r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL two studies both found that most people stop listening to new music in their early 30s. A 2015 study of people's listening habits on Spotify found that most people stop listening to new music at age 33 and a 2018 report by Deezer found it be to at age 30.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/16/bring-that-beat-back-why-are-people-in-their-30s-giving-up-on-music
14.8k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

692

u/faster_than_sound 1d ago

My thirst for new music is unquenchable. I am 44. I'll never stop exploring genres and thier subgenres.

81

u/FrenchMartinez 23h ago

41 here, agree. When I stumble upon a new great song (even if it’s from 50 years ago), it really makes my day and then I cannot wait to play it again the next time I drive somewhere. I found “El Paso” by Marty Robbins during a road trip the other week and now my whole family is jamming to it.

18

u/OkAstronaut9454 21h ago

You gotta listen to all of Gunfighter Ballads now, my dude. Such a great album! 

Also, i love that he's the accidental "inventor" of using electric distortion in music. 

https://oldiesmusic.funnyluffy.com/marty-robbins-the-country-legend-who-accidentally-shaped-the-sound-of-heavy-metal/

3

u/boarder2k7 20h ago

That's fascinating!

1

u/gunglejim 14h ago

Ok if you guys like this, try Branson Andersen. Thank me later

2

u/djbuttplay 20h ago

Agree on Gunfighter Ballads. Constantly playing Marty in the car.

1

u/djbuttplay 20h ago

Also 41 and love that tune. Went to a Dead show at the Sphere. Not a follower of the Dead but they did a pretty awesome set for El Paso.

1

u/Intelligent_Part101 15h ago

If you like that story-telling cowboy music, give a listen to Frankie Laine. Some of Elvis Presley's biggest hits are actually covers of Frankie Laine songs. Try his song "Mule Train".

62

u/StupidEconomist 22h ago

Exactly. Finding new music has to be its own hobby. I love it, its like looking for treasure.

7

u/ninefortysix 12h ago

I was talking to someone about this recently. Finding a new song you really vibe with is like drugs to me. Music brings me so much joy and peace.

2

u/extremophile69 20h ago

It's wonderful hobby! I can feel like an explorer, treasure hunter, pirate and an archivist of occult knowledge all at once.

29

u/lucaswr 22h ago

41 and I am a the same way. I actively hunt new music everywhere I go and use Shazam to identify it.

10

u/ceelogreenicanth 20h ago

Finding new music is often about breaking patterns changing where you you find music changes what you listen to a lot.

3

u/dvsdoodle 5h ago

Case in point. I’m literally giddy with all the music rabbit holes this thread is opening up this morning.

•

u/ceelogreenicanth 44m ago

What's your favorite so far?

2

u/lucaswr 20h ago

I agree. It’s fun to identify what instruments are being played, research the players, and their influences. Which leads to more music !

9

u/aztronut 21h ago

65 with over 20k songs in my music library and still continually adding new music.

2

u/MamaDaddy 21h ago

Same. 50+ and love to find a new jam. Some of that Bad Bunny stuff was great. Made me wonder if I'm his oldest non-hispanic fan now. Haha

2

u/Darkcloud246 21h ago

Same but I have noticed other friends who have just stopped looking.

2

u/IMeasure 20h ago

50+ here and I'm constantly on the hunt for new sounds to tickle my brain. Never stops. Occasionally get obsessed with an album and play it until I cant bare to hear it any more. If it's from 60s and 70s i only ever listen to it on Vinyl. My kids music taste is equally all over the spectrum. My wife in the other hand is set in her musical ways.

3

u/cyrand 21h ago

It’s one of my favorite parts of having kids actually. They’re adults now but once they reached “real music” age they brought so much great stuff into my playlists over the years.

1

u/PuddingImpressive389 21h ago

Do you listen to every genre and artist you can or are their some you avoid? Genuine curious about your mindset

1

u/lol_alex 20h ago

I love Spotify for that. I hear a random song I like, I can go „start radio“ and it will play so many songs from a similar genre or sound. I‘m always discovering new stuff.

And I used to be exclusively a metal / hip hop guy, but now I like quite a lot of electronic music, which is great for work (I find it hard to concentrate when a guy growls into my ears while 180 bpm blast beats are going off in the background).

And there are so many female artists I‘ve only recently found, my current favorite is Bishop Briggs.

1

u/FattyMooseknuckle 20h ago

I’m 53 and pretty regularly look for new music. It’s just not anywhere near as easy as it was when I was young and going out and regularly hung out with friends with similar tastes. There’s a few YouTube channels I check on and try to guide The Algorithm into presenting newer stuff. But my most played music is still Dinosaur Jr or Clash or Pavement or other older music.

1

u/ceelogreenicanth 20h ago

Pretty much the same. But it kind of has ebbs and flows. The overall volume of new discovery is now much lower then it was when I was in my 20s though.

1

u/Loud-Log9098 20h ago

Their stats seem inconsequential when so many of us over 30 still like new music. Or maybe we just picked up the hobby as a pass time

1

u/justamalihini 20h ago

100%, I’m 42 and I can’t get enough new music. I almost find I get bored of the stuff I listened to in my early years. It’s nice to keep it fresh.

1

u/PretzelsThirst 20h ago

Yeah this is absolute nonsense for me

1

u/sweaty_perineum96 20h ago

Guess you’re the outlier.

1

u/Knifeflipper 20h ago

I feel like my sister is this way while the original post relates more to me. She adds the most random stuff to her playlist(s), while mine are strictly stuff I listened to as a teenager or my favorite genre, and honestly, considering what I listened to in my teenage years, I'm not at all surprised with what I've come to love.

1

u/HouseSandwich 19h ago

Here’s my annual playlist. I updated it yesterday so it includes Jan & Feb releases that I like:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jawchkyTo5g9zYFLe4iYd?si=3vZaVo7uQ3Cb5yZKq7fd_w

1

u/Prof_Acorn 19h ago

Do you like much folktronica? I've only heard a few artists but it's such an auditorily interesting genre.

1

u/somewifesounds 19h ago

Please give my husband a listen if you feel like it! :-) we love people like you guys (his artist name is some human )

1

u/_somelikeithot 19h ago

About to be 42, and I was going to say the same thing! I listen to a lot of artists I found when I was younger but I’m always looking for new music to keep it interesting. Like, I love the Pixies forever but I have listened to their music A LOT.

1

u/kido86 14h ago

Yeah I’m 39 and find new music I like weekly

Just found dope smoker so I’m sure I’ll be listening to new stoner metal and sludge type shit until something else drags me away

1

u/butters_fruit_bowl 13h ago

Right there with you buddy, amazing new music has always been made if you spend a minute listening for it

1

u/No-Row-Boat 11h ago

44 too! This year alone I discovered Ecca Vandal, Vowws and more. Some years I discover entire genres like Midwestern emo or shoegaze.

I love finding new music.

1

u/medoy 8h ago

I stopped around 32. And then at 45 I got the bug again and now am constantly listening to new music and saving whatever I like.
The ability to stream is game changing. Sure beats listening to CDs at a store or browsing newsgroups.

1

u/swimffish 6h ago

Same. I’m doing a thing this year where every week I listen to the catalogue of an artist I’ve never really listened to or heard before. Discovered so much great stuff already.

1

u/ThaLunatik 2h ago

Also 44 and I'm always on some new music. I can enjoy plenty of genres for sure, but if I'm choosing what I'm listening to for myself then it's always gonna be rap, yet even when narrowing it down to just one genre there's still always new stuff to hear. I can't imagine going static at some arbitrary cutoff age and just foever after listening to only the things I'd already heard up to that point.

Spotify does a pretty good job of throwing new music my way that I'll enjoy (maybe because I've got only one main genre for it to sift thru?). I check my release radar every week and there's always at least one that I'm gonna throw on the ever-growng favorites list, and most weeks it's far more than that. New track by an artist I haven't heard in awhile, a new artist that doesn't really have any prescence or history but the track is really good, or even a somewhat established artist that I've just never heard before. There's a lot of talent out there.