Music Preferences Less Flexible with Age?
 

After what age (if any), do you think most people's music preferences don't change much? Age 25, maybe? (That's when the brain is about fully mature, and many people are too busy with life to follow the music scene as much as they used to.)

Probably around the time they settle into a familiar routine, or where other obligations overtake the curiosity and explorative elements of music. I can't imagine it's a lot of fun using your free time taking chances on new bands or styles when you've got a 1 year old child, or a new house to pay for. As for specific age points, I'd say probably anywhere from 28-35 is where you'll see most people settling into this kind of routine.

I'm 41 and my music preferences are more diverse now than they ever have been. There are people that only hold on to the music of their youth, because it makes them nostalgic. I prefer to explore new and different styles and witness how music has evolved over the course of history and how contemporary music reflects the cultural zeitgiest of the day. If had to listen exclusively to the music I was listening to when I was 17, I'd likely have my ears surgically removed.

yeah prob around the time u start a fmaily and settle down whit picket fence thing


but im not married or have any kids so yeah right now my music taste are wider then ever

For a few years, around college age, I mostly stopped listening to new music. Later I returned to music television, etc. - but I rarely like what I hear and mostly still enjoy what I did as a teenager (with the exception of some bland hard rock and soulless pop). I've never gone looking for underground or obscure music, and I am not interested in expanding into jazz, classical, and other genres that maybe some people embrace as they get older.

I'm 45 now, first became a mother at 25 and after that (and after having another child at 37), I didn't have as much time to devote to exploring music, although the yearning was there as strong as ever. My tastes have always been varied and that hasn't really changed -- but what I've had to do over the years is to squeeze in listening to/reading about new music between family responsibilities and other distractions. The result being that I've held fast to what has proved "golden" to me over time and as far as expanding my horizons and deepening exposure to newer music, I'm much more of a dilettante than I would like to be.

I'm far more diverse with my tastes at 31 than I was when I was in my early 20s and under. I don't know if it's a result of exposure, maturing out of a particular mindset, or a combination of the two, but I'm personally very grateful for such a development either way.

While there are still certain styles I don't particularly care for, and many that I have grown out of, I never feel like my horizons have done anything but widened by filling those gaps with things I've given a chance and liked, versus solely eliminating things I've grown apart from.
My only complaint is the rate at which it happens. I'm definitely not as enthusiastic about actively listening to music as I used to be, but when I dedicate the time to such pursuits, I most certainly am active about trying to step outside of my own boundaries in an attempt to find something new [to me] and refreshing.

Well I have definitely opened to other music since I was 17 years old. Before hand, I only liked R&B, Hip Hop and African music. I have opened myself to like some rock music and great Latin music. I have opened up a bit. I am still learning to have a bigger tolerance towards genres I think is very annoying.

I think there is the risk of growing rigid towards different kinds of music as you grow older (what LoathsomePete said), but that doesn't mean it happens to everybody. I'm too young to speak from personal experience, though.

Studies have said that as you get older you can't stand new music but I find new music a different take on past music that I have enjoyed.