This empirical review of the relationship between Swedish youth and music begins with a brief overview of the place of music as a communications medium in Swedish society in general, and among Swedish youth in particular. An analysis of the findings of a large-scale, longitudinal study of media use by Swedish adolescents, the Media Panel study, is then presented. (This study has been conducted at the Department of Sociology, the University of Lund, Sweden, since 1975.) Although this project was primarily concerned with the media habits of and the effects of television use on children and adolescents, data were also gathered on the music interests and preferences of 509 children in Vaxjo, Sweden, in 1976, 1978, and 1980, with supplementary data being added in 1981. Conclusions based on these findings indicate that (1) music preferences are dependent upon earlier levels of school achievement, although the adolescent peer group plays a mediating role in terms of music preferences and motivations; and (2) low achievement tends to lead to greater peer orientation, negative attitudes toward school, and a preference for oppositional forms of music. Fifty-seven references are listed. (LMM)