Are you feeling stagnant in your music taste? Feel like there’s no good music anymore, or stuck comparing today’s artists with those of your younger years? That could all be a side-effect of aging, according to a 2018 study of U.K. listeners, which followed a study done in 2015 in the U.S.
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Music paralysis is definitely real, and it sets in around age 30, the studies concluded. Apparently, we stop discovering new music around that age partially because our lives get busier. Some people settle down and have children, or pursue a busy career that keeps them engaged. That leaves less time for discovering new music, so emerging artists get swept under the rug in favor of our old familiar standards.
The 2018 study conducted by Deezer, which interviewed 1,000 people from the U.K., found that 60% of them felt they were musically stagnant. Only 25% said they were willing to listen to music outside of their comfort zone, per a report from Business Insider.
In 2015, Ajay Kalia of the blog Skynet & Ebert studied listening data from U.S. Spotify users. Kalia found that people listen to and discover new music steadily in their teens, but that trend decreases through their 20s. By their 30s, people mostly stopped discovering new music as their tastes “matured” and settled.
Studies Find Music Tastes “Mature” Over Time, But Discovery Wanes by Age 30
In addition to our lives getting busier, some researchers have suggested that nostalgia plays a large part in why music discovery goes stagnant at a certain age. A 2013 study published in Memory & Cognition posited that music works to evoke certain memories. We’re more likely to listen to songs on repeat that conjure up happier times or pleasant memories.
According to these studies, music we listened to between the ages of 12 and 22, when our brains were developing the most, are most likely wired into our psyches as adults. Wondering why you love Fall Out Boy so much? Did you happen to listen to them a lot in middle school? Your answer may also lie in the recesses of your high school iPod.
Overall, we’re more drawn to music that we know will make our brains happy. Whether it’s the Beatles, Megan Thee Stallion, the Rolling Stones, or Billie Eilish. Even Blink-182. So go ahead and put on Hounds of Love by Kate Bush for the 100th time. Just don’t be afraid to branch out a bit, as well.
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