Research: Does Age Expand Musical Horizons?

[danielmclark]

I've decided to do a little polling here based on comments from the recent thread about the Doors. Do your musical tastes shift and expand naturally as a result of age? If so, should we expect to like every genre and band by the time we reach old age?

 

Let's get some data (I'm going to say "iTunes" a lot as a sort of shorthand. If you're not using it, no offense.)

 

1. Your age range. Please say one of the following:

* under 18

* 18 - 25

* 25 - 30

* 30 - 35

* 35 - 40

* 45 - 50

* 55 - 60

* 65 - 70

* 70 - 75

* over 75

 

2. Please give the number of genres that iTunes tells you you have (I know, this relies on tags and is not 100% accurate).

 

3. Please list one or two artists from each genre you have in your iTunes library. (edit: or just give a sample if you have a ton of genres)

 

4. Please give the following:

* total number of tracks in your library

* total number of artists in your library

* total number of albums in your library

 

5. Are you a musician?

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way?

 

6. Any other comments to go along with this?

[danielmclark]

I'll go first

 

1. 30-35

 

2. 42

 

3. (I just realized a flaw in the questioning so I won't list someone from all 42, but I'll give a broad sample.

 

a-ha

ABBA

Afghan Whigs

Alexander "Skip" Spence

Ani DiFranco

Aretha Franklin

Bad Brains

The Beach Boys

Bee Gees

Bert Jansch

Billy Idol

Bjork

Blue Man Group

Bob Marley

The Cars

The Chemical Brothers

Christina Aguilera (it's my wife's, I swear )

Chuck Mangione

David Bowie

Def Leppard

Tori Amos

Primus

Rush

 

4. Total tracks: 31,748

Total artists: 935

Total albums: 2410

 

5. I'm not a musician.

 

6. I most identify with rock, leaning toward alternative and prog.

[Xanadu93]

I would love to do this, but I'm out of town, and I brought my notebook but not the AC adaptor so I can't use that to look at it. I could use my iPod for some of it, but it's easier to do on my notebook so I'll try and remember to do it tomorrow when I get home. I could compare my iTunes library from the end of 2008 on my old nano with what I have now, and I know there would be a ton of differences. I've gotten much more varied in my musical tastes over the past two years.

[MMCXII]

I've got a little over 10 000 songs on my 80g classic, and it's everything from the bee gees to slayer.

 

I'm 40.

 

what do I win?

[danielmclark]

QUOTE (MMCXII @ Oct 22 2010, 07:02 PM)

I've got a little over 10 000 songs on my 80g classic, and it's everything from the bee gees to slayer. I'm 40. what do I win?

You win a flashing RUSH icon!

 

 

Congratulations, don't spend it all in one place!!!

[ColdFireYYZ]

1. Age: Under 18

 

2. Number of genres: 11 (alt, blues, comedy, country, experimental, folk, metal, pop, r&b, reggae, rock)

 

3.

Rush

Yes

ELP

Pink Floyd

Deep Purple

Bowie

Beatles

CCR

Skynyrd

Kansas

Porcupine Tree

Styx

Radiohead

Peal Jam

Beck

Muddy Waters

Eric Clapton

Weird Al

Toby Keith

Keith Urban

Van Zant

Steven Wilson

Jim Croce

Dream Theater

Metallica

Whitesnake

Elton John

REO

Meat Loaf

Stevie Wonder

Bob Marley

to name a few

 

4.

Total Tracks: 3784

Total Artists: 209

Total Albums (some are compilations/not complete): 532

 

5. I am a musician (keys)

 

6. I most associate with prog/rock

 

Also, 99% of this is legally purchased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fledgehog]

1. 18 years old

2. computer isn't working at the moment plus all my genres are incorrectly tagged haha. but if i really went and tagged them all seriously there'd probably be somewhere around 50-60. maybe more, considering how specific subgenres have gotten (and how anal i'd be about them)

3. last.fm top 20 from the past 3 months:

Frederic Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Miles Davis, Alexander Scriabin, Duke Ellington, Third Eye Blind, John Coltrane, Pearl Jam, Edvard Grieg, Warren Zevon, New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, Dr. Dre, Peter Gabriel, Eminem, Teenage Fanclub, Dream Theater, Rush, The Tragicaly Hip, Elliott Smith

4. somewhere around 45-46,000 tracks iirc

last.fm says 1,324 artists. actual number isw probably in the 1400s.

rateyourmusic says 3,237 albums. that doesn't include bootlegs/concert recordings

5. why yes, yes i am. i'm going to school for classical piano, i also play the violin and the drums (self-taught).

6. at the moment, romantic period stuff (Chopin, Brahms, later Beethoven, Mahler, Grieg, to name a few). It has not always been that way. I've felt particular closeness to everything from jazz-fusion to prog to metal to baroque to big band to jangle pop in the past (year).

6. why are there two 6's?

i'd say musical tastes definitely shift and change with age, but i'm not so sure that overall expansion occurs, and i don't agree that older people will have wider music taste than younger people. for me, music preference is a living, breathing being. I probably listen to the same number of artists frequently right now that i did a year ago, two years ago, maybe even three years ago -- it's just that the particular set of music on regular rotation changes. And also the previous music stays in the "music i like" superset/greater bank. So even though i don't listen to as much prog-metal now as i did four years ago when i first discovered the genre, i still would put it in a cumulative list of genres that i enjoy. i don't think i've ever stopped liking any music (with some very rare exceptions that don't count, like the boy band garbage that everyone listened to in elementary school before i actually gave enough of a shit about what music i listen to).

but in the overall scheme of things, even though i narrate as though i have a lifetime of experience, 18 is still pretty damn young, and at this age i think of myself as still having an energy and a vitality when it comes to music -- wanting to find and hear just as much of it as i possibly can. from conversations i've had with friends in their 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond, it seems that two things happen to music taste in old age -- for the ones who aren't really passionate about music, they settle in with their favorites, realize that there are more important things in life, and just cycle through their favorite few hundred albums from their younger days. The other thing that happens is that the ones who have a passion for music stop searching wider, and go more in depth -- start exploring rarer, more underrated albums and releases from their favorite bands that they never bothered checking out before, maybe get into the whole bootlegging scene more, if they're a jazz or classical fan they start to really focus on finding and comparing different versions of the same songs and pieces, because time has allowed them to weed out their true favorites. An old conductor will probably be able to narrate to you every subtle difference between 5 different famous recordings of a given symphony, for example. And i think it's these two factors that perpetuate stereotypes like "old people don't like new music". It's not that they DON'T enjoy Radiohead or Arcade Fire (to give a couple realy mainstream examples), it's just that they haven't discovered them because their "consume! consume! consume!" attitude no longer exists. i guess it's almost comparable to a metabolism, someone who is younger will eat anything and everything, they'll eat all damn day, they'll eat 'til they can't eat any more and then they'll still go back for a bowl of ice cream to finalize the deal. i would know, i go to college . But as you start to get older, you don't eat as much since your metabolism has slowed down to the point where you don't need it/can't afford to have it, but your food tastes will probably become more refined, and you'll probably be more LIKELY to indulge in certain types of food.

I also think it's incorrect to assume that musicians have a wider musical horizon. While they may have a better understanding of what they're listening to, i still find it's fairly common for a musician to have an incredibly narrow (and sometimes even shallow at that) knowledge of existing music. and then of course there are purists of every genre; i've met jazz players who refuse to listen to rock, and i've met rock players who refuse to listen to jazz, and i've met players of every genre who will dismiss entire artists, entire genres, hell even entire periods of music, without giving them anything close to a fair chance, and without trying to find SOME aspect of musicality to enjoy. i WISH we could all be as open to every form of music as i am, but sadly that's not the case.

As for myself, putting age aside entirely, i believe i have a relatively broad and moderate depth musical knowledge and taste, and honestly, i hope i never slow down a bit.

[In A Tidewater Surge]

1. Your age range. Please say one of the following:

* under 18 THIS ONE

* 18 - 25

* 25 - 30

* 30 - 35

* 35 - 40

* 45 - 50

* 55 - 60

* 65 - 70

* 70 - 75

* over 75

 

2. Please give the number of genres that iTunes tells you you have (I know, this relies on tags and is not 100% accurate).

4 (Progressive Rock, Krautrock, Classic Rock, Psychedelic

 

3. Please list one or two artists from each genre you have in your iTunes library. (edit: or just give a sample if you have a ton of genres)

 

4. Please give the following:

* total number of tracks in your library 2124

* total number of artists in your library 51

* total number of albums in your library 140

 

5. Are you a musician? Nope

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way? Not sure?

 

6. Any other comments to go along with this? You need to learn how to count

[nappy2112]

What the Hell is an iTune ?

[GrandDesigner]

Ooohh, I'll play!

 

Although I find your logic flawed. It's been my experience that as most people age, their musical tastes get smaller and they stop seeking out new music and rely on the stuff they grew up with - I'm proud to be an exception to that!

 

1. Age Range

 

18-25

 

2. Genres

 

40

 

3. Sample (Impossible - I'll just list my A bands for a decent spread of genres but still no means complete)

 

AC/DC, All-American Rejects, Amun Duul II, Adrian Belew, Alter Bridge, Anberlin, Andrew W.K., Animals As Leaders, Anathema, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Anthrax, Abigail's Ghost, Arcade Fire, Avenged Sevenfold, Anglagard

 

4. Please give the following:

* total number of tracks in your library 8,290

* total number of artists in your library 292

* total number of albums in your library 853

 

 

5. Are you a musician?

 

Yes

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way?

 

I'd say Shoegaze at the moment, but it's bounced around from jazz, to prog, to metal, to indie, etc over the years

 

7. Comments

 

Music is the most important thing in this world to me. If not playing it, then listening to it and I'm always seeking out new things to listen to (as I get bored easily, plus inspiration always strikes when a new genre is discovered) and I'm glad that at 25 years old I'm still able to be just as excited as I was when I was a teenager about my favorite bands and music in general

[danielmclark]

QUOTE (GrandDesigner @ Oct 23 2010, 12:23 AM)

Ooohh, I'll play! Although I find your logic flawed. It's been my experience that as most people age, their musical tastes get smaller and they stop seeking out new music and rely on the stuff they grew up with - I'm proud to be an exception to that!

Oh, don't get me wrong! I have no idea if tastes expand over time or not - I'm not stating any kind of logic at the fore. That's what I'm curious to find out!

[danielmclark]

QUOTE (In A Tidewater Surge @ Oct 22 2010, 11:27 PM)

6. Any other comments to go along with this? You need to learn how to count

Yeah, yeah

 

I wasn't paying attention, and the order of the polling questions shifted around a few times, and I missed correcting that one

[metaldad]

1. 44

2. 12

3. Sample- Buddy Rich, Slayer, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Styx , Miles Davis

4.

a -5308

b- 201

c. 588

5. Yes. Drummer for 30 years

6. Metal /Hard Rock . I grew up on Kiss, Queen , Zep and Alice Cooper . I then went heavier as i discoverd more music. Most people have no idea i am a huge Jazz/Fusion fan as well . This info is just my I-pod and not all of my music

[Slaine mac Roth]

I can't really participate properly with this survey the way its been presented as I don't have itunes and have very little music saved on my PC. However, if you look towards a more physical medium, I would estimate that have around 200 Lps on vinyl and a similar number on CD (some dulpicated).

 

As to the genres included, I would say that it covers a wide range from Thrash (Annihilator), Hard Rock (UFO), Prog (ELP), Folk (Kelly's Heroes), Classical (Holst), Blues (Robert Johnson), Pop (Gary Numan) and Glam (Sweet). in fact, about the only gernre that doesn't feature in any shape or form is the Dance/Rave scene (I even have a very slight smattering of rap in there).

 

As to the way my music tastes have changed over the years, I'm not sure I'd say that my horizons have expanded - I've always been willing to give different styles a fair hearing. Instead, I think I'd say that, over years, I've become more tolerant of music that I didn't like when I was younger (and, in cases like David Bowie and the Beatles, even like some music that I hated when I was younger).

 

Just for the record, I'm 43 and a musician. For the most part, I've tended to listen to most forms of rock in the past and it still remains my preferred choice of music. However, nowdays I will quite often stick on something else entirely

[circumstantial tree]

I can't participate in this poll either. The only thing I can say is that I've been through various phases as I've grown as to which genre of music I'd listen to.

 

When I was really young in the 70s, it was all top 40, singer/songwriter music, and disco. In the early 80s, I was into hard rock/pop (Journey, Jefferson Starship, Pat Benatar). In the mid-80s I was getting into speed metal and it's various incarnations (Venom, Metallica, et al).

 

Late 80s I got into classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc...

 

Early and mid-90s I got into the original alternative music which included shoe gaze material.

 

Late 90s I went into a phase of listening to nothing but new age style music.

 

From 2000 until the present, a mix of lots of stuff, with an increasing interesting in jazz being the most recent phase.

[Xanadu93]

Let me preface this by saying that I've only listened to about half of my library, so some of these artists may be artists whom I've never listened to.

 

1. Under 18 (I turn 17 in about four weeks)

 

2. 18; I use pretty broad genres for my music, but just because I'm lazy

 

3. Because iTunes labels some differently, I'm only listing genres with 2+ artists.

Alternative: My Chemical Romance, Radiohead

Classical: Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia (never listen to either of these )

Comedy: Bob & Doug McKenzie, John Boy & Billy

Country: Big & Rich, Brad Paisley

Dance: La Roux (only one )

Electronic - BT, How to Destroy Angels

Hip-Hop/Rap: Dr. Dre, Lupe Fiasco

Holiday: Jon Anderson, The Used (they did a Christmas song so it's under that )

Jazz: Aaron Goldberg, Aisha Duo (never listen to these)

Metal: Black Sabbath, Metallica

Pop: Buggles, Lisa Marie Presley

Punk: Ramones, Sex Pistols

Rock: Rush, Yes

 

4. Please give the following:

6290 items

266 artists

594 albums (so a little more than two albums per artist)

 

5. I play guitar, bass, and keyboards, though I suck equally at all of them. I do these for fun, not in a band or for school.

 

6. Because I'm younger, I don't really feel like I've had enough time to "identify" with a certain genre. That said, I'm probably closer to alternative groups such as blink-182, Green Day, Muse, My Chemical Romance, and Radiohead than most rock (which, for me, is mostly classic, which I don't really identify with, though I enjoy it).

 

7. Music is my life. I love discovering new music and new artists to obsess over. Don't really know what else to put that hasn't already been said, whether in this thread or elsewhere.

[ghostworks]

1. Your age range.

35 - 40

 

2. Please give the number of genres that iTunes tells you you have. *

* WMP (I don't use iTunes)

48 unique genres

 

3. Please list one or two artists from each genre you have in your iTunes library. (edit: or just give a sample if you have a ton of genres)

Genre | Artist

 

ambient - Robert Rich

blues - Leon Redbone

classical - Kronos Quartet

downtempo - Marconi Union

electronica - Jean Michel Jarre

funk - Slave

jazz - Shelly Manne

metal - Iron Maiden

noise - Emil Beaulieau

prog - Steve Hackett

pop - Seal

rock - Rush

r&b - Stevie Wonder

soul - Eugene McDaniels

world - Djivan Gasparyan

 

 

4. Please give the following:

* total number of tracks in your library

5,000+ **

 

* total number of artists in your library

1,000+ **

 

* total number of albums in your library

2,200+ **

 

** does not incl. CD's / LP's

 

5. Are you a musician?

Yes

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way?

downtempo / no

 

6. Any other comments to go along with this?

too many...

[Mystic Slipperman]

1. Your age range. * 35 - 40

 

2. Please give the number of genres that iTunes tells you you have (I know, this relies on tags and is not 100% accurate).

7, but I'm not done reloading my 160G! and I tend to combine all rock-related stuff under ROCK, so that would be larger otherwise. There's classical, country, fusion, jazz, rock, R&B, Rap/HipHop

 

 

3. Please list one or two artists from each genre you have in your iTunes library. (edit: or just give a sample if you have a ton of genres)

 

The "J" section of the library does a pretty good job of this for me:

 

Jellyfish

John Lennon

John Legend & The Roots

Judas Priest

Journey

Joe Walsh

Jeff Beck

J. Geils Band

James Brown

Janis Joplin

Jonatha Brooke

Joni Mitchell

Johnny Cash

Jethro Tull

Jimi Hendrix

John Coltrane

 

 

4. Please give the following: (these are rough, and keep in mind that I'm not done yet!

* total number of tracks in your library 4500

* total number of artists in your library 93

* total number of albums in your library 650

 

5. Are you a musician? Yes. And a songwriter/compser.

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way? I guess, begrudgingly, whatever genre Yes and Genesis and Rush fall into....even though that doesn't automatically mean I dig artists in this genre.

 

6. Any other comments to go along with this?

 

I'll be 40 in about 6 weeks.

 

Ever since I was 7 years old I've been obsessed with music--the discovery, the writing, the playing, the minutiae, you name it. In my younger years I went through the current "phases" -- new wave, metal, etc etc etc.. When I hit 16-17 I got into what is known as "progressive" and jazz at the same time. But all the while I never lost the craving for a great pop tune or a killer funky soul song.

 

If anything, as I got older I realized that it was a particular sound I favored, more than any one style. That sound seems to center around music that was recorded in the early 1970s, and I tend to gravitate towards newer music that has this sound or vibe. It's very hard to explain in words, but it seems to center around the production values, and the instruments used (real drum kit, vintage keyboards, pre "crunchy" guitars (early Metallica excepted). That said, I fell for Radiohead and Sigur Ros hard, but maybe those bands have enough "retro" qualities..... I don't know if being a writer influences this or not, but I bet it does... writers try to establish their own voice, even if that voice changes over time.

 

My tastes are broad, but honestly, a lot of the way music is produced today really turns me off to it. Too much striving for absolute perfection (auto-tune even on vocalists that DON'T need it, which results in inhuman sounding vocals; squeaky clean tempos/performances where there's no elasticity in the rhythm), and lack of nuance... when you lose nuance you rob music of its humanity and its "light and shade". Seems like most music made these days is recorded in a 2-dimensional fashion. A lot of it doesn't breathe, or sound alive to me...

 

If these preferences make me less receptive to new music, then that's my struggle and I do continue to listen for new things that rock my world.

[Ted Barchetta]

1. 18-25

 

2. 9 or 10

 

3. The Who

Led Zeppelin

Yes

Steely Dan

Donald Fagen

Bob Dylan

Van Morrison

Canned Heat

ZZ Top

Beethoven

Vivaldi

Vampire Weekend

Ramones

Dream Theater

 

4. Please give the following:

Number Of Tracks: 1200 +/- 100 or so

Number Of Artists: 40

Number Of Albums: 84

 

5. I play Bass guitar, electric/acoustic guitars and I dabble in keyboards. I want to learn various instruments of the orchestra though. I compose music as well

 

6. I'm pretty much a Prog rocker through and through. I can't imagine the state my musicianship would be in without it.

 

7. I like the idea of this survey, but I don't think age has anything to do with musical tastes. I just think it has to do with a person's willingness to expose themselves to different genres of music and the music their parents listened to when they were kids.

 

Good survey! I had fun typing it.

 

EDIT: All of this music was legally purchased. I ain't no gulldurn freeloader!

[garbo]

1. 25-30

 

2. I think it has listed: 45, but I don't have all of my songs transferred from my old system to my new system

 

3. I'll just list a few of my favorites:

Rush, obviously

MUSE

Florence + the Machine

The Temper Trap

Passion Pit

Bob Dylan

Tom Waits

Cat Power

Styx

Mary Margaret O'Hara

Yes

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (primarily their classical stuff)

Penderecki

Menotti

Barber

The Chieftains

Clannad

Enya

Yann Tiersen

Dvorak

Smetana

Sufjan Stevens

Eric Whitacre

She and Him

Iron Maiden

Jeff Buckley

The Arcade Fire

Victor Borge

Itzhak Perlman

Bob and Doug McKenzie (I kid you not)

Dexy's Midnight Runners (BECAUSE THEY SHOULD BE EVERYONE'S ITUNES, COME ON!)

 

And a bunch of other crap

 

4. Please give the following:

right now only 849 (again, still transferring)

Uh...

How do I check for this? Oh my god, how stupid am I? See? Mac users- we're not very bright. And we talk with our hands.

 

5. Are you a musician?

Indeed I am. I am a classically trained singer as well as violinist (used to teach violin as well), play piano (although I cannot sing and play at the same time- play a chord, sing, play a chord, sing... damn), play upright bass (have never tried electric), mandolin, and can play Dvorak's ninth symphony on the guitar (that's my secret weapon). Although it's my sister who is the one with perfect pitch. I just pretend.

 

6. Which genre of music do you most identify with, and has it always been that way? Classical. I used to win all the contests to operas as a kid. Boy did I have KMFA in Austin fooled when I was ten. Although as I've gotten older I've certainly associated more with prog rock, classical, especially modern (like Barber, Menotti, Copland, and even Penderecki) really holds my heart through and through and it's been that way since I started crushing on my old man, Sam Barber, when I was ten.

 

6. Any other comments to go along with this?

I've gone backwards musically. Somewhere in Prague, Dvorak just rolled over in his grave to think that I do have Lady Gaga songs in my iTunes.

That being said, Itzhak Perlman remains the only musician in my iTunes that I've seen live three times and each time I cry uncontrollably throughout. Now that's embarrassing. He's remained with me from infancy to adulthood.