sammy Davis, Jr. (George Strait at least made a modicum of sense.)

Trying to quantify something as unique and personal as musical taste seems like a fruitless exercise. Sure, some overlap exists, but Texan’s aren’t some homogenous entity that share universally common interests. So saying George Strait is the 16th most popular artist that Texans play on Spotify says nothing about the diverse tastes of the Lone Star State. That being said, George Strait is San Antonio royalty. Pure Country was awesome, and “Marina Del Rey” speaks to my heart. If it doesn’t speak to yours, well, you can’t call yourself a Texan.