Medical Mysteries of Music

Why do old people hate new music?

First, this just isn’t true. Second, it’s absolutely true. This is from TheConversation.com

“We know that musical tastes begin to crystallize as early as age 13 or 14. By the time we’re in our early 20s, these tastes get locked into place pretty firmly.

“In fact, studies have found that by the time we turn 33, most of us have stopped listening to new music. Meanwhile, popular songs released when you’re in your early teens are likely to remain quite popular among your age group for the rest of your life.

“There could be a biological explanation for this. There’s evidence that the brain’s ability to make subtle distinctions between different chords, rhythms and melodies gets worse with age. So to older people, newer, less familiar songs might all ‘sound the same.’

“But I believe there are some simpler reasons for older people’s aversion to newer music. One of the most researched laws of social psychology is something called the ‘mere exposure effect.’ In a nutshell, it means that the more we’re exposed to something, the more we tend to like it.”

You’ll need to keep reading.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38025 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “Why do old people hate new music?

  • I agree with the article. But want to add 1 other piece. In today’s day and age – real exposure. By this I mean that new artists have a really hard time breaking through and getting on to radio playlists, where alot of us still hear new music. I really don’t need to hear the police or led zeppelin or queen once an hour (plus they have enough money anyway). But I get it – that’s what people grew up with. What I would like to hear is more new music on the radio by newer artists- more Dorothy, Halestorm, Glorious Sons, etc. Yes I can look them up on YouTube or Streaming Service of Choice- but there is still the magic or should I say Spirit of the Radio. It just needs to play More modern music by today’s artists.

    Reply
  • I agree with this. I don’t even have time for repetitive playings of new vinyl I purchases. Back in the day when I only had say 20 records, a new LP was played a lot because it was fresh and then of course I shared it with friends because we got together a few times a week to listen to records as we had no rock FM station in Ottawa in the 60s into the 70s. Then different sets of friends listened to different music, I had some older friends who were edging away Prog Rock and getting into jazz. So they never heard the glam rock, Alice, T.Rex, Roxy, that I was getting into.

    Bill L was mentioning lack of radio play for new music, but what do you do with bands like The Black Keys? I saw their Lonely Man video several times a week on TV, bought the LP and bought their previous Brothers LP too. But they stopped Lonely Boy from being taken to more commercial radio. Still it was a huge hit and their stadium tours were sell outs. Ditto with their next LP Turn Blue. But then nothing from the two of them. A good solo effort from Dan but nothing to build on the Key’s huge success. If a band doesn’t want to be huge you can’t force them but it leads to less airplay.

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.