# 60+ Yr Old Dopers: Have Your Musical Tastes Changed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088 "2014-12-02T01:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/21 "2014-12-02T18:19:18Z")
Turning 73 this week. Bottom line: not much. New stuff has about a 30% chance of appealing to me. I still like 80% of the stuff I did in the 40’s and 50’s (years not ages). I’m not so much a genre person as I am into melody and musicality. My playlists are all over the map with an emphasis on instrumentals. Lyrics have to be special for me to pay much attention to them. Lyrics-driven stuff is not for me as a rule. At the same time, overly complex instrumentals go right by me. I still listen to a lot of music on YouTube, Pandora and Spotify, but my used-to-be favorite radio station went to an all-classical format and ditched the jazz. So I’m computer-based for my listening. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/22 "2014-12-02T18:43:10Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > I don’t really listen to music anymore. My audio entertainment is podcasts or NPR. I am not in your demographic, but this. When I do listen to music, it’s \>95% stuff I’ve owned for at least a decade, and the vast majority of _that_ is at least a decade older than that. In other words my music library was basically “locked in” when I was about 27. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/23 "2014-12-02T19:11:28Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > . . . my used-to-be favorite radio station went to an all-classical format and ditched the jazz. Wow!!! So in some sense, classical is more marketable [?] than jazz? What station is that? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/24 "2014-12-02T19:23:36Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Wow!!! So in some sense, classical is more marketable [?] than jazz? What station is that? > **[Home | Middle Tennessee Public Radio | WMOT](https://www.wmot.org/)** > > WMOT's American Roots music discovery station can be heard on 89.5 FM in Nashville, Murfreesboro and throughout Middle Tennessee ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/25 "2014-12-02T19:33:32Z")
61 here. I like the rock I grew up with 1965 to 1975 but the only time I hear it is in the car on an oldies station. I like the singers from the 50’s that my parents liked and I used to laugh at when I was younger. I like Indian, South American and African music. Love Classical. I would say I’ve opened my mind to stuff I would have never given a second thought to in my 20’s ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/26 "2014-12-02T19:42:23Z")
1. For popular music mostly stuff from the '60s and '70s, plus Dylan and Mike Oldfield at all times. Also love swing. But six years ago or so I decided that I was lacking an understanding of classical music, and started on that with the help of my father-in-law who was a music teacher and is a composer. Mostly 18th and early 19th century stuff, though I do like Dvorak and Copland also. Probably more than half my listening is classical now, since so much is new to me and much, much better than the current music I hear. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/27 "2014-12-02T19:51:25Z")
I struggle to think of the “newest artist” that I have bought a CD. I will listen to podcasts of “song of the day” from stations like KEXP and WRCW. I like most of them. But buy? That is reserved for stuff like Dylan’s complete Basement Tapes or a 27 disc King Crimson Starless and Bible Black. When you get older, you just get more comfortable with what you know. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/28 "2014-12-02T19:57:20Z")
I am 66 years old. My musical tastes have broadened considerably as I’ve aged. I still love the old rock-n-roll of my youth, but I like quite a bit of the current stuff, too. I enjoy Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and other pop stars who are on today’s charts. Love Joan Jett and Pink. I also listen to country music, classical, jazz, opera, show tunes, just about everything except heavy metal, rap, and hip-hop. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/29 "2014-12-02T20:11:29Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I am 66 years old. My musical tastes have broadened considerably as I’ve aged. I still love the old rock-n-roll of my youth, but I like quite a bit of the current stuff, too. I enjoy Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and other pop stars who are on today’s charts. Love Joan Jett and Pink. > > I also listen to country music, classical, jazz, opera, show tunes, just about everything except heavy metal, rap, and hip-hop. Yeah, there are some more recent artists that I like, such as Pink and Walk off the Edge, or even a street artist like [this woman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vDUY4TAw98#t=85). I’m finding myself being more intrigued with blues since I picked up the guitar again. I like playing it, not so much listening to it, unless it’s people like Stevie Ray or Albert King. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/30 "2014-12-02T20:18:34Z")
66 here, if I am out I still enjoy rock and alternative If I am home I enjoy classical. I used to love motown as a kid but have lost my tatse for it. All the hippie rock I did not enjoy as a kid I now enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/31 "2014-12-02T21:27:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Nobody listens to new music. Check the sales figures. Somebody should tell Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, One Direction and Lady Gaga, all of whom have had tours grossing around $200 million within the past year or so. Guess the audience is just going for the event, without knowing anything about the content. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/32 "2014-12-02T22:36:33Z")
I’m within spitting distance of 61, and I mostly prefer the music of my youth as well as folk music, big band, show tunes, and a lot of classical. I never liked country, rap, opera, metal, or heavily synthesized music. I can’t abide songs with extreme vocal gymnastics that seem to be so popular with some performers. I would guess there are songs being put out today that I might like, but I don’t listed to much on the radio these days. We’ve got satellite radio, so mostly it’s NPR stations, 60s, 70s, or something called “The Bridge” which tends to love playing \*Moondance \*and _Deacon Blue_ over and over and over again… So, no, my musical tastes and preferences haven’t changed much since I was a teen. Now kindly take your hippety-hop noise and get off my lawn!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088/33 "2014-12-03T00:25:59Z")
I don’t quite qualify, but at 57 I’m pretty close. I loath most of the music I listened to in my teens and twenties. I feel like I have extremely diverse tastes in music compared to most of my contemporaries. I very rarely listen to commercial radio. Most of the new (to me) music I listen to I learn about through NPR or from reading about it on the internet. I do listen to classic rock but only stuff I feel has stood the test of time or stuff I have not been overexposed to. I listen to lots of my old mix tapes (yes, on cassette!) and I have a good sized collection of CDs and concert DVDs. I also surf YT quite a bit Most of what I listen to causes people around me to roll their eyes and ask “WTF?” One of the groups I am a recent convert to, having discovered them via Prairie Home Companion, [Dakha Brakha.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIgpvp6vfiw) I also like a lot of American roots music. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-yr-old-dopers-have-your-musical-tastes-changed/706088.md?page=1)