[Lunatique]

I've been thinking lately about how our preferences for musical genres might change as we age, or as we go through different experiences in life, and this is particularly true for people who are songwriters I think. As young pups, we tend to have a lot of angst, so we often listen to music that's very aggressive and dark, with negative emotions, but as we become better adjusted adults and find more equilibrium in our lives, we become a lot more in tune with positive emotions. Our values and priorities also change with age--falling in love, getting married, having kids, building a career...etc. With more wisdom and maturity, we also learn to forgive, to let go, to love unconditionally, to be more responsible, to be grateful for what we have, to be more tolerant, and so on.
 
For songwriters, as they get older they often write music that's more mellow, and I think this is a very natural progression that comes with maturity, yet often they are made fun of for it. Why? You can't expect a songwriter in his old age to still write about the same teenage angst stuff he wrote about when he was 19, because that would mean he hasn't learned a damn thing in his life as a human being.
 
For me personally, I still enjoy all kinds of music, including dark and angst-ridden stuff, but they have to be very well crafted and done with a certain level of insight instead of simple clueless youth. Angst against inequality, injustice, corruption, apathy, greed...etc are topics that we feel about strongly as human beings no matter our age, and there are older songwriters who write about these subjects with just as much aggressiveness as young musicians (older heavy metal bands like Slayer, for example). But for some people, as they get older, they just can't get into aggressive music anymore and prefer softer music. For example, my younger brother is 5 years younger and only in his early 30's, and already he can't listen to any aggressive music like industrial or metal anymore--they just annoy him. He listens to mostly bossa nova and indie pop these days.
 
So what are your thoughts on this subject?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've mellowed out a bit, too. Angry/noise has never appealed much, but I have less stomach for it now. I've wandered into quite a bit of jazz, 20th century classical, world music, classic country, and anything else that sounds good. I look forward to seeing how my tastes develop over the years - I've found a lot of pleasure where I didn't expect to.

 

[Thecoolguy]

I think personality is definitely a bigger factor than age is, but I could see peoples tastes changing as they get older

 

[BobSaysHi]

Hi, I'm 16. I consider myself to be on the tail end of the "angst" phase. Several years ago, I listened to loud, overly technical and abrasive metal when I was in the height of my angst phase. However, when "Crack the Skye" by Mastodon came out, it changed my view of music overnight. Although it is still metal, it is FILLED with melody, a concept I hadn't thought possible. Now I really like music with slow building and intricate melodies.
 
I would describe my personality as shy.
 
However I now also listen to mellow songs, because music demands variety.

 

[Hadoe]

Personality? What? Age: 16, Music: The Who, Bon Iver, Pixies, The Thermals, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, EELS, Radiohead, Silversun Pickups, MUSE, Minor Threat, The Toadies, Coldplay, Iron & Wine, R.E.M., The Beta Band, Dead Kennedys, Driftless Pony Club, Califone, Fugazi, Joanna Newsom, Beck, The White Stripes, Portishead. Is that good?

 

[Permagrin]

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Personality? What? Age: 16, Music: The Who, Bon Iver, Pixies, The Thermals, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, EELS, Radiohead, Silversun Pickups, MUSE, Minor Threat, The Toadies, Coldplay, Iron & Wine, R.E.M., The Beta Band, Dead Kennedys, Driftless Pony Club, Califone, Fugazi, Joanna Newsom, Beck, The White Stripes, Portishead. Is that good?

 
The Toadies and Portishead? Very good taste indeed.

 
Me, 31, listen to pretty much all genres (minus hip-hop, rap, and mainstream whatever (the stuff everyone I meet listens to unfortunately)). My musical tastes really haven't changed that much but I'm still young I admit.
 
Just got A Love Supreme on SACD (price was really good), tried to get into it but I can't. Maybe when I'm in my 50s... lol 

 

[Hadoe]

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The Toadies and Portishead? Very good taste indeed.

 
Me, 31, listen to pretty much all genres (minus hip-hop, rap, and mainstream whatever (the stuff everyone I meet listens to unfortunately)). My musical tastes really haven't changed that much but I'm still young I admit.
 
Just got A Love Supreme on SACD (price was really good), tried to get into it but I can't. Maybe when I'm in my 50s... lol 

 
Thanks! Also props for not buying into the whole mainstream pop/hip hop thing. Lastly Isn't it funny that people end up liking the same music they did when they were teenagers?
 

 

[Permagrin]

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Thanks! Also props for not buying into the whole mainstream pop/hip hop thing. Lastly Isn't it funny that people end up liking the same music they did when they were teenagers?
 

 
Unfortunately it makes it harder to relate to people. It's tough hanging out with people who only listen to the top 40s and don't care to expand their musical horizons. I seem to find very few exceptions to the rule.
 
I was lucky my parents raised me on Classic Rock and the like (thanks Mom and Dad!) then I got into alt rock and metal in my later teens. Of course I may be a little biased.

I dare say there is a correlation between those with a broad taste in music and depth of character. 

 

[Lunatique]

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 Lastly Isn't it funny that people end up liking the same music they did when they were teenagers?
 

Actually, there's been scientific studies that showed the music we are most emotionally attached to are the stuff we listened to during that period around puberty and teenage years. The music we loved around that time will stay with us and we'll always have a soft spot for them, despite getting older and broadening our horizons.
 
I agree that having an eclectic taste is awesome, and I feel the same way about many things in life, such as watching any genre of movie, read any kind of books, watching any type of TV show, and so on. The more we are able to see what's interesting about different genres, the more things we'll be able to enjoy. People who live with tunnel-vision in their life are missing out on a lot of stuff.
 
I do have a hard time with the really mainstream top 40 stuff though--I can't just relate to that segment of the market, except for few exceptions where the musical artist came from more obscure and indie roots and kept some of that indie sensibility. Today's pop, country, and RnB are genres I particularly cannot enjoy no matter how hard I try. So much of it is just uninspired commercial drivel aimed to make a quick buck--no soul, no originality, no substance, with lyrics that sound like a middle school child wrote them. Even technically, the music is really dumbed down from the perspective of composers and musicians. Sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy more out of life if I actually liked all the mainstream stuff out there, because it would mean nothing would ever make me cringe or want to punch through a speaker cone.

 

[Kirosia]

Kirosia likes female vocalists. He has always liked female vocalists. They pretty. 

 

[Hadoe]

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Unfortunately it makes it harder to relate to people. It's tough hanging out with people who only listen to the top 40s and don't care to expand their musical horizons. I seem to find very few exceptions to the rule.
 
I was lucky my parents raised me on Classic Rock and the like (thanks Mom and Dad!) then I got into alt rock and metal in my later teens. Of course I may be a little biased.

I dare say there is a correlation between those with a broad taste in music and depth of character. 

There is definitely a correlation between musical tastes and personality/character, "call me shallow, these things matter". You usually get a long with people who have similar tastes in music or movies.

 
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Actually, there's been scientific studies that showed the music we are most emotionally attached to are the stuff we listened to during that period around puberty and teenage years. The music we loved around that time will stay with us and we'll always have a soft spot for them, despite getting older and broadening our horizons.
 
I agree that having an eclectic taste is awesome, and I feel the same way about many things in life, such as watching any genre of movie, read any kind of books, watching any type of TV show, and so on. The more we are able to see what's interesting about different genres, the more things we'll be able to enjoy. People who live with tunnel-vision in their life are missing out on a lot of stuff.
 
I do have a hard time with the really mainstream top 40 stuff though--I can't just relate to that segment of the market, except for few exceptions where the musical artist came from more obscure and indie roots and kept some of that indie sensibility. Today's pop, country, and RnB are genres I particularly cannot enjoy no matter how hard I try. So much of it is just uninspired commercial drivel aimed to make a quick buck--no soul, no originality, no substance, with lyrics that sound like a middle school child wrote them. Even technically, the music is really dumbed down from the perspective of composers and musicians. Sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy more out of life if I actually liked all the mainstream stuff out there, because it would mean nothing would ever make me cringe or want to punch through a speaker cone.

Today's mainstream pop, country, and RnB, isn't even pop country or RnB anymore. Go listen to a really great pop artist and tell me that Miley Cyrus is in the same genre or maybe a really classic RnB artist like James Brown, does he sound anything like what they're calling RnB today? Country has just become pop with people singing with southern accents (although I'm not a real big fan of country). Mainstream music has it's own separate genre, the songs written are just meant to be extremely catchy and make you want to dance (notice that almost every single mainstream song mentions dancing in the lyrics at some point). That might not be that bad but when you realize that none of the "music" has any real musical quality then it all just goes to s**t. Please do not join the masses and lose your individuality, just stick to what you know and stay away from the top 40! ok rant over.
 
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Kirosia likes female vocalists. He has always liked female vocalists. They pretty. 

Yes some female vocalists have very pretty voices.

 

[ANinjaBurrito]

I'm 15, and i'd say I "discovered" music when I was 14 when one of my friends introduced me to the first non-mainstream band i've ever listened to, Streetlight Manifesto.
 
After discovering that all music wasn't dark, angsty songs about how girls are breaking hearts, I started to gobble up all the ska I could find.
 
After ska, I went into a metal phase, purely because of the technical drumming involved. Somehow from there, I went into what I listen to currently:
 
Post-Rock (Album Leaf, Murcury Project)
Ambiant (Alio Die, Loess, Boards of Canada, Lights out Asia)
Dubstep (Excision, Datsik)
Ska (Streetlight, Save Ferris, Suburban Legends, Reel Big Fish, The Toasters, The Specials, The Hippos)
Shoegaze (Stereolab)

 

[LFF]

I still ponder about this from time to time. I started getting into music around 14 years old. The music I listened to back then was classical, swing and some pop. Today, being almost 30, I listen to much of the same stuff I did before. My tastes have expanded to include a variety of music. My wife will freak out sometimes when I put on some 50cent or MGMT or some other modern day hit (Lady Gaga, etc) as she thinks I am an old man in a young body. I think it just might be a part of my open-minded personality or it could be that good music, in any genre, is timeless and knows no bounds.

 

[Hadoe]

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I'm 15, and i'd say I "discovered" music when I was 14 when one of my friends introduced me to the first non-mainstream band i've ever listened to, Streetlight Manifesto.
 
After discovering that all music wasn't dark, angsty songs about how girls are breaking hearts, I started to gobble up all the ska I could find.
 
After ska, I went into a metal phase, purely because of the technical drumming involved. Somehow from there, I went into what I listen to currently:
 
Post-Rock (Album Leaf, Murcury Project)
Ambiant (Alio Die, Loess, Boards of Canada, Lights out Asia)
Dubstep (Excision, Datsik)
Ska (Streetlight, Save Ferris, Suburban Legends, Reel Big Fish, The Toasters, The Specials, The Hippos)
Shoegaze (Stereolab)

Wow, you actually know who the Album Leaf is? You have some really great taste, that's all I want to say.
 

 

[deadhead12]

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I'm 15, and i'd say I "discovered" music when I was 14 when one of my friends introduced me to the first non-mainstream band i've ever listened to, Streetlight Manifesto.
 
After discovering that all music wasn't dark, angsty songs about how girls are breaking hearts, I started to gobble up all the ska I could find.
 
After ska, I went into a metal phase, purely because of the technical drumming involved. Somehow from there, I went into what I listen to currently:

I've always listened to and enjoyed music, but It wasn't an important part of my life till around 15.  Part of it was the fact that when I was 15 I moved from sunny, coastal South Carolina to grey and dreary Detroit, Michigan.  I pretty much hated it there and music was sort of an escape.  I got real big into ska, then moved on to punk then metal.  And then I moved back down South and suddenly wasn't pissed off anymore.  I started listening to Dave Matthews, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, and pretty much anything bright and sunny sounding (that one Cowsill's song from Dumb and Dumber).  From there I moved on to Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Phish and other various 'jam' bands.  Then I started to really sort of re-discover the stuff my dad used to listen to, The Beatles, The Who, Jimi, Zeppelin, Floyd, Van Halen, pretty much anything Clapton ever touched.  Somewhere along the lines I picked up a liking for some rap, mostly Biggie and Tupac, but now I mostly listen to indie/alternative stuff.  At least thats the stuff I seek out.  I still listen to anything from the "Dave" phase forward, but the funny thing is, I never get the urge to listen to any of the ska or punk or metal that made me start to cherish music in the first place.  I guess I just don't have the need anymore for the 'angst' ridden stuff.  (though I'll sometimes listen to Nirvana, but I don't consider that to be punk/metal; it's early 90's pop).