Why do we stop listening to new music as we get older?


Hello all,

Sometimes I find myself wondering why there is so little newer music in my library. Now, before you start in with rants about "New music is terrible!", I found this rather interesting article on the topic. (SFW)

 

With the maturing of streaming as a music delivery platform, and the ease of being able to surf new artists and music, it might be time to break my old listening habits and find some newer artists.

Happy listening. 

 

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I’m a Boomer who considers discovering new music one of the joys of this hobby. Streaming new titles on my Amazon Music subscription makes this pursuit easy and risk free. I also consult AllMusic.com to help research new artists, albums and musical genres that I am unfamiliar with. It’s also a great tool to explore the back catalogues of artists I already know.

I have a habit of trying out new/unfamiliar material that Qobuz puts on their home page (or is my personal home page thanks to their sneaky algorithms?). It's kind of like it was when I maniacally listened to AM...and then FM...pop radio.

OP, …”I gave it some thought and started wondering what defines "new music" in the context of this conversation?”.

For me, music I never heard before.  I started in the 60’s and 70’s with rock… then discovered Jazz, (stopped listening to rock) the jazz fusion, the classical, then world, world fusion… I’m sure a few more. About 20 years ago I added rock back in to the mix occationally.

 

Now I listen to new albums as they are released on Qobuz in most genera. I skip hip hop and rap. So, my horizons are ever increasing. If I find an album I like I will work backwards in their history if the have one… and try “similar” bands. I probably listen to 70 % music I never heard of two years ago. Some from the 1950’s most from the last decade or two.

Here's the great thing about streaming not only do I discover new music I also discover old music cause if I haven't heard it then it's new to me!

As our system does get better so do we get better in exploring more musical horizons. That could translate in rediscovering what we already thought we knew well, discover that we get interested also to different genres of music or even search more from decades gone. So in a way lots of new music there.

On the other hand if you don’t listen to certain hour zones on FM, works for me as i am not into streaming, or go out visiting the record stores, for searching, asking, then you are getting slower. Tip always socialize with younger people.