Your music preferences changed Now that you’re over 40?

[I AM CONTENT]

Now that I’m over 40, I feel that my music preferences have changed since my 20s and early 30s. I am starting to like music that I would not have thought I would have liked in my early years of my life. The music I like now is the most sophisticated such as smooth jazz and classical music. My question to you is has your music preferences changed now that you’re older and more mature?

 

[dayhiker]

I like the oldies and lyrics that tell a story. I hear a lot of songs that repeat a phrase over and over .. those don't do much for me.

 

[Mark Quayle]

What I didn't like, I'm tolerant of now, (well, not rap and hip-hop, yet), but I still like all the old stuff I used to. Some of the 'new' stuff (you know, 1980 +) I've actually gotten to like a lot, like some of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. I never really listened to them before. (I grew up scared my parents would find out I listened to Carpenters).

 

[Tempura]

It's changed for sure. About 10 years ago, I became more and more interested about folk-ish, singer-songwriter music. I always liked it, but I started to prefer it over most things. Nowadays I'm most interested in the same thing, but with more emphasis on Christian experience. Not straight up worship music, but melancholic and touching singer-songwriter stuff with integrity, raw quality and honesty. I don't hate the things I used to listen 20 years ago, but a lot of it feels more hollow I guess.

 

[sampa]

I would say it has sort of changed... But I still have some of the independent leanings I had for my teen years. I mostly stay away from secular music, so as to keep myself more grounded in the word. But every once in awhile a movie or something else will inspire me back to my younger years.

I went through phases in my growing up years. Of course it was kids music up to Junior high, then it changed to heavy metal in eighth grade. 9th grade it changed to '50s music. Sophomore year into senior I listen to influences from my father of Pink Floyd, there were some other '70s music I got into but I also got introduced to the college underground scene. 19 years old I got into techno music and started going to raves. I also was listening to smashing pumpkins and skinny puppy. But at 20 years old I got convicted and took all my cassette tapes in the barracks hallway foyer and another Christian smash them up with me with a fire extinguisher. It was difficult and gradually in my college years I started letting go. I began not only replacing my music but the decor in my room to be lighter and less dark.

From 1994 till now I have stuck with Christian radio. But in my car I jump between secular radio stations. Most recently I have been discovering new artists through my local library.

I will say when I lived in Japan after college though that I did explore j-pop. I wanted to get closer to my junior high school students, so I watched Japanese dramas and listen to Jpop.

One type of music I am okay hearing in the background now that I always had a hard time in my younger years, is country music. That's something I was raised around but never liked it. And I never liked Carpenters or soft music of the '70s. I don't think I've ever taken to rap music either. Vanilla ice is probably the closest I ever got.

Classical music I will listen to on occasion and if I'm invited to some kind of event with classical music, I'm all for it. I'm more about getting dressed up though. Jazz music I need some cheesecake and a nice place to relax with wooden floors.

By the way I am 48 years old.

 

[Lost4words]

57 here and i have always loved the 70's and 80's music.....but i love worship music a lot these days too.

 

[JAM2b]

I used to love country music, but I don't like much of it anymore. I have discovered that I do like Ed Sheeran and Westlife, which is a kind of music I didn't listen to when I was younger.

As dayhiker said, I don't like a lot of repetition in a song.

I've always listened to a lot of Christian music and worship songs, but even those that do a lot of repetition get on my nerves.

 

[Anthony2019]

I'd say my music tastes haven't particularly changed although having lived through four decades, perhaps I have become more nostalgic.

My radio listening habits have definitely changed. Nowadays my go-to music station is "Greatest Hits Radio" (which plays a lot of 1970s-1990s music and is targeted towards the age group 25-60 which is about right for me being in my forties!). Most tracks I hear played evoke so many memories of times throughout my life.

I also listen to Scala Radio (a classical/classical crossover station) which has music with a timeless appeal, which is appreciated by people by all ages. Research has shown that more younger people are listening to classical music.

 

[bèlla]

.

 

[quietpraiyze]

I don't think my musical preferences have changed as much as it's a "mood" thing with me. Sometimes I like "this". Sometimes I like "that". Sometimes I don't like anything at all. I just like the QUIET. So on any given day, it all depends with me....

 

[rturner76]

The way my taste has changed is I search for classics more than new music. It makes me feel old when I can watch award shows and only know who a few people are.

 

[Miles]

I'm midway through my 4th decade. Other than having more music to choose from these days, my tastes haven't changed much. I go through cycles, in which I listen to one artist or genre more than others for a while, but the songs I have in rotation have remained diverse.

Between piano lessons and various school and church bands, I was exposed to a wide variety as a child. I grew up playing classical and jazz, but I also enjoyed the popular music that my older siblings listened to. My parents primarily listened to classical. This meant I got to listen to most electronic music and rock without it seeming like "Dad rock" or "Mom core". Some of my favorites were recorded long before I was born, yet they still feel like "my" music. Similarly, perhaps in part because I don't have any children, I listen to the music of today in much the same way that I did while growing up.

 

[Mark Quayle]

I'm midway through my 4th decade. Other than having more music to choose from these days, my tastes haven't changed much. I go through cycles, in which I listen to one artist or genre more than others for a while, but the songs I have in rotation have remained diverse.

Between piano lessons and various school and church bands, I was exposed to a wide variety as a child. I grew up playing classical and jazz, but I also enjoyed the popular music that my older siblings listened to. My parents primarily listened to classical. This meant I got to listen to most electronic music and rock without it seeming like "Dad rock" or "Mom core". Some of my favorites were recorded long before I was born, yet they still feel like "my" music. Similarly, perhaps in part because I don't have any children, I listen to the music of today in much the same way that I did while growing up.

My son likes 70's rock more than I do.

 

[Miles]

My son likes 70's rock more than I do.

Sounds like he has great taste in music.

These are good times for music fans of all ages. So many recordings from multiple eras, just a few mouse-clicks away. It sure beats hitting record on the cassette deck, and missing the first parts of a song. Or waiting weeks for the record store to get what you were looking for, which they couldn't always do.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Sounds like he has great taste in music.

These are good times for music fans of all ages. So many recordings from multiple eras, just a few mouse-clicks away. It sure beats hitting record on the cassette deck, and missing the first parts of a song. Or waiting weeks for the record store to get what you were looking for, which they couldn't always do.

And an LP was between 7 and 11 dollars, which is more than a cd, figuring inflation into it.

 

[quietpraiyze]

The way my taste has changed is I search for classics more than new music. It makes me feel old when I can watch award shows and only know who a few people are.

I really get this. I know that's why I stopped watching award shows. For the most part I didn't know who most of those people were. When they would announce a performing act, I would be like "WHO"?!!...

 

[Mark Quayle]

I really get this. I know that's why I stopped watching award shows. For the most part I didn't know who most of those people were. When they would announce a performing act, I would be like "WHO"?!!...

I don't think I've ever watched a whole award show through to the end. Even if I paid to attend one, I'd be out of the parking lot before it was halfway through.

 

[rturner76]

I really get this. I know that's why I stopped watching award shows. For the most part I didn't know who most of those people were. When they would announce a performing act, I would be like "WHO"?!!...

It feels like the world is passing me by but at the same time, the new stuff just doesn't move me. I read something that said we stop buying new music around the age of 30.

 

[JAM2b]

I was thinking about this today and I have found that I have become more critical of songs than I used to be. I used to just enjoy all the music of whatever genre I was listening to and didn't have negative thoughts about it. Now I pick apart lyrics and consider how the singer's voices sounds and the way the song is performed.

On one hand it makes me more discerning about Christian songs, like if they are of sound teaching and relateable. On the other it makes me not enjoy as much, and I worry about being judgemental.

 

[quietpraiyze]

It feels like the world is passing me by but at the same time, the new stuff just doesn't move me. I read something that said we stop buying new music around the age of 30.

I pretty much stopped buying new music in my 40's. It was like one day I woke up and wondered what happened to all the good music and that included Gospel music as well. I just couldn't relate. Good thing I have a bunch of vinyl albums, cassettes, and CD's .