A new survey has revealed that more young people are familiar with the lyrical stylings of Justin Bieber than the masterful prose and poetry of William Shakespeare. 

This coming Sunday will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and new research has shown that under-25s are more likely to recognise Bieber lyrics than Shakespeare's work. Music streaming service Deezer commissioned the survey, which was conducted by One Poll and subsequently reported on by The Guardian newspaper, and it involved 1,000 UK young adults aged between 18-25.

43% of the individuals who took part could correctly identify Justin Bieber lyrics, while only 38% were able to recognise Shakespeare's poetry and prose. Surprisingly, a third of people didn't recognise Shakespeare's well-known "to be or not to be" line from 'Hamlet', but over half instantly knew Bieber's lyrics "Girlfriend, girlfriend, you could be my girlfriend" and "Is it too late now to say sorry?".

Sam Lee, the music editor for Deezer, said: "Like Shakespeare, Justin Bieber is undoubtedly one of the most well-known figures of his time and his popularity means people nowadays seem to know their 'baby, baby, baby, ohs' more than their 'wherefore art thou Romeo's.'"

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Watch an interview with Bieber here: