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Report: We stop listening to new music at age 30

Music discovery stalls for Britons at an average of 30 years and six months old, with too much choice and a busy home life both contributing, according to a Deezer survey

By IQ on 07 Jun 2018

Music discovery

The average listener stops discovering new music – entering a kind of ‘musical paralysis’ where they listen to the same songs and genres repeatedly – at 30 years old, new research suggests.

A survey by music streaming service Deezer of 1,000 Britons found the age when most people enter the musical wilderness is 30 years and six months, with a lull in music discovery driven by feeling overwhelmed by the mass of choice available (19%), having a demanding job (16%) and caring for young children (11%).

Nearly half (47%) of all respondents revealed they wish they could spend more time discovering new music, with two fifths (41%) predicting that in the future they will spend more time seeking out new artists.

“With so much brilliant music out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed”

On average, the age when music discovery peaks is 24 years and five months. At this age, three quarters of respondents (75%) reported listening to ten or more new tracks per week and 64% to seeking out at least five new artists per month.

The survey also found women are likely to hit their peak of musical discovery earlier, at age 23 years and four months, with geographical differences also playing a part: Scots suffer from musical paralysis later in life, with the average age of 40 years and seven months – more than 15 years after their counterparts in Wales (24 years and eight months) and the North West (23 years and nine months).

Deezer’s UK and Ireland music editor, Adam Read, says: “With so much brilliant music out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. This often results in us getting stuck in ‘musical paralysis’ by the time we hit our thirties.”

 


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