May 06, 2024 17:00:00

Survey results on music and age include 'the music you listen to in your teens will affect you for the rest of your life' and 'new music discovery peaks at age 24'

Our favorite songs and artists change as we get older, but previous research has shown that the songs we like in our teens have a big influence on our musical tastes throughout our lives, and that we are only able to discover new music until the age of 30.

When Do We Stop Finding New Music? A Statistical Analysis

https://www.statsignificant.com/p/when-do-we-stop-finding-new-music

According to data journalist Daniel Paris, an individual's desire and ability to listen to a variety of songs and music genres and to listen to more is called 'open ears.' Previous research has shown that adolescents exhibit higher levels of open ears, are more likely to explore a variety of music genres, and have a higher motivation for music listening.

Furthermore, the music we listen to as children plays a key role in shaping our emotions and identities as young people, and is said to have a major impact on our musical preferences throughout our lives.

A New York Times analysis of Spotify data found that the songs users are most likely to play often come from songs they listened to as teenagers, especially between the ages of 13 and

16 .

In addition, when the research company YouGov conducted a survey asking 'Which era of music was the best?',

Gen Z , born in the late 1990s to 2000s, most often answered '2010s'. Millennials , born in the 1980s to 1990s, most often answered '1990s'. Gen X , born in the 1965 to 1970s, most often answered '1980s', Baby Boomers , born in 1946 to 1964, most often answered '1970s', and the Silent Generation, born in 1928 to 1945, most often answered 'before the 1950s'.

These results suggest that all generations believe that music was best when they were young. 'The fact that this trend is seen across generations may be due to developmental factors,' says Paris.

A study by streaming service Deezer

showed that discovery of new music peaks at age 24, after which the ability to keep up with music trends slowly declines. In the study, many respondents reported that their 'levels of music discovery dropped significantly once they hit their 30s,' leading Deezer to conclude that '31 is the age at which music tastes start to stagnate.'

Engineer Ajay Kalia used Spotify data to analyze how users' music preferences deviate from trends as they age. The chart below shows that the closer you are to the center, the more in line with trends you are listening to, while the further you are from the periphery, the more out of trend you are listening to. You can see that people tend to listen to trendy songs in their teens, but as they get older, they start listening to songs that are gradually becoming less popular.

Previous surveys have also shown that people tend to listen to less popular music after the age of 30, and the number of new artists they are exposed to while streaming decreases. The graph below shows the number of artists people frequently listen to by age, and it can be seen that this gradually decreases from the age of 25 to 34.

Deezer's survey found that the three main reasons people stagnate in their music listening habits are 'being overwhelmed by the number of options,' 'not having time to listen to music because of work,' and 'not having time to listen to music because of caring for children.'

In addition,

a study by Ariel Bonneville-Roussy of the University of Roehampton has revealed that musical preferences are closely related to trends in psychosocial development. The research team investigated how preferences for five musical factors - 'intensity, contemporaneity, unpretentiousness, sophistication, and mellowness' - change as people age. As a result, it became clear that the subjects' musical preferences were constantly changing.

'Discovering new music can be a challenge as you get older, but it can be done with time and effort,' Paris said.