Love of Music Declining With Age?

[Vacant Horizon]

Anyone experiencing this.  I have to be honest with myself.  I am.  I find I just don't really give a shit about new stuff and I'm so tired of hearing the old stuff.  It's musical limbo out their with disposable mp3s, death of and shitty mastering of CDs and the over-priced vinyl.  I still make lists of stuff I want to get, but the fact that it's all basically on spotify kind of takes the fun out of getting new music.  I don't know.  I've just noticed that my time actually listening and enjoying music to be short and far between.  Nothing like when you're a teenager and hearing all this stuff for the first time.  Man, those were the days!!

[Winston Legthigh]

Nah. There's too much for me to ever get to, and I love it all. 

[tinnitus photography]

there are so many good to great recordings that i've never heard that i don't think i'll ever get bored. and if you aren't into new music, some of the work that specialty reissue labels are putting out is amazing... Guerrsen, Light in the Attic, Numero Group, Shadoks, Drag City (well, they usually focus on new stuff but occasionally have some really sweet archival reissue), Rise Above Relics, Sublime Frequencies... too many to list.

[froggie]

well, Don Mclean said the day the music died  in 1959. but for me, any new act that emerged after 2002 is all a blur to me. i wouldnt even have a clue what's #1 on the charts today. pre-2002 acts that are still going still interest me, though

[brownie]

I've been struggling with this for a few years now. I say "struggling" because music has been the great passion of my life since I was younger than 10 years old and I find it incredible that I just don't listen to music as much I used to. I still buy new music, but where in the past I would dive into it and immerse myself in it, I now find that I listen a few times and then forget about it. I tire of new music very quickly in comparison to the past. I have made a concerted effort to listen to complete albums on CD in the car now, even if I have to burn them from mp3 albums I bought. That does seem to have helped me focus more, but I still tire of new stuff more quickly than I ever did, and I also find the new stuff doesn't stick with me the way it used to. And I don't even feel overly compelled to listen to old stuff very much either. (Although I have been on a huge Brian Wilson binge for the past few days after seeing Love & Mercy.)

 

I haven't really caught onto the whole Spotify thing...I do have a free account, but don't use it that much, and even when I do, I am usually frustrated that they don't have the "complete" whatever I'm looking for, and often they don't have any part of it at all, even incomplete.

 

I often wonder how much of it is age (I'm in my mid-50's), and how much of it is just too much music out there now and just being overwhelmed by it all. Whatever the reason is, I do struggle very much with what I've lost and wish I could get it back.

[worldrecordplayer]

My age is getting up there, but not my love of music. In fact, the opposite. I find myself more and more just wanting to stay home and listen to music then go out with friends, most of whom in my current life are not music fans, a situation I have never had and frustrates me to no end. Over the last few years I've spent some money and upgraded my home system with a new turntable, cd player and now new (used) speakers. The system rocks, which is why I never want to leave my house. No Spotify, sonos, Pandora or other subscription music bullshit for me (at least not at home). As for new music, I find a little now and then that gets my motors revved (Courtney Barnett being the latest), and there's always new and old Wilco shows to listen to

[PopTodd]

I'm not as into NEWER bands as I used to be, although I still search them out because there are always a few that get me excited.

But, overall… I live music every bit as much as I always have. Still obsessed.

[smells like flowers]

Interesting thread.... I rarely find myself drawn in by newer bands, and listen to music in general a bit less than at other times in my life. To borrow a phrase from Willie Nelson, it's phases and stages. As teenagers, we defined ourselves through the bands we loved and bonded with friends for endless hours while listening to records together. It was an activity in and of itself. Now, with less time for leisurely listening, I gravitate towards the familiar, while berating myself for listening to the same old artists. But there are some bands whose discography has such a well-worn place in my head and heart that these are the ones I go back to again and again. Fortunately, my husband is a bit more open to new music and I almost always like what he plays. Although I gave him The Kinks box set for Christmas last year and it's been on nearly constant rotation ever since. So much for embracing the new...

[Cold as Gasoline]

This is a really thought-provoking thread.  I have found that my interest does wax and wane through the years.  There was a period where I wasn't really finding any new music and found myself not listening to as much music as I had in my younger years.  What turned it around was a recognition (partially inspired by a Wilco concert) that seeing live music is something that can inspire me in a way almost nothing else does.  It also dawned on me that I was always waiting for someone who shared my admittedly idiosyncratic musical taste to accompany me, and I was likely never going to find that.

 

Once I started going to concerts on my own, it naturally led to the realization that I'd been missing a lot, and that exploring acts similar to things I already knew I liked opened doors to a ton of new stuff that was out there that I was oblivious to.  There truly is more great music out there than you could listen to in a lifetime, but you have to look.  And as a single person without kids, I have more time and money than most to do the looking.

 

There's such a treasure trove of great archival music, too!  How could you hear it all?  Recently, my obsessions are along the lines of Mississippi John Hurt and Bessie Smith, nothing I ever would have heard in my youth, but which really speaks to me now.

[CortezTheKiller]

Although I gave him The Kinks box set for Christmas last year and it's been on nearly constant rotation ever since.

 

 

[nodep5]

I have thought about this a lot many a time.  When most of us were teens, we had just enough money to buy a record or two per month. We truly invested in our few records because our hard earned money was not plentiful.  We gave music time and hours.  Now with digital formats like spotify etc, we don't have to truly invest in anything.  We rarely have to sit with a record unless it immediately slays us, which things don't tend to do as much when you are not 16.  

 

Also with the interwebs and loss of big money record companies pushing artists, it has become in many respects a nameless/faceless thing.  Which is good a thing in terms of judging music just on music and artists having more freedom etc.  However there is no hero worship anymore, no more rock star bigger than life anymore.  I mean, it feels like Ryan Adams was the last great chance at rock star hero worship, and all the industry wanted to do was destroy that boy.  I think it is harder to get excited when you don't have a poster hanging on your wall!!

[howdjadoo]

Only a few TBs further along the road:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8ibrySrS8s

[Vacant Horizon]

I appreciate the responses.  It's an ongoing thing.  I have to admit that the digital revolution has made it a bit easier to listen and less clutter in the house as other responsibilities take over (kids!).  A specific example of all of this is that I've tried for years to get into springsteen and dylan.  With the advent of iTunes I've been able to just cherry pick.  That's a bitter sweet thing though.  Am I missing out on really giving an 'album' a chance.  Maybe, but in the CD age I'd have never bought either a Dylan or a Springsteen CD.  I would've saved my money for the next Grateful Dead live release or filling out my Neil Young collection.  So, maybe I should just stick to buying the 'old' stuff I've always loved and use the streaming services for ancillary interests.  

 

All in all, getting older along with the digital revolution in music has been fascinating.  i will say there's a lot of shit to wade through in finding something new worth listening to.  Good or bad…?

[tinnitus photography]

overall, good. there's more good music than ever before. but as you said, finding it is more difficult since radio and press have a decreasing amount of influence. word of mouth via trusted sources is still the best method.

 

[remphish1]

Been seeing an average of 50 concerts a year since 1998. Nothing has changed for me..though I don't see as many *current bands anymore

[LouieB]

I'm like Cold, my interest is now in older music to be sure, although I like plenty of new music.  But keeping up with everything is nearly impossible and at my age unrealistic.  A lot of new music sounds like sludge to me, little emphasis on words or melody, with layer upon layer of sound to mask whatever is going on.  It might work for someone, but doesn't for me. Give me a handful of folks playing real instruments anytime or a nice straight forward soul or folk tune. My love of music has not declined at all, or maybe my interest in buying records has just increased.

 

LouieB

[John Smith]

I'm pushing 55 and have a rather large collection on all kinds of media, primarily cd's. I still love to listen but because of time and commitments I have much less time to devote to it than in the past, but I view that as just part of my maturation process. Any how these days I find myself primarily listening casually at work. I'll bring a selection for each day, but because of the environment I don't listen intently. I do tend to listen more seriously while driving, mowing the lawn, working out etc...

What I've also found is that my buying habits have changed. Most of the adventurism of my youth is gone, now I tend to focus on reissues and other older music that I had not heard or purchased previously. Occasionally I'll go for something totally new but those purchases are getting fewer and further between.

[jff]

I don't believe my interest in music has dipped as I've aged, but I have less time available to listen to music than I did when I was younger.  I've been making a point over the last few years to keep up with new music and find out about new bands that appeal to me.  I find that that's easier now than any other time in my life aside from when I was a young guy in the '80s who was 1. in the school band, and 2. growing up in a neighborhood full of older siblings.  Those are two excellent ways to find out about a lot of music. 

 

Until I got out of college, word of mouth was one of the main ways I would find out about music, but now that is super rare (unless you count forums such as this one as word of mouth).  Now I find out about new music by accident, without even trying.  Whenever I listen to music on Youtube or Pandora, I almost always get exposed to something I'm not familiar with, and which is usually at least pretty good. Then there are countless music blogs, magazines, etc. from which to learn about music new and old. It helps that I make my living sitting at a computer with an internet connection.

 

It's so easy, and still a lot of fun.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Interesting topic. I have seen it come up in the past somewhere on VC, but not really addressed with so many thoughtful responses.

 

I think part of it is burnout, but also part of it is the combination of adult responsibilities and plain old maturity. I find that a lot of times these days, if someone asks me if I'm "excited" about something coming up, I say I am looking forward to it. Maybe when I was 30 I would have been excited, but now I'm just looking forward to it...perhaps even eagerly, but using the word "excited" or "excitement" would be a real stretch. This is true for all kinds of things, not just musical ones. Certainly I do not have the luxury of sitting around playing records all day. Most anything I get that is new to me is played through the car stereo speakers while I am on the move.

 

In some ways, the digital revolution has really been a devolution. Everyone's attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter. If a movie is not like a constant-action video game, a lot of folks will complain that it is "slow." The easy access to millions of songs has not only devalued music but also made us easily ready to move on to something else in a heartbeat. I am just as guilty. I have 16,000 songs on my iPod classic, and if one is playing that I don't want to hear right then, it's so tempting to pick something else. When I hear something unfamiliar that I don't like, I almost cannot resist the temptation to switch it to something I like. The oft-mentioned concept on VC of a new album being a "grower" is now almost totally foreign to me. Today, I lack the patience to sit through something multiple times if I don't connect with it. Why should I? What am I trying to prove by suffering through something that I think is crap? But in a way, this makes me a little sad: I first discovered WIlco via Billy Bragg, and I initially thought their contributions were kind of boring! It was not until I saw them live that their music connected with me in a big way. If I had only heard them in the digital age, I doubt I would have given them a chance.

 

I am like LouieB to a degree, in that I prefer digging into the multitude of old stuff out there that is still "new" to me, because I have never heard it. Almost every new thing that comes out today from a "newer" artist does nothing for me; in fact, it is often beyond intolerable. I would much rather hear a downloaded Legion of Mary show from 1975 that I've never heard before, or a Yes show from 1974. I still obsessively download stuff, and have many shows in the queue at all times. In that sense, my love of music, and my enthusiasm for it, has never been stronger. But it is rare for me to get excited about something that is new on the real world calendar. I think the last time that happened was the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. How old are those guys?

 

It's probably easier if you like punk or rap, as opposed to the classic rock sound or jazz. There seem to be a lot of post-punk type bands like Parquet Courts out there now, and of course rap and hip-hop is so ubiquitous now, it's not even funny. I have given a lot of that stuff more chances than I care to admit, and I must say, about 99.9% of it is like having poison poured directly into my ears. So I still get interested in plenty of new releases, but very few of them are what I would characterize as "new sounds."

[BobDylan'sBeard]

Interesting perspectives from y'all. I'm only 21 (I may be the youngest member of the board, though I make an active effort to spread the gospel of Wilco to other youths) so I'm still in the "discovery" phase, sort of. Also interesting how many of you are indifferent to Spotify. I'm not crazy about compressed music files in general, but I use Spotify constantly (even pay for Premium) since it's the most convenient way of listening to all my music. Actually, I will make a Spotify playlist at leats once a week for my daily listening, usually a few times a week as the playlists tend to get played out rather quickly.

 

But Spotify was a big way for me to discover music, at least when it first came out. Not so much new genres, but similar artists to stuff I already listened to, and it also has helped me keep on top of new music. I'm pretty oblivious to new stuff if it isn't a band I already follow, even for a young guy. For example, I often see peers posting song lyrics to a hit song as a caption of a picture on social media, I almost never know the lyric, or at least in high school I didn't. Now in college I hear these songs at bars and that's basically how I know the big hit songs of the day.

 

Anyway, I have to also echo what Cold and LouieB said - at the end of the day, live music is the best for me. That's actually my favorite way of discovering new music, and it's partially why I am not immersing myself in the music of Solid Sound performers whose work I am unfamiliar with. It's best (for me) to hear a band play, and then I know their songs, etc. Part of this is from the fact that I have the affliction of musical ADD that many of my generation have, since we came up on iPods and are accustomed to just pressing skip if we want something new.

I've recently started getting into records and LPs and the like, after blowing most of my latest tax return on a player and a budding record collection (once A.M. comes in the mail tomorrow, I'll be missing only the Whole Love to complete all of Wilco's studio records, not counting Mermaid Avenue) and that's curbed my incessant need to skip when I am bored with a song, even songs I've heard a million times, but at the same time I'm FAR more reluctant to buy a record for a band I have never heard, partially since I'm not used to paying a premium for music, or at least for one album. Though this only really applies to the new records that cost 25-30 bucks, I love finding old used stuff in the bins for a few bucks a pop and coming home with like 5 records.

 

Anyway, super interesting topic and I'm really enjoying reading everyone's thoughts.

 

[Maggie]

I haven't posted here in a long time, but I felt compelled to join in because this is something I've been thinking about lately.  For reference, I'm 32 years old.  

 

I hit my peak of music buying probably around 2008-10 or so when I was buying a ton a downloads, mostly via eMusic..  Vacant Horizon, I think you and I may have commiserated several years ago about how digital music was changing our habits.  I was buying far too much back then.  It was like it became about the sport of getting new music.  I have a ton of stuff from that era that I wouldn't recognize if I heard it.  Probably around 2011-12 I slowed down, stopped downloading torrents, stopped posting on music sites very often.  

 

These days I primarily buy new releases by artists I already enjoy.  Some of my purchases this year include Justin Townes Earle, My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Calexico - All bands I've been listening to for at least 5 years.  The only newer artists I see on my 2015 playlist are Courtney Barnett, Ryley Walker and Will Butler (though I've been listening to Arcade Fire for years).  Those three new artists have only gotten a handful of listens while I've played that MMJ album at least 25 times since it came out.

 

Over that last 16 months or so music has actually been a big part of my life again.  Last year both of my grandmothers passed away, several acquaintances passed away in tragic accidents and cancer, I was the victim of attempted sabotage by a co-worker (that sounds so dramatic) and I spent quite a bit of the last year working ridiculously long days and feeling like I was getting nowhere.  I was feeling really bad about my life, and music often came to the rescue much like it did when I was a teenager.  I took a lot of encouragement from Conor Oberst's Upside Down Mountain (was only a casual fan prior) and related a lot to Jenny Lewis's last album as a woman in my 30's.  I can't imagine my life over the last year without those albums.  I also must add that I saw My Morning Jacket last week and once again they completely blew my mind.  I've never been one to go to a lot of shows, but when I do it's a huge deal to me.

 

Anyway, I've found that my habits continually change as I get older, but I'm glad to say I'm currently in a place where music has a lot of meaning for me again.  I'm sure it will continue to cycle like anything in life, but right now I'm at a little bit of a high.

[thinmyheart]

Perhaps a mid-life crisis the dip of the U-curve?

 

I'm 42, so I am sympathetic to this thread. I have seen more live shows in the last 3 years than the previous decade now that my kids are old enough to leave alone while me & my wife go / don't feel like I am burdening my wife when I go with friends. But not sure than any of them are as exciting as the best shows of my youth.

 

PS six friends are meeting up at Pitchfork, average age of 39. We're debating between 1) we're older. we've been front row for Wilco, let's just enjoy the festival and appreciate Wilco from the back 2) but if they play the "real" Spiders, we're going to be annoyed that we didn't post up and preserve front row. Any input?

 

PPS love the new Sharon Van Etten out this week. Not as exciting as hearing a new EP when I was 16, but still "love" it. In a different way than when I "loved" new releases when I was younger.

[BobDylan'sBeard]

 

PS six friends are meeting up at Pitchfork, average age of 39. We're debating between 1) we're older. we've been front row for Wilco, let's just enjoy the festival and appreciate Wilco from the back 2) but if they play the "real" Spiders, we're going to be annoyed that we didn't post up and preserve front row. Any input?

 

 

 

I'd say go to the front, if you can. Though it does cost a good bit of ear health.

[LouieB]

To Thinmyheart. 

 

I am way older than you and sell LPs at Pitchfork so come find me in the record tent.  39 is not so old for P4k but you will be somewhat older than most people, but not ancient.  If you are expecting to be upfront for Wilco, take a bunch of people with you so you can hold down your spot and drink lots and lots of water while you wait.  It can be very hot out on the baseball diamonds and the crowds are intense.  They do give water to the front rows though if it is hot.  There are some jumbo-trons so you an at least see the act from further back. 

 

This will be a good year I think with relative geezers Wilco and indie favorites Sleater-Kinney headlining. 

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

To everyone else-

 

It is a special day when people like what I say here.  My listening to music in general has slowed down, but my buying music has picked up.  That's a huge contradiction I know, but I know have money to buy whatever I want (within reason) and so I get a lot of things I may never listen to.  (Look for it on the curb when I croak.)

 

I must say there are times (as Calvino aka Bob) has said that I buy something brand new and then never listen to it again.  Just as an example I was excited to get an LP version of the first Johnny Marr solo record (paid plenty for it) and was really disappointed, despite really liking the Smiths.  Likewise I recently bought the new Calexico and have not put it on the turntable.  There are a few new artists I really like, but of all the new releases in the last few years the only one that kept getting played was Southeastern by Jason Isbell.  I liked Valerie June a whole bunch too.  But taking a chance on someone new isn't something I do very often.  Honestly just keeping up with the artists I do like and have followed over the years (or know personally) takes plenty of time and money and even those folks don't get the time I used to give to them.  (Will the new Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard be any good?  I don't know and I have not bought a new record by either in years, but I may buy this one.) (Simply buying all the records produced by Jeff Tweedy costs a small fortune.)

 

The one constant in all this is that musicians keep getting better technically, there are more of them than ever, and that everyone puts out a recording of some sort with regularity.  So if you are young you have the obligation to get out there and support emerging artists and you have the responsibility to learn about older ones. Good fucking luck. 

 

LouieB