I think a lot of the time it comes down to resisting your "inner critic", that little guy inside you who says things like "You won't like this" or more importantly, and twice as wrong, "You
shouldn't like this". It's the sort of inner warning that we (well, I) have that tells us this may not be cool, step away from the radio/ipod/TV/computer, let it go, let it go... okay it's gone now. Wow for a moment there you were in danger of being REALLY uncool! You know, like, you maybe came close to listening to a
Westlife song! Never mind that it is actually a good song, you can't be seen to be listening to
Westlife! For example...
It's why people might be surprised to hear someone like me, whose music taste is far from eclectic, can listen to an Andy Williams (God rest his soul) or Barry Manilow record as easily as Iron Maiden or Saratoga, or that I enjoy a nice classical symphony as much as an acoustic country song. My range is of course limited, and I admit and accept that, and there are genres I may never get into (who does, unless you're Jackhammer?) but I do like to try. Which is why I delved into the scary world of boybands in my journal and will think next year about looking into jazz.
But at the same time, this has to be balanced out. I wouldn't listen to some new music just to be cool, or seen as cool, and I sure as Hell wouldn't listen to something I hated, and knew I hated, just because someone else thought it was good. Similarly, I'm quite happy listening to what a lot of people might consider boring music --- AOR, Prog, some metal --- and it doesn't bother me that they think that way. I don't think "Oh I should be listening to the more hip music". That's not how I am. But I am ready to listen to new styles, within certain limits. If I see "punk" or "hardcore" or "screamo" shown as an album's genre I'm unlikely to go near it. To quote my avatar, I know what I hate.
As for where I find it? Surprisingly, most of the music I've discovered in the past few years has been through album-selling semi-legal websites. I check them for the new releases, hear a little and decide if I want to buy. Prior to this I got into some amazing (to me) bands via the now-defunct Allofmp3.com, who would have a link saying "If you liked that you might like this", and most times they were right.
To answer your main question, there's not much I would consider "not music" but I would click, to be fair, on few if any links in anyone's thread or journal. I prefer to find music myself, though I of course will take recs. Naturally, it's great to do it the other way round, ie turn someone on to a band you love and they don't know.
As for "range", well as I say I try to expand but I know my limits. I think the biggest and most important factor in the music I listen to is I have to like it. If I don't, then it doesn't matter how cool it is. I clicked a while back on some Sun Ra and I did not like it one bit, so now I know. Or maybe I don't: maybe I'll try again. But in general I know I don't like jazz, nevertheless I know little about it which is why the "Stranger in a strange land" feature for next year is looking more and more likely to be a dive into that world.
Hey, I can only drown, right?
Oh, and I think your dolphin is fuelled up and ready to go now...
