A question

[ericcoleman]

I am in an argument on an email list at the moment (surprise, I know).

My point, though a lot of other things, has been that most people's musical tastes are formed from about 15-22, and most people never listen to much more than what they listened to during that time.

So, how have your musical tastes changed as you have gotten older?
Have they changed as you have gotten older?
Is there something new and nifty that you think I would like?
Do you think I am full of it (about this)?

Comments

[bathtubnz.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much been my conclusion on how music taste develops. I think that forms the core of what you like, but if you keep hearing new stuff you can add new facets to the way you look at music. I consider myself lucky that while I am, say a Smashing Pumpkins/Dementia fanboy, I dislike very little (by genre) and am open to hearing new stuff.

[guppiecat]

Mine have. I still like what I liked in High School and college, but just going to the Winnipeg Folk Festival, I find a few new artists a year. This was higher when I was more involved in fandom.

I suspect it is more likely that people are most often exposed to different music between 15 and 22. Before that time, they're mostly stuck with their birth family, after that time, they're often stuck building a family of their own. Less chance for external stimulation.

[mstrhypno.livejournal.com]

My tastes ave changed and, expanded, if anything. I used to HATE country. Now, there are a number of country artists, both old and new, that I really enjoy. I enjoy certain hip-hop artists, believe it or not, as well as some polkas (which I also used to dislike, intensely).

So, no, I don't thik a person's tastes lock in, necessarily at that age range, and my primary taste in music hasn't changed its foundation since about age 11. But, at age 11, I enjoyed a LOT of stuff that no one else my age enjoyed - Brubeck, Coleman Hawkins, Stravinski, the Dave Clark 5, Tito Puente, Schumann, Liszt, Amalia Jackson, Bent Fabric (who even REMEMBERS him?!), Mancini, BB King, literally ALL of the swin big bands and a guy named Satchmo...

Lee

[barondave.livejournal.com]

While certainly much of my musical tastes were formed in that period, I'd start earlier and go a bit later (at least for me). I still enjoy much of the children's music I grew up with, and Disney remains a formative musical influence. Mary Poppins came out when I was nine, for instance, and remains my favorite musical.

Further, while I can't think of anything that fell off, I can think of many musical groups and genres that were added later. A fairly easy dividing point: Shockwave started when I was 24. I didn't get into doo-wop, bluegrass, punk (to the extent I am) etc. until later. True, newer stuff like grunge or rap just doesn't do it for me. On the other hand, with some exceptions it takes a few years for the cream of any pop to rise to the surface. There are modern (ie "in the last 20 years") songs I like in styles I didn't at the time.

I don't think you're full of it, but the theory is too restrictive. Heck, now that I think of it, I would say that most people's bad musical taste is formed about 15-22. We fondly remember whatever rotten song was playing on the radio when we got our first beer/kiss/car/working computer program/taste of freedom. The background of our life seeps into our lizard brain and establishes associations beyond the aural.

Other stuff we have to listen to, and tastes are acquired over time.

We've talked too much for me to come up with something new for you at the moment. I'll work on it.

[bammba-m.livejournal.com]

i think that's an interesting theory. i listened to just about everything in my teens, and while my specific taste changes with my moods, i still listen to just about everything.

So i can neither prove nor disprove your theory.

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

I think you can state just about anything about "most people". You don't know most people. You know a bunch of geeks with a huge range of experiences and tastes.
That said,
I still like what I was listening to at that age, eighties pop with a little mix of seventies pop. My family home provided some sixties pop,(hippie pop) and a lot of classical. That never really grew on me. I can apreciate its complexity but my ADD mind can't pay attention very long. I am most drawn to vocals, that being my instrument. At least in the unfamiliar I am.
Starting around 16 I got a huge dose of rap and R&B and modern Jazz that I never warmed up to at all. I have a lot more tollerance for rap now than I did then. If anything I have to say my strong likes were formed much earlier than my teens. Church music and my parents eight tracks were more influential. My mom had a thing for Judy Collins, which lead to Leonard Cohen... I was fairly obsessed with Cabaret from about nine years old. I am a gay man at heart.

[ericcoleman]

You know a bunch of geeks with a huge range of experiences and tastes.

Yes I do ... I also know a LOT of other people. I have worked in corporate america, I have worked in blue collor america, I have worked in the comics and games industry (in stores and other places as well), I have worked in theater, standup comedy and music, and in the rather large cross section of people I know, I find this to be overwhemingly true. Amongst my geek friends, I find the opposite is frequently true.

[blur01.livejournal.com]

At least for me you might be fairly on the money there, but I too have held that theory for a while.

High School found me listening to The Police, the Kinks, Butthole Surfers, and a lot of Pink Floyd. I still listen to a lot of Pink Floyd (2 weeks ago I removed the 4 albums from the 5 disc changer in the car), and little Police / Sting.

I was fortunate that my parents gave me a radio when I was about 4 years old and let me tune to whatever it was I wanted to listen to. I selected WLS (Chicago) which, at the time, played 50's and 60's classic rock. My father introduced me to a smattering (heaping headfull really) of 30's, 40's and 50's Jass musicians at around the same time. Today a good portion of my library includes 80's music, folk tunes, sea shanties, and various vocal / a capella groups.

Still, I can find enjoyment in most everything. Some things wear on me faster than others.

[stagger-lee77.livejournal.com]

i've always heard this as one's musical tastes are solidified by the time they turn 27. like the music they like by the time they turn 27 is pretty much the type of music they will prefer to listen to for the rest of their lives.

as i've gotten older, my musical tastes have gotten far away from rap and R&B and gotten extremely ecletic. i can listen to basement jaxx, three 6 mafia, NIN, and the mighty mighty bosstones all on the same playlist and not have it bother me. of course, this means that not a lot of people like riding in a car with me because i'll always find the one type of music that annoys them.

new and nifty? morrisey's you are the quarry.

[eye-ar-smaurt.livejournal.com]

I'm 17½. My musical preferences changed a LOT in the last 6 months. I'll get back to you on those questions in 30 or 40 years, if you remind me.

[freeimprov.livejournal.com]

Heck, my tastes have changed THIS YEAR. There are some of what I call "lifetime albums", things I'll be listening to forever. Much of that was 15-22 music. But I mostly listen to things that I've not listened to much before, whether it be new or old music.

I do the same thing as a musician, too. I'm always moving and growing. I spend most of my musician-time these days getting good at two instruments I didn't even play a year ago.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I'd had some exposure to quite a wide variety of music by the time I was 22, which set me in good stead for liking obscure ethnic music (new to me) that I hear bits of today. But I must say that the styles of mass market music in the US that have become popular since then have very little appeal, based on what I hear when they review albums and interview musicians on public radio. Rap, hip hop (I don't even know the difference), house, electronica -- pretty much all ugly noise to me. But there was stuff that was around when I was in college that had equally little appeal, like most heavy metal. Any music where having a really loud amp is considered an acceptable substitute for talent is not my kind of music.

[hardly-angelic.livejournal.com]

Rather than sprain my neurons trying to develop a cogent theory, I'll just look at ten of my favorite albums, and how old I was when they were released or when I became aware of them. For the record, I was born in 1961.

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti/1975
Aerosmith - Get Your Wings/1974
Queen - A Night At the Opera/1975
Elton John - Madman Across the Water/1971 (although I became immersed in it in 1974)
Roxy Music - Country Life/1974
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here/1975
Kiss - Alive/1975
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral/1994
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane/1973
Tonio K - Life In the Foodchain/1979
Alternate choice: Cheap Trick -Cheap Trick/1977

So, with the singular exception of the NIN disc, all of the aforementioned albums were released when I was between the ages of ten and eighteen.

Regrettably, I think that the album is a dying art form. I'm more likely to purchase a single song that I like from iTunes, than to toddle off to a store and throw $15 at a disc that will likely be 80% filler.

My current musical obsession is Storm Large and the Balls. I wish they used a little more guitar and a little less piano, but that would destroy the cabaret vibe that they utilize. The live mashups they perform are (in my opinion) inspired; but anyone who has the vision to combine Zeppelin's In The Light with Billy Idol's White Wedding, and an ABBA medley set to In-Da-Gadda-Da-Vida, is worthy of my respect. www.stormdownloads.com

By the way - happy birthday, Eric!

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

since them I have discovered live folk music and really enjoy that