Study: People stop listening to new music at 33
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Topic: Study: People stop listening to new music at 33
Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Subject: Study: People stop listening to new music at 33
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 02:24
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Saw http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2015/4/You-stop-listening-to-new-music-at-age-33-earlier-for-parents-study-finds" rel="nofollow - this article linked in my Facebook feed, and I guess it's relevant to many of the discussions we've had on this forum regarding progressive rock's history and future. In my experience, generation gaps in popular music seem to occur on a 25-to-30 year basis so it's not that far off, though I think it's more focused on specific genres and artists than on new records and songs as such depending on which people. Then again it's probably different regarding obsessive record collector type music nerds like me and most people who post on forums like this one, not to mention that I make a concerted effort to constantly expand my horizons outside of my comfort zone. It does happen at a slower pace than I remembering it doing 5-10 years ago, though, but that's more because I now prefer to familiarize myself with specific artists' career trajectories and biographies as well as their genre/scene's historical context. Basically, I now care more about how music (and art in general) fits into a larger cultural continuity when I appreciate it than I used to... but I wager I do that to a higher degree than the average person. ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |
Replies:
Posted By: paganinio
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 08:13
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I don't get "Dubstep", which is a genre that became popular in my 20s. And every new genre after that also failed to interest me. I'd rather hear a new Iron Maiden album in 2012, than a new band with a new style in 2012. Must be the generation gap. ------------- 
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Posted By: defectinggrey
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 09:22
| I'm 62 now and although I don't listen to as much music as I used to, I've gone out of my way to listen to new types of music. Thus in the past decade I've got into New Flamenco (Ojos de Brujo, Lenacay, Calima etc) as well as bands like Rammstein and Hollywood Undead as well as keeping in touch with all of my favourites from the 60s and 70s onwards. |
Posted By: thebeastmustdie
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 13:22
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37 here and still searching out new stuff all the time... well, still searching out stuff that is new to me. half the time it'll turn out to be older music I never heard before. I still like to discover new artists as well though. when the day comes that I no longer get that indescribable rush of hearing a new track/album/artist that truly blows my mind, then I'll give up on looking for new music
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Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 13:49
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Not true in the least in my case. I'm well past that age, and am looking for new stuff all the time. I would get terribly bored if I only listened to the same old things. I do have a lot of time for the classics, of course, but there is a lot of great music around nowadays - especially with the advent of streaming sites like Bandcamp. |
Posted By: twalsh
Date Posted: May 01 2015 at 14:28
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I'm sure that this is statistically true but that PA would have a much greater percentages of exceptions. I've heard the hypothesis before that musical taste tends to ossify by one's early 30s. The study cited has good points on the surface (other interests and a 'maturing' of tastes beyond what is merely popular). I feel that a period of rigidity happened to me and remember having a conversation with one of my best friends back in 2006-07, saying that I didn't know any new music. I calculated and realized I had purchased almost no new music in seven years! This awareness bothered me and I spent the next several years on again off again seeking out new music, mostly indie rock, blues and conventional prog metal. I found PA when I was getting fed up with the limited palette of my searching. The study has a significant bias of course, relying on Spotify data. It is a convenient, if not representative, sample. ------------- More heavy prog, please! |
Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: May 02 2015 at 10:39
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It would be interesting if they distinguished between "new" as in "current" or as in "unfamiliar". ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |
Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: May 02 2015 at 15:49
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"I was 'with it' once! And then they changed what 'it' was! And now what I'm 'with' isn't 'it', and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me. IT'LL HAPPEN TO YOU!" -- Abe 'Grampa' Simpson ------------- "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken |
Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 02:26
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I posted that exact quote in the "future of progressive rock" thread elsewhere not so long ago. I do think the forum's population is probably not a good representation of how people's tastes in music at large evolve or stagnate over time, since a website like this appeals mostly to people curious about finding less well known artists and records often in styles somewhat outside the mainstream. Even then, I think most people have a "comfort zone" in a select handful of genres they stay to and there's an important distinction between exploring new styles or music working to different "paradigms" (which often takes some time to adjust to) on one hand, or between being open to new music within the same comfort zone. ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 04:23
| I gotta say here. "Screw the statistics, this statement is a load of rubbish". I DO NOT believe this case at all. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 05:32
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Of course it is generally true and it is something that we've known for a very long time now. Just because "it doesn't apply to me" doesn't mean it isn't true for the majority of people. The exception that proves the rule means what it says - if something does not agree with the general idea then it is an exception. As Simon has said (more than once) - we are not representative of the whole population, we are (in the main) exceptional in our tastes in music compared to other people of our own generation - the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances who are of my age are "stuck in the 70s" and do not seek out new music, but there are exceptions. ------------- What? |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 05:59
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For those who enjoy the 70's Symph Prog of Crimson, Yes, ELP and Genesis, the likes of the so called 'new Prog' of Big Big Train, Transatlantic, Porcupine Tree, Wobbler, Black Bonzo, Corvus Stone et al is hardly a wide stretch to make. Perhaps a wider stretch would for those same folks to start enjoying VDGG, Gentle Giant and say Magma as the latter trio are something of an acquired taste that often proves to be a portal to yet more new discoveries a million miles away from Symphonic Prog. An even wider stretch would be for the first group to start exploring music without looking necessarily for any Prog quotient or angle e.g. Post Punk, Jazz, Classical, Electronica, Ambient, Folk (the list goes on) Some of the responses to date remind me of those people who state 'I enjoy socialising' but can't remember the last time they attempted to befriend someone they didn't know already. I've long suspected that our enduring friendships and relationships are forged in the first 35 years of our existence (like our tastes?  )------------- 
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 06:04
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Dean wrote:Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 06:21
| You forge your taste at quite a young age so although you may listen to new stuff its more difficult for it to take hold. I take the point about Gentle Giant and VDGG raised above . I never listened to those bands until about 10 -15 years ago (I'm 52) and even now its a bit of struggle. However I know that many here hold these bands in high esteem so I want to appreciate them as well. As regards new music I tend to think there is nothing new under the sun. The heavy weight seventies prog bands were perhaps not that original they just mixed up what was known already and came up with a new musical cocktail. So its begs the question - what is 'new'? I suspect that 'new' means different things to different people! |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 06:22
What do you mean "even if we are a minority"? ... we are a minority. It is a statistical average. That does not make it a brash generalisation, or even a generalisation when read in context with the linked article - it is the bigger picture, of which "we" form a small part - there are also minorities who never got into music at all (strange but true - such people exist). Statistical surveys cannot be superficial and shallow in themselves, it is how they are poorly interpreted and used that makes them suck. I could go on, but I have to go out into the real world now. ------------- What? |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 06:23
Fair comment but I think the above is key here -------------
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 07:39
What I'm trying to convey here (from the vacuum of my coccoon of existential fantasy.......  ) is that it IS a generalisation. How can such a statement NOT be ?? It's like watching those dumb-ass cooking shows on the idiot-box - the chefs say " Everybody loves Pavlova " or " Everybody loves eggs "...... I hate both of those. I'm currently 42, and the amount of 'new' things I've taken on board in the last 9 years is immense. I'm just defiantly against this 'stop listening at 33' assumption. I bet you're older than me, and have discovered lots of 'new' things since you were 33. So, why would some superficial statistic offer a 'solid confirmation that 'people stop listening to new music at 33'. Only applies to bunch of joe-publics where music doesn't have much, if any, bearing on their lives.
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Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 07:58
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If I understand the article correctly (probably not), all the data was sourced from internet streaming activity so isn't it skewed towards an internet savvy (and possibly more impressionable/fashionable youthful demographic anyway?) How many of those whose listening activity was collected were > 33 years old? For such a conclusion to be credible about when listening habits change over time they would have to collect data from say, age 16 to age 36 i.e. at least 20 years (and there was only a fraction of the music available then for streaming that there is now) If it was an even distribution across a broad age spectrum then the results would certainly be interesting but aren't there potentially millions of people > 33 who don't listen to streamed audio but still seek out unfamiliar music and are NOT included in the data? -------------
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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 10:12
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Considering that all the best music was created before I was 33, I am not sure why this is even a question. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 11:25
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Whatever... I turned 33 in 1988 after 10 years of being intensely prog crazy. Artists I have discovered and enjoyed since then in order, more or less - Tori Amos, Angelo Badalamenti, Toni Childs, NIN, Pere Ubu, Sarah McLachlan, Dave Stewart/Barbara Gaskin (though discovered Dave originally with Bruford), Yothu Yindi, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Alanis Moriessette, The Irresponsibles, Robert Wyatt, Nirvana, Stereolab, Pierre Bensusan, Afro Celt Sound System, The High Llamas, Electromagnets. Got on sort a new burst of discoveries around the time I turned 40 - Steve Roach, Dark Matter, Gunn, The Trey Band, Paul Dunmall, Les Claypool Frog Brigade, Primus, Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Locomotive, Buckethead, Grey Star Morning, David Sylvian, Monade, Europa String Choir, Gitbox, The Muffins, Djam Karet, Praxis, Peter Blegvad, Radiohead, Divination, Explosions In The Sky, Pure Reason Revolution, Eluvium. Mr. Bungle, Maserati, The Pineapple Thief, Parallel Mind, Talisma, No Sound, Gongzilla, The Observatory, Phideaux, The Reasoning, Clara Ponty, Crimson Jazz Trio, Umphrey's McGee, Discipline, Paul Cusick, Knifeworld, Black Mountain, Big Big Train, Bubu, Flood, The Gorishankar, Happy Rhodes, Univers Zero, Mono, John Zorn, The Samuel Jackson Five, Stereokimono, Nadav Remez, The Tea Club, The Thieve's Kitchen, The Staves, Cardiacs. Starting just last year - Perfect Beings, Dream The Electric Sleep, Anubis, Swans, Pymlico, Electric Orange, Fractile Mirror. But then I am not most people. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 12:41
Ah right. So you just read the head-line and had a knee-jerk asplosion. Fair enough. You have nothing more to add here. ------------- What? |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: May 03 2015 at 16:12
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Not sure about the accuracy of they're data points given the, what seems like a, narrow sampling. That doesn't mean I don't see some truth in what they say. Part of it is probably peer pressure at the younger ages (what are your friends listening to), part of it may be relationships (what does your new love interest listen to), and some people just become complacent and listen to what's forced on them by BIG radio. I'm 57 and still try to check out, not just new bands, but new music as well. As many genres as I can to a certain point. Some I can appreciate without really liking, some I really just don't like, some I find dull and uninspiring. But that doesn't dissuade me from keeping up the search. ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: May 04 2015 at 01:27
). Cheers, man 
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Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: May 05 2015 at 04:55
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Would be interesting to see a research going beyond something like Spotify and other streaming services, since I get the impression a lot of older people don't use it as they prefer analog over digital. There's also a bunch of methodological issues with surveys like this like those I mentioned, for instance not distinguishing between different sense of "new music". The article neither makes it clear whether it's referring to new genres or new artists (possibly in familiar styles). In my case, I've also had to do a lot of playing catch up with 1990s/2000s/2010s music since for a long time I've stuck with music that's a generation or two older than me. The thing about the classics is that though some of them haven't aged well to my ears, with the past it's disproportionately best that's remembered today... so now it's time for me to find the equivalent great records and innovative artists from my own generation. (This has become easier after having expanded my own horizons genre-wise, and starting to network with several local musicians - I might actually become a "reporter on underground music" for a local newspaper if the job interview I'm invited to this week goes as planned!) ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: May 05 2015 at 09:02
As I mentioned earlier, this merely confirms what we already know. Discovering new music is not just what you listen to. People of all ages continuously get passively exposed to new music via various forms of media and some may even pick-up on one or two newer artists as a result of that - I doubt that Susan Boyle's or Adelle's listener-base is restricted to those "under 33". What we are talking about here is the almost compulsive desire to be actively exposed to new music - the same drive that differentiates someone who buys an album just because they like it from a "fan". There is no denying that initially this is teenage/young adult thing in that this is when it all starts - music has a much higher priority than other pursuits at that age and we can probably list lots of sociological and psychological reasons for that and relate it to social status and character-formation and a whole raft of other things. Prior to becoming a teenager most kids will listen to anything and everything, their taste in music does not become polarised until they start to find their own identity. Once that personal identity has been established it will then probably remain unchanged for the rest of their lives - their tastes may shift from rock to jazz or classical music but the general flavour of the kind of music they like in subsequent years is formed during that young-adult period. As people leave their teen/youth/young adult years other priorities take precedent, (marriage, home/mortgage, job/career, car, holidays, food, furniture, etc.), and therefore music becomes less important in their lives. I suspect that most of us over the age of 30 have experienced this at some point, however briefly. For some of us maybe that never happened, perhaps some of us balanced those priorities differently but I would be surprised if music held the same (#1) priority as it had done in earlier years for the entire duration of their lives unless they were actively involved in the music business in some form. Music is a leisure activity after all is said and done no matter how seriously some of us take it. Then later in life as those pressing non-music priorities are dealt with the "what do we do now?" bug kicks in and some return to the pastimes that interested them in their youth (hifi, music, motorcycles, whatever) ... either as a nostalgia trip (I think that is actually pretty rare) or because they can now afford (cost and time) to do what they couldn't back then. I don't believe that the so-called mid-life crisis is about recapturing youth so much as being able to return to the things that interested them back then. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: May 06 2015 at 05:17
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Yeah, like I said in the opening post the "big picture" strikes me as very familiar but not all of the details fit the lived experience I recognize exactly. ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |