ABSTRACT
In the Adorno's typology, Adorno considers in essence listeners of Western classical music, referring occasionally to jazz-lovers – within the 'resentment listener' type – and the 'standard merchandise' of pop music. He would be the fully conscious listener who tends to miss nothing and at the same time, at each moment, accounts to himself for what he has heard; this is how the fully adequate mode of conduct might be called "structural hearing". The increase in music on offer since then to include a considerable number of genres formerly practically inaccessible and unknown has been accompanied by the formation of new categories of audiences with new musical tastes. Adorno disregards three 'types' of listener that frequently appear amongst those who enjoy music from elsewhere. The first is the curious for diversity type. The other two are what we could call the contemplative listener or, by turning to Nietzschean categories, the Apollonian, and the enthusiastic listener, or Dionysian, respectively.
