From the age of 40, for our brain everything starts to sound more or less the same. There is a neuroscientific explanation for our reluctance to new music. A study conducted at the University of Manchester revealed that the brain's ability to distinguish between certain sounds decreases as we age.
For some people, musical anhedonia is a life-long trait, while in other cases it may be a response to trauma or a symptom of disorders like depression (“it's not a disorder in and of itself,” clarifies Professor Scott.) It could be something that changes over time, or something you're stuck with.
Some interpret the observed decline in music engagement in terms of psychosocial maturation. Adolescents use music as an identity marker and engage with it to navigate social circles. Adults have developed personalities and established social groups. As such, drivers to engage with new music are lessened.
After analyzing playlists and listening data, the study found that people stop discovering new music at age 33. Discovering Pearl Jam at 35-years-old or falling in love with some James Taylor tracks doesn't count—this study is focusing on new music you'd currently find on the Billboard charts.
In fact, there's nothing inherently wrong with musical anhedonics; their indifference to music isn't a source of depression or suffering of any kind, although Sheridan notes, “The only suffering is being mocked by other people, because they don't understand it.
Research into musical anhedonia is relatively new – the term was only coined in 2011. Initial findings suggest the roots of it lie with having weaker-than-usual connections between the auditory cortex and the brain's reward centres, which are also involved in our enjoyment of food, sex and money.
It is possible that the pattern of brain regions specifically activated by music pleasure, including the connection from auditory regions which perceive music to the reward centres, are slightly different in these individuals than in other people.
Summary: Musical anhedonia, a neurological condition where people don't enjoy music, affects 5% of the population. Researchers are exploring if this same condition could also be what impairs social bonding for some people on the autism spectrum.
The most important period in forming lifelong musical tastes for men comes between ages 13 to 16. Women formed their tastes slightly earlier than men, roughly between ages 11 to 14. Analyzing Spotify's data, Stephens-Davidowitz found that older women's favorite songs typically came out when they were 13.
If you're wondering whether it's too late to pursue a music career, honestly, it's never too late. You might need to adjust your expectations or take a different approach (I'll talk more ...
You could be bored for a number of reasons: the genre(s) you listen to lack character and depth, you have been listening to too narrow a range, your tastes could have matured or simply changed and your collection hasn't kept pace, you need more or different kind of stimulation… I suggest going quiet for a while.
Listening fatigue occurs when the concentration around separating sounds from background noise, before processing and translating them into meaningful information becomes a strain on your brain.
“For many people over 30, job and family obligations increase, so there's less time to spend discovering new music. Instead, many will simply listen to old, familiar favourites from that period of their lives when they had more free time,” McAndrew explains.
What the researchers found is that harmonic complexity has decreased (making music sound homogenous), timbral diversity has dropped exponentially after peaking in the 1960s (meaning modern music is less deep and rich), and loudness has increased (which means that volume is now favored over sound quality).
There are many therapies available to treat ADHD, and music therapy has been found effective in increasing the ability to concentrate and promote relaxation.
Apart from causing you to miss out on all the sounds that surround you, generally speaking, listening to music does not harm your body. It does not damage your liver, poison your lungs or fry your brain. It is not possible to listen to too much music.
It turns out that our musical tastes begin to get locked in stone when we hit 24, but by age 31 we're in the middle of a musical paralysis that we can't get out of. Whatever was popular during our teenage years, particularly between the ages of 11 and 14, then that's what we're going to listen to from that point on.
Singers Who Started Late
But many performers have proved that with dedication, commitment and hard work they can achieve their goals. No matter how old they are when they get started. Age is not a barrier to being a good singer.
You are never too old to learn and create music. You can learn piano, guitar, violin, songwriting, or composition at any age. Science has proven time and time again that the human brain is capable of learning music and retaining new information anytime, no matter how old or young you are.
Well, not really. It turns out that there are totally normal people who just aren't that into music.
You're distracted
Loud noises aren't the only distractions, either. Sometimes instead of listening, we might find our minds wandering to things we need to do later. While someone is talking, you might be occupied thinking about what you're going to cook for dinner or what time the pharmacy or dry cleaner closes.
Melomaniac. A melomaniac is someone who loves music to the point of obsession.
The first (and so far only) study of subjective experiences of music in autistic adults was done by Allen et al., (2009). The authors found that autistic adults most often use music to alter or match their moods and as a therapeutic tool (e.g., to ease emotional pain).
melomaniac (plural melomaniacs) One with an abnormal fondness of music; a person who loves music. [ from 19th c.] synonyms, antonym ▲ Synonyms: melomane, melophile, musicophile Antonym: melophobe.
However, not everyone experiences chills in response to music. A small portion of the population (about 3 to 4 percent) suffers from musical anhedonia. These individuals do not enjoy or appreciate music, but they still find joy from other things that activate the reward systems.