Why did so many people hate Disco? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

I'll take a shot at this, however I think citing any sources is going to be a challenge. There aren't really many books or studies comparing the social stratification's and outcomes of popular music movements due to personal taste differences most likely. However I am a full time audio engineer and producer (no not in my basement) so I am at least a little qualified to try to quantify differences in personal taste for popular demographics.
There are quite a few reasons for the formation of the perspective that disco sucks, first and foremost was a "movement" popularized by several radio station dj's most of which were angry that the more "pure" types of music (rock) was being pushed out commercially by something that they saw as overproduced, rhythm heavy, and trite. They literally started the slogan "disco sucks." Detroit rock radio DJ Steve Dahl is probably the most famous of these disco hating dj's.
You have to remember though, disco record sales didn't start really falling until the late 70's early 80's. Thats nearly ten years of heavy popularity. Now when you think of disco you think of the music that has somewhat stood the test of time and is still semi-popular. The Bee-gees for instance. There was a ton of pulp like, fast produced, commercially viable but not musically redeeming, product that was on the radio that we don't think about. Like disco duck. This change in production at the beginning of the 70's also marks the commercialization of rock. Another side effect of this overproduction was live bands couldn't keep up with this type of produced music as easily live and so many clubs switched to Dj's.
Disco was the last big music movement really propagated by the baby boomers. In many ways it is the antithesis of the hippy movement. It was about losing yourself and having fun, damn the consequences. Rather than ideas and social change it focused on hedonism, money and appearances. I think the unsustainability of the studio 54 lifestyle illustrates that. In this manner you also have a bit of a drug culture clash IMHO. Marijuana was in its hey-day during this time and cocaine would become steadily popular until the late 80's. In that alone you have polarization of youth to different perspectives.
There was also dress. Disco marks not only music but a style of clothing. Much more so than the hippy movement in my opinion. The rock scene saw the bright colors, big collars and sequins as ostentatious and the older more traditional (50's) generation saw it as a degradation of culture. That along with the drugs and the locations made it a breeding ground for the new alternative lifestyles. This leads to revisionist views of the clash of these ideas. Did the party, good-time atmosphere make it easier for homosexuals to be a little more open? Sure. Does that mean disco haters where homophobic? Not so much. The Stones had already done drag quite a few times and Ziggy stardust would come and go without too much "homophobic" outcry. Our views as a country on homosexuality polarized very heavily in the 80's in comparison. Also I see in places that disco haters were racist because disco was partially an African American music movement. This is also very revisionist, I posit the disco movement was probably of the most mixed racial origin this country has seen. Also thrown out is urban vs. non urban environments but I've yet to see a convincing argument for this either.
Quite a bit of backlash started when rock acts started pandering to make record sales. Kiss and the Stones both put out almost universally hated disco albums and this was seen as betrayal by many. You couldn't escape disco in its time. In my opinion the hating of disco also has heavily to do with the commercialization of rock. Its not hard to imagine that the enemy is commercialism, and disco was the poster child, when what used to be edgy and seen to mean something (the Doors for instance) becomes a jingle for tv advertisements.