I’m not sure of the credentials of this individual, but it’s an interesting read in any case. Definitely some things that ring true for me over my years of listening - how important one’s teens are for solidifying musical tastes and, for me, how much child rearing got in the way (in a good way, certainly!) of finding new music.
I’m starting to see this linked elsewhere and am surprised that no one has posted it here before now. Apologies if this is, in fact, a duplicate. Cheers!
Well, fortunately I’m not aligning with the demographics in said article, hardly ever listening to the music of my youth and early adolescence.
My musical tastes have moved on and vastly broadened into new territory, made possible, especially, by the availability of streaming via Qobuz.
It’s the same for me. I do think there is a difference between music enthusiasts and casual listeners.
I once read that the average UK household had 30 CDs, which suggests that many people have a narrow appreciation of music. It would seem that this hasn’t changed with the proliferation of greatest hits, 70s, 80s, 90s radio stations in the UK.
However, my son and some of his peers now listen to wildly different music than they did half a lifetime ago at 14.
Unfortunately for my wallet, this premise is flawed. I’m in my late 50s and still find new music to love. And I deliberately try not to.* It doesn’t work.
As @Martin_Webster said, there’s a difference between music enthusiasts and casual listeners. Casual listeners never tried to “find” music to begin with, really.
*How, you may ask? By listening overly critically and hoping to find the new music to be poor, too derivative, or poorly performed. But still, there’s fresh, imaginative, well-performed new music coming out, even if it’s an incredibly small minority. Somehow, I manage to find it and love it. A double edged sword, as it were, at least for my wallet…
I still love some of the music from my 12 to 16 years.
But my most played are younger by 35 years or more.
I’d agree on the casual listener, I don’t think my wife’s tastes extend beyond the 80s.
In my early sixties, I still find not only new music, but discover new genres/exciting artists in genres I never much cared for when younger.
I still listen to some of the music from my youth (The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Mozart, JS Bach), but a lot of what I listened to back then hold little to no interest for me anymore.
Most of the music I listened to from maybe 18/19 I still listen to sometimes (some of it quite often), but have kept finding new stuff to like since then. Not just similar things, but as I said, new genres, new kinds of music (my taste in jazz used to be quite narrow until my mid thirties, didn’t like operas until my mid forties, modern r&b early fifites and so on).
I still like the music of my youth but rarely listen to it. I spend most of my time finding unheard music old & new. Most my favourites, regularly played, originate many years after the influences of my youth.
kneville
(I hear you are singing a song of the past)
8
The headline grabbed me, but clearly most of us here have not stopped finding new music!
I do come back the idea of formative music - artists or specific songs that really shaped your tastes and are still able to bring a smile to your face or get you moving pretty quickly. Anecdotally, it seems like that’s often music from one’s teens.
For me, in addition to what I was listening to when I was 13-17, the music my dad and uncles were listening to when I was evening younger are ingrained even more deeply. There are artists and styles that I stepped away from completely for those formative teen years but have come back to and enjoy even more today.
And, like all of you have said, I’m still excited when I find new music that I enjoy or an artist that I haven’t heard before that grabs my attention. Keep those recommendations coming!
