Although born at the tail end of the 1970’s means I’m really both a 70’s and 80’s child, I’m quite happy to salute the 1980’s for being the genre of choice in a recent music survey. Digital broadcaster Music Choice, surveyed 11,000 people on a variety of music related topics, and have just released the results, which as you can probably guess, illustrates the fact that the 1980’s are still ever popular!

Along with the 80’s being voted the genre of choice, Live Aid won the poll for most important music event of the last 30 years, with 80’s tunes also featuring in the ‘Best Wedding Song’ poll. Here the results include Van Morrison’s ‘Have I Told You Lately That I Love You’, and ‘Endless Love’ by Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross.

Although as you can see from the percentage breakdowns below, the results were quite evenly spread, the fact that the 80’s featured prominently in the results of this poll, shows all the digital choice viewers have taste! With re-releases of songs like ‘Do They Know Its Christmas’, frequent retro tours, and the reformation of acts like Spandau Ballet, and Duran Duran, it’s likely that the popularity of 80’s music will live on for many years to come! New wave and synth based sounds are always inspiring modern day acts like La Roux, Daft Punk, and Ladyhawke!

This survey was one of the biggest pieces of music research out there, and is available every year across Europe. If you’d like to take part in the 2010 survey and help shape the future of Digital Choice, and their music programming, keep a look out at www.musicchoice.co.uk

Results at a Glance:

Most popular decades of music in the last 40 years

1. 1980s = (31 per cent)
2. 1990s= (25 per cent)
3. 1970s= (23 per cent)
4. 1960s= (19 per cent)
5. 2000s= (2 per cent)

Top 10 most influential occurrences in music in the last 30 years:

1. Live Aid (21 per cent) – most important event
2. Launch of downloadable music (19 per cent) – most important innovation
3. Launch of the iPod (17 per cent)
3. Death of Michael Jackson (17 per cent) – most important death
5. Death of John Lennon (8 per cent)
6. Launch of music videos and music video TV channels (8 per cent)
7. Nelson Mandela Concert (4 per cent)
8. Death of Kurt Kobain (3 per cent)
9. Talent shows such as Pop Idol and X Factor (2 per cent)
10. Spice Girls Splitting up (1 per cent)