Anybody Else Feel Like They Don't Listen to Music Much Anymore

[Disco King]

I dunno, it feels like I don't have time to sit down and listen to albums anymore. And I'm not good at focusing on more than one thing at a time, so if I put on an album while doing something else, or listen to my iPod while out and about, it just becomes background noise and I can't actually listen to and enjoy the songs.

Eventually I amass a bunch of albums and realize that even though I've "listened" to them multiple times, I don't know the songs and can't even recall their melodies.

Also feels like I haven't been able to enjoy music like I used to for the past few years.

I dunno, there was a time when I was just always listening to music and enjoying it. It feels weird not having that be a thing I do anymore.

[reprise85]

once in a while i get into a new album, but i definitely don't listen in the same deliberate way. things change i guess. i still almost always have something on in the background regardless

[Trotskilicious]

i'm never busy, i hate being busy

[Sonic Johnny]

I download 1 to 5 new albums a week so no, i feel like probably 2012 onwards i've been listening to more music per day/per year than ever before.

[redbreegull]

As you get older your neural elasticity wanes. Most people seem to have their "canon" of music solidified by 30 and then they don't really engage with new music anymore. I think it's harder for nearly everyone to experience and enjoy music the same as they once did, after they reach a certain age. This really bummed me out for a few years but I'm sort of overcoming it now I think. My advice is 1) understand that the way you listen and enjoy music is probably going to be different now than it was when you are 15. At 26, I don't think I am going to hear too many more albums I am compelled to listen to a dozen times a week for months straight. It's not important to me anymore to know all the lyrics to songs. Probably the place I get the most enjoyment out of music now is when I can turn it up loud by myself in the car. 2) try to expand your palette. there is an eventual end of the road when you have limiting tastes. ask you friends for music. use spotify. listen to things you previously wouldn't consider, whether it's top 40 or jazz fusion. entertain values in music you think you don't understand. 3) listen to a lot of music. music is so entangled with our memories and emotions that probably you hold dear artists from long ago that you would not think much of if you heard them for the first time today. It's not really possible to separate objective quality from the context of where you were in your life when you heard a song. This means that when you are older, you are going to have to listen to more music before you find things that stick, as you have much less chaotic emotional, sentimental dross crowding up your head. The good news is no human could digest all the music in the world in one lifetime, so there are still a million things out there that you could connect with and get into, you just have to be willing to look

[noyen]

What are your credentials?

[redbreegull]

I'm a recovering member of the "music doesn't sound good to me anymore" club.

[noyen]

Ah I was wondering if you were 90. I'm almost 40 and listen to music more and more and more and have never read any materials or studies on some sort of thing built into aging and music that "we" go through universally. in all non seriousness it just reminded me of reading Mooney using made up percentages about what constitutes audio quality. I can see getting older and not caring and not having time for anything because old makes the feels happen about everything i imagine.

[noyen]

It's a sign of depression, not enjoying or having interest in things you normally love.

[noyen]

living in oppressive state or poverty could be a cause too. Or maybe the kgb coming after ya heavy on the heart. Too worried about where to lay your head at night than have room to worry about maintaining a killer playlist for shopping at Ikea.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

As you get older your neural elasticity wanes. Most people seem to have their "canon" of music solidified by 30 and then they don't really engage with new music anymore. I think it's harder for nearly everyone to experience and enjoy music the same as they once did, after they reach a certain age. This really bummed me out for a few years but I'm sort of overcoming it now I think. My advice is 1) understand that the way you listen and enjoy music is probably going to be different now than it was when you are 15. At 26, I don't think I am going to hear too many more albums I am compelled to listen to a dozen times a week for months straight. It's not important to me anymore to know all the lyrics to songs. Probably the place I get the most enjoyment out of music now is when I can turn it up loud by myself in the car. 2) try to expand your palette. there is an eventual end of the road when you have limiting tastes. ask you friends for music. use spotify. listen to things you previously wouldn't consider, whether it's top 40 or jazz fusion. entertain values in music you think you don't understand. 3) listen to a lot of music. music is so entangled with our memories and emotions that probably you hold dear artists from long ago that you would not think much of if you heard them for the first time today. It's not really possible to separate objective quality from the context of where you were in your life when you heard a song. This means that when you are older, you are going to have to listen to more music before you find things that stick, as you have much less chaotic emotional, sentimental dross crowding up your head. The good news is no human could digest all the music in the world in one lifetime, so there are still a million things out there that you could connect with and get into, you just have to be willing to look

WORDBLOCKOFDEATH

[Shallowed]

I have phases I guess. I think I might be getting back into a music listening phase again though.

Part of the problem is having so much music that I don't know what to listen to, I think. Or alternatively, not feeling like listening to any of it. It's pretty depressing.

[noyen]

I MAST SPLED ABROWN MOAR MARGIN BEFARE GIFFEN IT EGIN

[Sonic Johnny]

I will listen to new music when a band comes along who are great enough to quantify their greatness through major label chart success and sell-out arena tours, because as we all know these are the indicators of truly great music, and a lack of massively popular rock bands is clearly indicative of a waning in originality and integrity, something something pitchfork something something hipsters something smear my own faeces on the walls of my basement bedroom and cry myself to sleep

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

As you get older your neural elasticity wanes. Most people seem to have their "canon" of music solidified by 30 and then they don't really engage with new music anymore. I think it's harder for nearly everyone to experience and enjoy music the same as they once did, after they reach a certain age...

Hmm. Could be happening to me. Yeah, I can still enjoy the music that I already like and knew intimately from before a certain period, but even then, not all of it, because some of the bands I used to really like listening to don't do much for me anymore.

I'm still fairly young, so I'm not sure about the neuroplasticity thing, but who knows, maybe.

I'll maybe try to listen to stuff that I've never considered before, I dunno.

Originally Posted by noyen

Ah I was wondering if you were 90. I'm almost 40 and listen to music more and more and more and have never read any materials or studies on some sort of thing built into aging and music that "we" go through universally. in all non seriousness it just reminded me of reading Mooney using made up percentages about what constitutes audio quality. I can see getting older and not caring and not having time for anything because old makes the feels happen about everything i imagine.

I'm sure none of it is widely-accepted fact, but it sounded plausible. Like, the thing about associations people make with stimuli, and how the presence or absence of meaningful associations could affect how much you like something.

Originally Posted by noyen

It's a sign of depression, not enjoying or having interest in things you normally love.

Hrrm. I don't feel especially sad or anything, but I guess there are a few things I used to enjoy doing that I hardly do anymore. I used to love drawing, but can't really do it anymore because the frustration of not being able to get what's in my head onto paper grew stronger than the enjoyment of trying.

Other things, it's not necessarily that I don't enjoy them anymore, I just don't have the energy. Like practicing guitar, which I also don't do much anymore. I always plan to do things like practice or write songs or read books or something, but feel too tired to do anything that requires mental energy, and end up just doing shit that takes absolutely no energy (but are also unfulfilling), like surfing the web and racking up tabs because I've lost the attention span to finish reading anything before I move on to something else. And then I waste all my free time and bemoan the fact that I don't have time to do anything thing I like to do.

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by Sonic Johnny

I will listen to new music when a band comes along who are great enough to quantify their greatness through major label chart success and sell-out arena tours, because as we all know these are the indicators of truly great music, and a lack of massively popular rock bands is clearly indicative of a waning in originality and integrity, something something pitchfork something something hipsters something smear my own faeces on the walls of my basement bedroom and cry myself to sleep

The blogger bands are music for children. NOFX is music for adults. Objectively speaking.

Hey guys what was the best music thing of 1996

[Sonic Johnny]

I mean I would say that the best music thing of 1996 was the wildly inventive, genre-shifting slab of progressive psychedelic sludge metal that is Neurosis' "Through Silver In Blood", but that's because i'm an emotionally maladjusted manchild with aggression issues which is why I enjoy metal. So I guess my next answer is probably Everything But The Girl, you know just some good old fashioned rocking stuff with a great transition into the chorus, just yknow good party music for chilled bros yknow.

[Disco King]

Good response. My answer is going to have to be The Smashing Pumpkins.

[Sonic Johnny]

It certainly wasn't Pet Shop Boys, but they're a great band to get into if you like the gay club scene amirite

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by noyen

Ah I was wondering if you were 90. I'm almost 40 and listen to music more and more and more and have never read any materials or studies on some sort of thing built into aging and music that "we" go through universally. in all non seriousness it just reminded me of reading Mooney using made up percentages about what constitutes audio quality. I can see getting older and not caring and not having time for anything because old makes the feels happen about everything i imagine.

the thing I said about neural elasticity is scientifically sound. It's the same reason it's harder to learn a language as an adult or readily accept new ideas. Good for you that you managed to get around the music doesn't sound good to me anymore phenomenon. This is my experience, but I would guess it is shared by a lot of other people, that by the time you are in your mid-twenties, you will start to see and hear a lot of people your age complain about how music has gone downhill, why is it harder to get into new music, I can't listen to music the same way anymore, etc. Older people in general do not listen to much new music, and I'm not just making this generalization based on people I know, it's a cultural trope that your parents don't understand your music.

what I said about music being wrapped up in the context of our sentimentality and all that is just my personal analysis, but I do believe it's true. There's a lot of shit I still like that I am sure I would not enjoy if I heard it for the first time today. But for me, it doesn't matter how shitty Coldplay is, X&Y will always bring me back in an almost-tangible way to high school and to the things I was doing and feeling then. Once in awhile, I'll listen to it. Any band of this caliber that I heard today would probably not even get a second listen.

[Trotskilicious]

i think i'm starting to realize that maybe it's not the person that annoys me it's the way they write but then i realize that's basically the same thing

[Cool As Ice Cream]

i listen to less music these days.

my evenings are usually filled with crap on tv instead of putting on some music. this is not always my own choice, but i don't care too much. there are definitely moments where i'd rather listen to an album than have the telly on, but oh well.
at work i will try to listen to new stuff that i downloaded, but it can't be too distracting. so i will often listen to music i already know and like a lot.

but i don't feel too bad about this. i don't feel like i should be listening to music a certain minimum amount of time. or that i should listen to new music the week or month it's been released. or that i should keep up, or know everything, etc.
i don't want to put any effort in to reach any goal that isn't actually mine. i'm not trying to impress anyone.

[The exploding boy]

well it gets tiring to always listen to the same stuff...even though i do it anyway. My tastes just aren't very varied. My whole entire music collection is 27.1 gigs and i could probably remove 7 gigs off that and barely notice it. Once every three or four years i may get into a new band for a bit. Well sometimes they're not new, they're old but i either never heard of them or never checked them out. Of course that happens less and less.

[pavementtune]

I do believe that you connect differently to music at a younger age, especially as teenager. obsess-love-cry-woa-repeat thing, your brain/emotions are just different.

There were a couple of years when I rareley listened to any music, now I have no idea how that even worked for me, but it just happened. finishing college, then work and shit, my mind was too occupied, maybe. And yea, depression, too. Even music died.

Currently it's another phase again, I absolutely need music, plenty. Old and new, I enjoy listening to new albums (new releases and artists I just never listened to before) because that's a clean slate, no impressions and emotions attached to it. I'd go crazy if I'd only listen to music I've loved the past two decades or something.

Sadly the times when the main thing I do is just listen to music are almost gone. It's while walking/driving, at work, a lot of background listening.

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

the thing I said about neural elasticity is scientifically sound. It's the same reason it's harder to learn a language as an adult or readily accept new ideas. Good for you that you managed to get around the music doesn't sound good to me anymore phenomenon. This is my experience, but I would guess it is shared by a lot of other people, that by the time you are in your mid-twenties, you will start to see and hear a lot of people your age complain about how music has gone downhill, why is it harder to get into new music, I can't listen to music the same way anymore, etc. Older people in general do not listen to much new music, and I'm not just making this generalization based on people I know, it's a cultural trope that your parents don't understand your music.

what I said about music being wrapped up in the context of our sentimentality and all that is just my personal analysis, but I do believe it's true. There's a lot of shit I still like that I am sure I would not enjoy if I heard it for the first time today. But for me, it doesn't matter how shitty Coldplay is, X&Y will always bring me back in an almost-tangible way to high school and to the things I was doing and feeling then. Once in awhile, I'll listen to it. Any band of this caliber that I heard today would probably not even get a second listen.

It's all plausible enough conjecture to put in an informal thread on a band's website, so I guess I didn't feel the need to scrutinize it that much. Especially because the topic is a somewhat light one, and you're not making grand claims about how the universe operates or the meaning of life or something.

But yeah, if we were to apply more rigorous inquiry, like some people want to do (not that I blame them), we would probably ask if neurological explanations have more explanatory power in the phenomenon of people losing interest in new music as they age than do other factors, like simply having less time or new music being too unfamiliar to one who grew up listening to other music. A construct itself being scientific doesn't mean that construct can be applied to every observation, but a good deal of science is deriving such hypotheses from theories and testing them.

I guess we'd also want to know if the phenomenon of people losing interest in music as they age is actually widespread. My anecdotal evidence aligns with yours and suggests that it is, but sometimes when things are actually investigated, they defy common assumptions and reveal widely-held beliefs to be myths.

There's probably been a few studies in psychology in the association of positive emotions and memories with particular objects or events. One could look into that, too.

But I don't really expect anybody to be armed with survey data, psychological, and neurological research before making a post in a topic like this on Netphoria (a much more serious topic with bolder claims with greater implications, I may have different standards for), so your post seemed perfectly fine to me.

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

but i don't feel too bad about this. i don't feel like i should be listening to music a certain minimum amount of time. or that i should listen to new music the week or month it's been released. or that i should keep up, or know everything, etc.
i don't want to put any effort in to reach any goal that isn't actually mine. i'm not trying to impress anyone.

I sometimes wonder if my wish to listen to more music is just so I can selfishly crib ideas from a broader range of influences and get some sort of creative boost in my own music or something.

[Elphenor]

Whenever I start getting tired of music I usually get exposed to something that approaches the art in such a different or interesting way that it triggers my obsession again

[redbreegull]

Another thing that I think happens is that when you are younger, you know less music and everything seems more amazing. Some of the "magic" or whatever dies as your awareness of music and art gets wider and you realize that nothing is truly "original," and everyone is just rearranging the same blocks into different shapes. It helped me a lot when I managed to overcome the Billy Corgan/alternative rock "value system" that everything has to be new and innovative and if music isn't doing something "new" it isn't worth listening to. There's a lot of good music in the world that is not sonically groundbreaking.

[FoolofaTook]

what do you know about penile elasticity?

[myosis]

i keep reading the thread title wrong

https://bobsegarini.files.wordpress....music-logo.jpg

[myosis]

where have they gone? don't we care anymore?