Are you having trouble finding your new favourite song? Join the club.

Before the world moved to streaming, it was fairly easy to find new favourite songs. You’d hear something on the radio or see a video on TV and you were hooked. This was followed by a trip to the record store where you handed over a not-insignificant amount of cash for a piece of plastic containing that song. Upon returning home, you listened to that song over and over and over again. You lived your musical life one record/CD at a time.

Now, though, things are…complicated. Each of the streaming music platforms have access to roughly 100 million tracks. With so much choice, it’s easy to fall into the trap of burning through as much music as you can and not stopping to savor any particular song. There’s this nagging feeling that I express this way: “Yeah, this song is good, but there’s gotta be something better. What am I missing? Better keep searching.” And so you do.

Forbes has an article on how difficult it’s become to find your new favourite song.

Finding your next favorite song is more complex than turning on the radio and putting on your favorite station. For many years, finding music involved actively looking for music online—and naturally, you gravitated towards genres you were already predisposed to. But as choices rack up, so do your mental batteries.

To understand the psychology behind musical taste and discovery, you must first understand the psychology behind consumer choices.

Okay, so what is that psychology? Keep reading.