By Mike Romero
An interesting phenomenon is going on with everyone’s Spotify Wrapped this year. One of this year’s segments tells you what your Sound Town is. According to Spotify, “The Sound Town selected for each eligible user has the most similar taste profile to their own — based on their most streamed artists of the year and how those artists are streamed in other cities across the globe. It is objective and entirely driven by a user’s listening history.”
As it turns out, the bustling little city of Provo, Utah is a taste-making destination. A ton of people all over the world have gotten Provo as their Sound Town. Needless to say, they are all thoroughly confused.
“Never heard of Provo but apparently we have similar music taste,” said u/mustacheandshades on the r/ProvoUtah subreddit. Other commenters hopped on the post with similar sentiments, posting screenshots of their Sound Town.
In an analysis from Polygon, a very confused Petrana Radulovic also got Provo. She even used “heck” in her article title, which is very on-brand. Unfortunately she didn’t get the memo that you’re supposed to censor h*ck with an asterisk. Rookie mistake.
Radulovic shared some interesting findings:
1) Taylor Swift is a common taste among nearly all Sound Towns.
2) Provo is generating a range of Taylor Swift, Mitski, Sleeping at Last, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Weezer, The Strike, and (according to my own Reddit sleuthing) Weird Al.
3) People whose listening habits indicate a “pop” preference have been getting assigned a Provo taste.
Radulovic may not understand, but to me, all of this tracks. Let me explain.
First of all, Provo is a college town. It’s flanked by both Utah Valley University up north and Brigham Young University downtown. It attracts tens of thousands of people from all over the world each year, who stick around for at least 9 months. And they bring their eclectic tastes with them. Provo is a sonic melting pot.
Secondly, Provo has the largest Latter-day Saint population out of anywhere in the world. So the Andrew Lloyd Webber, Weird Al, Taylor Swift combo totally tracks. A love of show tunes, clean/cringe musical comedy, and a down-home every girl living her dream on the world stage and essentially becoming a goddess (if you know you know) is all very Mormon.
Lastly, Provo h*ckin slaps, man. Lennon VanderDoes, Aaliyah Rose, Jenn Blosil, Amber Lynn, Jordan Moyes, EJ Michels, Ryan Innes, Midas Whale, Belle Jewel, Dune Moss – these are just a handful of the American Idol/The Voice contestants from the Provo music scene that have been on national TV in the last decade. Our girl Ashley Hess even sang with Jason Mraz.
Beyond talent shows, our music is permeating the public consciousness. For example, Radulovic mentioned The Strike in passing without realizing they formed in Provo. The Backseat Lovers are one of the fastest rising alternative bands right now. Legacy acts like The Killers, Imagine Dragons, and Neon Trees have Provo ties (a point which is repeated ad nauseam here in town). Hogwarts Legacy’s soundtrack was composed by Provo people with good taste and a knack for the epic. Citizen Soldier has been dominating TikTok for the last two years. And one of the biggest indie tastemakers in the world, Alex Rainbird, has been subconsciously featuring Provo artists again and again on his YouTube channel for nearly 10 years.
The fact that I could keep listing about a hundred more artists/things happening around town but didn’t (because I got tired) is a testament to the fact that this weird little Mormon town of ours is talented, eclectic, and prolific.
If you’re just discovering Provo music for the first time, welcome. We hope you enjoy your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.
lol speaking of The Killers, this music video was shot on location at Velour Live Music Gallery, our legendary downtown venue. Come visit.