Notice the graph peaks in the teens, when most people’s fun and social life also peaks. I was an introverted high school nerd and barely remember the music from that time, then in my late 20s got into doing theatre - suddenly had a thriving social life full of parties, dating, friends, fun… now it’s decades later and the music of that era is by far my favorite.
I wonder how you could adjust the whole graph based on connections to friends.
When people are under 10, they don’t have that much agency in choosing music. They just listen to whatever their parents listen to, or whatever their parents put on for them. In their teens they start getting to choose music and have a lot of classmates and friends who can be sources for hearing new music. In their early 20s that continues with university and/or first jobs. But, after a while that tails off and people have smaller social circles so they are introduced to fewer new things.
That could also explain why music from before people were born is somewhat popular. It’s something you might have been introduced to by your parents, or possibly by friends in your teens or 20s, or maybe something you discovered on your own later. When you’re 40+ you still might have people introducing you to music that existed before you were born, but you’re probably not being introduced to the new music very much. And if you are, it’s the popular stuff, which often sucks in all eras. Maybe if you have teenaged kids you hear what they like at some point, but that’s a small window, and often what they like is the popular gunk.
That’s really what I was thinking - that the graph probably wouldn’t change much if you remapped it to personal connections because the pattern of personal connections is probably what drives it in the first place. Hence my favorite musical era is when my connections peaked around age 30. Although tbh most of what I liked then and still do is what you would call “popular gunk” - never did care much for dismissing popularity as low quality. They often go together, but unpopularity and low quality also do.
There’s a reason why things are popular. People like it.
The only drawback is that to make a “Billboard #1” type hit, you need extremely broad appeal. So, often it’s stuff that nobody hates instead of something that people who know a certain niche genre absolutely adore. You’re unlikely to get a jazz song as a #1, or a twangy country song, or any song with lyrics that any group might find offensive,
Somehow that reminded me of the birthday party my daughter organized for her husband. The theme was that he was running for President. She made campaign buttons with his face on them and the slogan, “Win or Lose, We Still Got Booze!”
Notice the graph peaks in the teens, when most people’s fun and social life also peaks. I was an introverted high school nerd and barely remember the music from that time, then in my late 20s got into doing theatre - suddenly had a thriving social life full of parties, dating, friends, fun… now it’s decades later and the music of that era is by far my favorite.
Oh shit. That explains it for me too then.
I wonder how you could adjust the whole graph based on connections to friends.
When people are under 10, they don’t have that much agency in choosing music. They just listen to whatever their parents listen to, or whatever their parents put on for them. In their teens they start getting to choose music and have a lot of classmates and friends who can be sources for hearing new music. In their early 20s that continues with university and/or first jobs. But, after a while that tails off and people have smaller social circles so they are introduced to fewer new things.
That could also explain why music from before people were born is somewhat popular. It’s something you might have been introduced to by your parents, or possibly by friends in your teens or 20s, or maybe something you discovered on your own later. When you’re 40+ you still might have people introducing you to music that existed before you were born, but you’re probably not being introduced to the new music very much. And if you are, it’s the popular stuff, which often sucks in all eras. Maybe if you have teenaged kids you hear what they like at some point, but that’s a small window, and often what they like is the popular gunk.
That’s really what I was thinking - that the graph probably wouldn’t change much if you remapped it to personal connections because the pattern of personal connections is probably what drives it in the first place. Hence my favorite musical era is when my connections peaked around age 30. Although tbh most of what I liked then and still do is what you would call “popular gunk” - never did care much for dismissing popularity as low quality. They often go together, but unpopularity and low quality also do.
There’s a reason why things are popular. People like it.
The only drawback is that to make a “Billboard #1” type hit, you need extremely broad appeal. So, often it’s stuff that nobody hates instead of something that people who know a certain niche genre absolutely adore. You’re unlikely to get a jazz song as a #1, or a twangy country song, or any song with lyrics that any group might find offensive,
Where the Party At? was senior year anthem. Bacardi is imprinted on me as the fun era
Somehow that reminded me of the birthday party my daughter organized for her husband. The theme was that he was running for President. She made campaign buttons with his face on them and the slogan, “Win or Lose, We Still Got Booze!”