“Consider the age, size(body build), level of skating, strength, personality, and natural style of your skater. If you have a tiny six-year-old, you don’t want to give her heavy music. You might want to look for something with flutes or violins. If you have a girl who looks boyish or who skates like a football player charging down the field, you might want to soften her with a selection of graceful music to challenge her. As you listen to music, you will find that some types seem to definitely fit a male skater. Something that is bouncy and cute is perfect for a little girl. Something that is sophisticated might be for a teenager. All the while you must be thinking of the level of skating and the need to challenge yet not over power your skater.”
). In a side note that may or may not be related -- I think one of the reasons that the Chinese had such problem early on with their artistry (Chen Lu of course being the very notable exception) was due to the differences between the Western World Music Structure and Eastern World music structure. The Chinese were used to an entirely different type of rhythm structure in their music, and when they had to skate to Western music (say, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, et al), their interpretation seemed downright bizarre because the Western music followed rhythms and tone patterns that were simply, so to speak, foreign to them. I think this was one of the reasons they had such bad results in Dance as well.
Originally Posted by theoreticalgirl
it strictly depends who you are talking about, and who you ask. As I have already stated, the vast majority don't know, don't care, and don't hear what music they are skating to. I have to conclude, to those specific individuals, music is a requirement but otherwise an unimportant factor in their performance. Is it background music to which skaters perform their techincial elements? If we are to answer this question based on the skating performances on record, the answer regarding the vast majority of skaters, is YES, music is merely background noise. Or, is it something much more? For a minority of skaters, coaches, and judges, music IS something much more than white noise. But IMO, the number of Toller Cranstons, John Currys, Janet Lynns, Kurt Brownings, and Jeff Buttles are few and far between. The number of Joe Inmans (judges) who truthfully know or understand the musical selections made by the competitors must be, if we are to examine their judging/marking/scoring history as the evidence, even fewer in number than the number of skaters who appreciate the musical element. Is there such a thing as "good" or "right" music? To me, NO. If a skater can interpret the music in an artful and athletic way, any piece of music could be appropriate. To the judging community however, I think they prefer the traditional selections, mostly classical. Are there consequences otherwise? Skating poorly to any music should result in a low score. Skating well to heavy mental is unlikely to go over well with a panel of ISU judges. Is this right? Not to me. Does music reinforce certain ideas/ideals/stereotypes about skating? Johnny Weir skating to Swan Lake reinforces stereotypes, Johnny Weir skating to the William Tell Overture or Metallica piece does not. Actually, I think costuming plays a big role in how males and females are perceived in skating. But, that is another discussion.
But I find this interesting because when I think about the acoustical limitations of arenas, something such as a solo piano piece would sound best in these spaces. When there's less soundwaves bouncing off the concrete and metal surfaces used in rink construction, its less noisy; therefore, it would be easier to interpret the music. 
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