# It's getting harder to listen to music **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829 "2012-11-22T13:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/41 "2012-11-23T02:28:42Z")
I am 39 and still listen to a ton of new music. Pandora has been a godsend on that. There is still good music being made but only time will tell. However, I don’t want to sound like an old fart because I don’t think I am but hip-hop music has really gone downhill in general. I can’t believe some of the stuff that makes it on the radio (and those were the songs that made it :eek:). It is the same four beats with five word lyrics repeated over and over for three minutes sounding like they were produced in a garage with a grand total of $75 worth of recording equipment. It is torture and I wonder what the hell people are thinking. In my day we had the Beastie Boys or at least Run DMC who produced things that were clever and listenable. It is like hip-hop has gone the way of metal and degenerated to the point where it is just repetitive noise. I will take Britany Spears any day over that and even she is certainly no Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/42 "2012-11-23T03:02:31Z")
For me it’s sort of like the OP said: I can still occasionally find new music that I like. But I don’t have the patience to listen to any music at all anymore, new or old, even stuff that I used to love. The only time I listen to music nowadays is in the car on my commute to work, and that’s because that’s the only time in my day where I have free time and can’t read. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/43 "2012-11-23T05:43:03Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I’m 44 and this has been me for the last several years and it’s killing me. I almost can’t read at all any more. ☹ And although I’ll still rock out in the car when I drive (if I think of it), that’s about the extent of my listening to music. I don’t really seek out anything new unless it hits me over the head in some other venue, like a TV show, and the old stuff I’ve always liked is getting boring, repetitive and isn’t standing the test of time like I’d hoped. Like **chappachula** said best, I agree it’s some sort of emotional issue. As for reading, I fear it’s due to something else. The whole thing sucks. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Huh. I am also 49, and while I still regularly listen to new music, for the last year or so I’ve found it difficult to finish a single book, much less maintain the 2 or 3 I often had going at the same time. It’s been bugging me lately, and while its not precisely the same problem as yours, it might be an analog…my brain is pitching reading instead of music? I just entered my 60s. I’m reading somewhat more books than I used to, but I get almost all of them from the library rather than buying them. I always have listened to classical music almost exclusively. When I was young and still living in Chicago, I listened to classical WFMT almost every waking minute (all commercials READ by the announcers), except for TV programs on WTTW (PBS). When I moved to the SF Bay Area for a number of years, I got out of the listening habit because there was no classical FM station that was exactly like WFMT. The closest was KQED-FM, which broadcast a lot of classical, but it also aired many PBS talk shows. Finally KQED gave up most of their classical programming. I replaced that with more TV. When I moved back to Chicago, I continued with the TV and didn’t resume listening to WFMT as I had. There are a number of reasons I listen to music less. I got out of the habit, as noted above. I’ve just used up some of it. A while ago I listened to Beethoven’s 5th for the first time in decades, and it just didn’t do anything for me. I do still appreciate the 3rd, 6th, and 9th. My tastes have also changed. When I do listen to music, more of it is Bach than previously. And I think just using the Internet has shot my attention span to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![Muffy\_Simba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Muffy\_Simba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffy_Simba)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/44 "2012-11-23T05:50:51Z")
My 51 year old mother loves music. On Tuesday she listened to her music until after 2 in the morning. She listens to the old stuff and the modern stuff. She doesn’t like to go by people who do not like to play music. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/45 "2012-11-23T06:25:45Z")
I just turned 49 (blech) and listen to music as much as I ever did, every day. The type of music I listen to is much more varied now than when I was younger. Back then I only wanted loud, fast, intense music but as I’ve gotten older I can really appreciate other styles. I recently discovered just how good Blues can be for instance. What I listen to tends to change with my mood, which is quite variable, so throughout any given day I’m all over the map with my music. I just love the fact that I have access to so many more styles and artists thanks to the internet! However, I don’t read books nearly as much as I used to which makes me a bit sad. It’s more a function of not having decent chunks of time to just lose myself in a story anymore though. And I guess I spend quite a bit of free time reading stuff like these boards. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/46 "2012-11-23T06:31:45Z")
I still adore music, mostly familiar but sometimes new (takes a bit of searching) – however, I can’t stand television. Hate it. And it’s largely the sound that bothers me, I don’t even want to be in the same room with it. I’m turning 48 soon. … oh, wait, you meant sitting and listening to music, and doing nothing else? Yeah, that never happens. Who has time? 🙂 Not unless I’m at a concert. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/47 "2012-11-23T07:09:19Z")
I’m wondering if there’s an ‘input vs output’ disconnect going on. Reading, listening to music…all input. Which is great if you aren’t really thinking about anything, or if it’s boosting what already is going on in your head. But if your head’s in one frequency, input from another source \ can disrupt that or change it. Which can be good if you WANT to change your head, but I suspect as we get older that we get more comfortable in our little ruts and really don’t feel like being pulled out of it. Also, I think our attention span kinda shortens, depending on various factors, especially in this age of instant info and endless opportunities via the internet to be entertained. There’s only one album I’ve EVER listened to all the way through, and that was way back then, and yep, it hit very emotionally. I still love the songs, and it’s still the only album I ever WOULD listen to all the way through again…but I haven’t done that in over 25 years, and doubt I ever will. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/48 "2012-11-23T11:43:34Z")
[This might be of possible interest](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3526983/Older-people-prefer-peace-and-quiet-because-they-cannot-filter-out-distractions.html) to those who, like myself, find it increasingly difficult to listen to music? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/49 "2012-11-23T13:27:55Z")
How about concerts? I have little ambition to go to concerts now. Paying through the nose to gather in a crowd to watch some band perform music that would sound much better on the stereo at home seems like a painful experience. Also, I really don’t want to clap and whistle and yell and cheer for anyone anymore. Maybe they could come watch me work and clap and whistle and yell and cheer… ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/50 "2012-11-23T14:33:08Z")
I thought it was just me. I attributed it to wanting some quiet after listening to the kids’ noise all day. Plus being married to someone with different musical tastes. And, yeah, concert-going has dropped off hugely. Last one I saw was … well, years ago. I do still enjoy music in the car, and I’ve been putting on Pandora through the Roku in the living room. Just to try to make it a habit again. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/51 "2012-11-23T15:02:04Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > How about concerts? > > I have little ambition to go to concerts now. Paying through the nose to gather in a crowd to watch some band perform music that would sound much better on the stereo at home seems like a painful experience. > > Also, I really don’t want to clap and whistle and yell and cheer for anyone anymore. Maybe they could come watch me work and clap and whistle and yell and cheer… Not forgetting \the toilets… the toilets\ There’s no way on earth I’d want to relive Glastonbury '93. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/52 "2012-11-23T15:36:56Z")
I’m 45. Most of what I listen to was put out between 1966 and 1985. The newest band I took an interest in was Soul Asylum. And that was back in the 1990s. Sometimes people ask me why I don’t listen to “new” music. “Is it too wild/hard core/radical for you??” No. It’s too… boring. New music is boring. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/53 "2012-11-23T15:48:23Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m 45. Most of what I listen to was put out between 1966 and 1985. The newest band I took an interest in was Soul Asylum. And that was back in the 1990s. > > Sometimes people ask me why I don’t listen to “new” music. “Is it too wild/hard core/radical for you??” > > No. It’s too… boring. New music is boring. I’m not sure that’s what this thread is about. The OP is saying, and I’m kind of agreeing, that he doesn’t listen to the old music he used to like anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829/54 "2012-11-23T18:46:56Z")
46 I have physically played music for 30 years. I hate listening to music unless it’s loud and I’m drinking a beer. I listen to talk radio at work. Every radio station here is owned by Clear Channel and they play the same crap they own and nothing else, every hour is the same as the next hour, every day of the week, it SUCKS. Yes, I could stream something else…but, Music is meant to be heard and FELT…and not to be digested on them little ear bud things. I just wish talk radio was a little more spread out on talk points, rather than being political garbage, and infuse a tune here and there, a non-specific inter genre. Just do/talk about something _interesting_ dammit. ☹ I also hate shockjockery with the fire of a thousand suns. :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-getting-harder-to-listen-to-music/641829.md?page=2)