Survey: More Than a Vibe: How Music Taste Shapes Modern Dating

Music preferences have always been a matter of personal taste, but in the world of dating, it’s becoming so much more than that. From flirty playlists to instant turn-offs, music taste now plays a starring role in how young people decide who they want to match with, message, meet and potentially date.

To understand just how much music influences attraction and compatibility, Hily surveyed 5,500 American Gen Z and Millennial daters.

The results reveal that music isn’t just background noise in modern dating. It’s a vibe check, a compatibility test, and sometimes even a dealbreaker.

Before diving in, some key findings from our survey:

• 80% of Gen Z and 75% of Millennial daters in America believe that listing their favorite artists or songs on a dating app profile helps attract matches with “the same vibe”
• 1 in 4 American Gen Zers and Millennials say they wouldn’t go on a second date with someone they think has bad taste in music
• Over half (57%) of American Gen Z and Millennial daters believe a person’s taste in music shows how emotionally compatible they’d be in a relationship
• 1 in 3 American Gen Z and Millennial daters say that early in dating, shared taste in music is more important to them than shared life goals

Music as a Dating Signal

Music is showing up front and center on dating profiles. Nearly three-quarters of Gen Z daters (74%) and 68% of Millennials say they’ve recently listed their favorite artists or songs on a dating app profile. In a swipe-based world, music is becoming a shortcut to personality, a way to say “this is who I am” without spelling it out.

For young daters, music is more than a melody; it’s a way to broadcast who you are. In fact, 80% of Gen Z and 75% of Millennials believe listing their favorite artists helps attract matches with the same personality or vibe. It’s less about genre loyalty and more about showing you’re on a similar emotional wavelength.

Flirting has gone from eye contact to an aural connection. Of those surveyed, 68% of Gen Zers and Millennials say they’d send a song or playlist to a match to see if there’s chemistry. A shared playlist can communicate what small talk can’t, potentially turning a swipe into an instant connection or a musical red flag.

Matching on Music (Before Anything Else)

Shared taste boosts swipe confidence: 73% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials say they’re more likely to match with someone who lists a favorite artist or song they also love. Familiar music creates instant rapport, like you’re already speaking the same language.

More than half of young daters (53%) want music-based matching built directly into dating apps. As algorithms evolve, many daters see playlists as just as meaningful as location, age or interests—maybe even more so when it comes to finding someone to pass the playlist test. 

For 57% of Gen Z and Millennial daters, music taste is romantic chemistry you can hear. What you listen to, when you listen and how you connect to music can signal empathy, mood and emotional depth; all things daters care about early on.

In the early stages of swiping and chatting, vibes beat logistics. One in three young daters says matching musical tastes matters more than matching on life goals at the start of dating. Long-term plans can wait; the concert compatibility test comes first.

Attraction, Turn-Offs & Dealbreakers

Differences in taste aren’t always benign. One in four Gen Zers and Millennials say they wouldn’t go on a second date with someone they think has bad taste in music. Even when everything else clicks, a mismatch in music taste can make a connection feel slightly off.

Your soundtrack matters, and if the music hits, so might the spark. More than half of young daters say they feel more sexually attracted to someone they believe has good music taste. A shared rhythm can translate into chemistry, and sometimes into physical attraction. 

While most daters are flexible, some draw the line in the bedroom: 17% say they wouldn’t date someone whose sex playlist is totally different from theirs. Even in private moments, music helps set the tone, and a mismatched soundtrack can make it fall flat.

For some, seeing live music is a way of life, and a fair number of daters are hoping for love at first listen. One in three young daters say they wouldn’t date someone who doesn’t want to attend the same concerts. Shared experiences matter, and for many, concerts are non-negotiable.

First Dates & Fan Wars

Dinner and drinks aren’t the only date options anymore. Of those surveyed, 43% of Gen Zers and 46% of Millennials say they’d love to go to a concert as a first date. Music creates atmosphere, shared excitement and built-in conversation—no awkward small talk required.

Not all fandoms are neutral. One in three women and nearly one in four men say they’d feel less romantically interested if a date is a fan of artists they dislike. Taste in music can spark a connection or turn someone off.

Among daters who factor music into attraction, Taylor Swift and Drake top the list of artists most likely to lower romantic interest, cited by around 40% of women and men for Swift, and 34% for Drake: proof that music opinions remain deeply subjective, personal and occasionally divisive.

Love Is Better on the Same Wavelength

For Gen Z and Millennial daters, music is no longer just background noise; it’s a compatibility filter. From playlists to concerts to first-date ideas, shared taste helps people decide who feels right before deeper conversations even begin.

Still, flexibility and openness remain. While music can make sparks fly, most daters see it as a powerful compatibility check, but not the whole story. Because when the chemistry is real, sometimes all it takes is finding the right song to hit play.

The methodology

Hily’s research team surveyed 5,500 Gen Z and Millennials in the U.S. to examine how music taste influences modern dating. The study explored how often music appears on dating app profiles, its impact on matching and attraction, and whether shared taste functions as a compatibility signal or dealbreaker in early dating, including first-date preferences and romantic chemistry.

About Hily

Hily (pronounced like ‘highly’) is a dating app designed to connect singles with new people while supporting them in remaining authentic. Short for “Hey, I Like You,” it invites users to have fun and not look for a perfect match.

By encouraging everyone to date as they are, Hily is breaking one of the biggest curses of online dating—feeling pressured to hide your true self. Praising self-exploration, self-acceptance, open-mindedness, and inclusivity, the app helps people put real connections first and keep competition at bay by unlocking their unique, fabulous selves. With features like icebreakers, compatibility checks, messaging, Major Crush, and zodiac synastry, Hily helps users express who they really are and connect in genuine ways.

Launched in 2017, Hily has become one of the top 10 dating apps in US app stores, with over 39 million users worldwide.