POSTED BY Katie R., ON April 20, 2011, 5 COMMENTS

Maybe it’s because I frequently listen to music in museums. Or maybe it’s the proliferation of audio guides. Or maybe it’s just that I’m nosy. But I always wonder . . . As people meander through the Art Institute, what exactly are they listening to? So I decided to take a walk through the museum, rudely interrupt our visitors, and find out what they were hearing on their tiny earbuds.

I stopped Kendall as she was checking out Matthew Barney in the Modern Wing. She was in town from Austin and told me that she was listening to Coldplay, but that she had set her music player to shuffle.

I interrupted Mike when he was looking at Picasso and listening to his own music, which he described as a mix between hip hop and electronica. Buy Mike’s album!

Anthony was sketching The Sun Vow for a class at the American Academy of Art and was listening to the Adele vs. Gnarls Barkley mashup of “Crazy in the Deep.”

Interestingly enough, every person I stopped was embarrassed (completely without reason) to tell me what they were listening to. So in complete fairness, I only thought it appropriate to divulge what some of my fellow bloggers listen to when they’re strolling through museums: Erin H. is currently partial to The xx, Robby S. rocks out to N’goni music from Mali (show off!) and Mort Garson’s music for plants, and I’m a fan of both Philip Glass and Kanye West.

So there you have it. What’s on your museum playlist?