[meruizh]

Without saying this is applicable to everyone, I think there's a general perception that as you get older, people stop listening to new music.

[Satie]

Several fucking ancients on the forum seem to be keeping up just fine .

I think that it's a matter of music being something that you participate in as pop culture spectacle or take seriously as a hobby (not that these things are mututally exclusive, of course). If you're a music "hobbyist," I imagine your chances of becoming uninterested in trying new things as time goes on wane. I also feel like plenty of people at younger ages who are music "hobbyists" don't necessarily follow music as it's coming out and only consume the new. I feel like listening to "new to them" things takes precedence (speaking from personal experience and the various charts of people here under 25 not just being 2010s exclusive). So, while I have to remain open to the possibility that "taste freeze" might occur and my ears may become tinnier and tinnier as regards brand new popular music or even just brand new music in general, I doubt that I will ever stop seeking out music that is new to me. I also would be interested in assessing the tastes of lifelong jazz and classical fans, as I hypothesize the active listening stereotypes associated with those genres, if demonstrably true, might show a correlation with retained openness and exploration.

[Hayden]

I agree with what Satie said, but I'm going to chime in a few of my own thoughts.

First off, this study is silly. I'm assuming the applicants were all middle-aged working-class American men? Even if you look at that demographic, it's quite obvious that they aren't going to be excited about the new Selena Gomez album.

This study (from what I can tell) only targets pop music. Sooo... people grow out of pop music, and start branching off by listening to music that they prefer. I think I stopped listening to the radio when I was 11. This isn't exactly groundbreaking research.

Plus, as I'm sure a lot of people here know, generations change. The people who grew up in the 40's and 50's weren't too fond of popular music from the 70's and 80's. It should only be assumed that the people who grew up in the 70's and 80's aren't too fond of the popular music being released now.

I'm also assuming these aren't music enthusiasts. The upcoming of the internet also has a bit to do with this I believe. The generation that grew up with the internet will more than likely continue to seek out new music simply because of how simple it is. Those who aren't technology efficient are probably struggling to care.

Things change, but I think the currently 15-25 age demographic won't fall into this trend. Even with pop music.

[zdwyatt]

I have wondered about this myself. I am by no means "old," but I appear to be older than the average BEA user. I certainly have not slowed in my consumption of new music. In fact, the ease of discovery and access that we currently enjoy means I listen to more music now than ever. When I was 15, I might buy a handful of albums and hear a few others through friends. Beyond that, I just heard whatever was on rotation on local radio. Now, I'm listening to upwards of 400 albums a year. I still buy albums, still usually a handful in a given year. But my tastes run more obscure than they would have even 10 years ago.

I agree that the difference is in whether you treat music as a hobby or not. Presumably we're all on this site because we're a bit obsessed with music. It's certainly my favorite form of entertainment/culture and the one to which I devote most of my time. I can't imagine that will ever change.

[Jimmy Dread]

[meccalecca]

[hardrocker]

I agree; it's all about time. There are several other factors involved, but it's primarily about time.

When we were kids, most of us had that spare time to talk about things with our friends and in school. Obviously, I'm completely unaware of what gets discussed today, but it's easy to see that back in the 70's, when I was reaching those ages of discovery (heh), all there really was, was music.

MTv didn't exist and there were few rock films, so the visual medium was imperceptible, unless you had a steady cash flow (and weren't using it over "other" recreational activities), so all we did was listen to it - jam out, and hit the occasional concert.

It became the overriding occupier for some of us and we carried it on into our adult years.

For most, it got lost in the rigors of life; work, raising a family, paying bills, being exhausted at the end of a day... it all plays a part.

The other piece is that, when you're young and have time, and you're in discover-mode, you do exactly that. When you're all grown up, you're spending hardly any time discovering something new.

Plus, we tend to carry on with what we're familiar with. As Hayden said, not many of us are going to develop any healthy interest in Selena Gomez, but we'll tell you all about UFO or Montrose (or whoever).

It's like clothes; at my age, I'm still wearing jeans and t-shirts with some kind of age-appropriate graphic on it. I never wore anything from Ed Hardy or whatever else is current. Hell, my dad still wears the same shirts he wore when he was a teenage gas pump monkey.

But one small caveat; I want to qualify 'new' music. Beiber, Rhianna, et.al, is new music , but so is Rising Sons or Koritni. The former is for my kids. The latter I listen to and buy. So I keep up.
_________________
It's Never Too Loud

[Liedzeit]

I maybe an exception, but I basically stopped listening to new music at age 21, which is more than 30 years ago.
And it was not a question of time. I just did not like new music.
I startet getting interested in music at 13 or 14. Rather late. Listening to Top 20 stuff and "discovering" old guys like Del Shannon, Four Seasons, John Lennon. But the only time that music really meant something for me was 1977 to 1979 when I would go out dancing to Punk/New Wave. Bauhaus, Fall, Siouxsie, Talking Heads, Pop Group, Suicide, Joy Division. 1980 all was over. Groups that I liked would break up or start making shit music "Road to Nowhere", or repeating themselves. And nothing new came along.

I continued to listen to John Peel’s Music, and I liked a lot of the stuff he played and I admired him for staying "young". But even his music was not for me, with very rare exceptions.
I bought the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand when they came out because of the hype but was "underwhelmed".
Last time I bought a new record that I actually liked was Tame Impala. And that is quite retro.
But everything is well in this best of all possible worlds. If I listen to music the old stuff is good enough for me.
_________________
When the stewardess is near do not show any fear.

[Precedent]

never

[FlorianJones]