A new survey has found that four alcohol brands-Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel's whiskey-accounted for more than half of alcohol brand mentions in the songs that mentioned alcohol use in Billboard's most popular song lists in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
The study from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which is the first to examine the context of specific brand mentions in depth, found that alcohol use was portrayed as overwhelmingly positive, with negative consequences rarely mentioned.
Of the 720 songs examined, 167 (23.2 percent) mentioned alcohol and 46 (6.4 percent) mentioned specific alcohol brands.
The leading four brands accounted for more than half (51.6 percent) of all alcohol brand mentions.
Alcohol mentions were most common in urban songs (rap, hip-hop and R and B - 37.7 percent of songs mentioned alcohol), followed by country (21.8 percent) and pop (14.9 percent).
At least 14 long-term studies have found that exposure to alcohol marketing in the mass media increases the likelihood that young people will start drinking or, if already drinking, drink more.
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Adolescents in the US spend approximately 2.5 hours per day listening to music.
"Given the heavy exposure of youth to popular music, these results suggest popular music may serve as a major source of promotion of alcohol use among youth," study co-author David Jernigan, PhD, director of CAMY, said.
The study is published online by Substance Use and Misuse.