At what point does your taste in music officially get old? There’s a study for that

Find that listening to today's music ... challenging? If you're at least 33, your taste in music has probably changed forever.

It happened again at the gym. In the middle of my workout, some godawful song started playing: another wretchedly over-Auto Tuned melody-less mid-tempo mumble rap thing with zero energy. It just meandered aimlessly for about four minutes before segueing into something else. My reaction was both emotional and physical. How could anyone possibly think this was good music? And this is what the kids are listening to these days? What’s wrong with them?

That’s when it hit me one more time: I must be old.

Such a come-to-Jesus moment is concerning for me. I listen, analyze, and evaluate music professionally. It’s literally my job. I spend on average eight hours a day listening to all manner of music with a critical ear as part my process for creating programs like The Ongoing History of New Music and posts for Global News, Corus Radio, and my own website, ajournalofmusicalthings.com. I’m constantly being invited to speak on music for both public and private events. I moderate and appear on panels at conferences around the world. Radio stations and news channels as far away as Israel have me on speed dial when they need someone to comment on something happening in the world of music. I need to be up-to-date on everything that’s happening in the world of music.

But even though I can maintain a neutral analytical position — well, most of the time — I will confess that a lot of contemporary music leaves me cold. It’s just … bad.

Listen, I realize that every generation has a right to believe that the music of their youth is the greatest music of all time. This is all part of the cycle of life, a cycle of oldsters hating the music of the young. Here’s an example of an old dude railing against what the damn kids are listening to:

“Forms and rhythms in music are never altered without producing changes in the entire fabric of society.  It is here that we must be so careful, since these new forms creep in imperceptibly in the form of a seemingly harmless diversion. But little by little, this mischief becomes more and more familiar and spreads into our manners and pursuits. Then, with gathering force, it invades men’s dealings with one another and goes on to attack the laws and the constitution with reckless impudence until it ends by overthrowing the whole structure of public and private life!”

Familiar sentiments, yes? Those words were written by Plato about 2,400 years ago. Attribute this one to St. Basil, a fifth-century cleric”

“There are towns where one can enjoy all sorts of histrionic spectacles from morning to night. And, we must admit, the more people hear lascivious and pernicious songs, which raise in their souls impure and voluptuous desires, the more they want to hear.”