Editorial: Don’t blame music for underage drinking

Many teenagers, especially those who listen to popular radio, can list at least a half-dozen… Many teenagers, especially those who listen to popular radio, can list at least a half-dozen rapper-endorsed brands of liquor. Thankfully — despite what certain researchers might suggest — exposure to these artists usually doesn’t lead young audiences to engage in drinking behavior.

A University of Pittsburgh-Dartmouth study published last Thursday found that during any given hour of music listening, American teens hear an average of 3.4 references to brand-name alcohols. Some are “luxury” liquors like Grey Goose, while others are more modestly priced brands like Smirnoff. Based on the results of a recent survey, the authors speculate that it’s precisely these references that cause underage drinkers to cite many of these brands as their favorites.

Although it’s true that countless popular singles — particularly, the authors point out, in the hip-hop and R&B genres — encourage drug use, we think it’s premature to claim they play a pivotal role in underage drinking. Music may be one of the most visible catalysts for bad behavior, but it’s certainly not the most significant.

First of all, it’s important to note that the products championed by self-reported underage drinkers in the aforementioned survey are hardly exclusive to hip-hop culture. According to a 2009 report by Drinks International magazine, Grey Goose is the fourth most popular vodka in the world, while Smirnoff, according to a 2008 Bloomberg News article, is the most popular vodka in the United States.

Furthermore, the reliability of the survey itself should be called into question. Because researchers took underage drinkers at their word, it’s impossible to gauge how truthful they actually were. These so-called “binge drinkers” might have been overstating their misbehavior: Many might actually qualify as perfectly moderate drinkers.

Finally, the “hip-hop/R&B” mentality researchers single out as especially harmful is hardly recent or genre-specific. Many rock stars popular in the 1960s and 1970s were equally hedonistic; references to alcohol and other drugs abound in songs by The Rolling Stones and The Stooges, among others. If anything, these artists were more influential than their like-minded successors. Frank Coleman, spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, told ABC News that a 2010 University of Michigan study demonstrated that binge drinking was at an all-time low even as the popularity of rap music spiked.

Many songs on the Billboard charts do indeed promote dangerous lifestyles — lifestyles that more than a few young people regard as desirable. However, as multiple studies have shown, innate behavioral traits are better predictors of illicit behavior than taste in music. Scold hip-hop and R&B artists for their frequent misogyny or for their perpetuation of stereotypes, but don’t make them the scapegoats for a problem that owes more to more subtle personal conditions.