Do we like most the music created of period + /- (plus/minus)15 years from our year of birth?

[Arvind Singh Lodhi]

Do we like most the music created of period + /- (plus/minus)15 years from our year of birth?. May be generalisation but in my experience most people like mostly music made during this period.
What other FMs think of this?

 

[shankarcams]

Plus is certainly true, not that sure about minus, taking my own example.

 

[balavignesh002]

Let me put it this week way. If i want to start listening to music mostly start with early 2000 then 1990s, after couple of discs it goes till 1961.

But i cannot hear the latest crap what is considered as music post computer era. All the music instruments are replaced by computer Just to save money.

I am not aware of Northern part of Indian cine industry, but in Chennai; Most of the instrument players are not in the business. Music directors started using computers too much. This is applicable to those Oscar winners, we can easily see their transformation from 1990s to 2020. Those music directors who refused to touch this bloody computer are not in business any more, as no producers want to pay for more music playing humans.

15 years

My sweet spot is between 70s and 90s. I am born of 1980.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Like your thinking. In my case, though I listen to music of all genres and eras, I can clearly see a bias towards +/-10 years (shorter window of 20 years in all) from my birth I.e 60s and 70s. Let’s hear from more members to validate the theory.

30 years is too long a window in a person’s life. So I propose +/-10 years instead.
Possible reason: this is the music you’d mostly have heard in your formative age (first 10 years of your life).

Let me put it this week way. If i want to start listening to music mostly start with early 2000 then 1990s, after couple of discs it goes till 1961.

But i cannot hear the latest crap what is considered as music post computer era. All the music instruments are replaced by computer Just to save money.

I am not aware of Northern part of Indian cine industry, but in Chennai; Most of the instrument players are not in the business. Music directors started using computers too much. This is applicable to those Oscar winners, we can easily see their transformation from 1990s to 2020. Those music directors who refused to touch this bloody computer are not in business any more, as no producers want to pay for more music playing humans.



My sweet spot is between 70s and 90s. I am born of 1980.

While there are some valid issues about contemporary (Indian film) music making in your post, this thread isn’t about judging which decade’s music is better (and why). It’s not about absolute comparison between music across the years but about relative liking for a person based on his birth year. If this hypothesis is correct (something we can check through more responses), then a 18 year old member is going to say music in 90s and 00’s was better than that in 80’a as well as 10’a (current music).

I have a nephew born in 1994 who is an audiophile. Most of his favourite groups (Nirvana etc) are from around his birth year. He has a huge liking for heavy metal from the 80’s decade as well. He isn’t so much into the alternative music of the 00’s and 10’s. He also nostalgic the Indi pop from the 90s. So another data point supporting Arvind’s hypothesis

 

[jls001]

This posit is probably applicable to popular music. Not so much to classical music.

 

[Haribabu]

Music taste is a personal choice that changes with age, in my case I have distinct taste of Music. Till last 15 years I enjoyed music of all time, mostly new(1990s). Now I settled in 50s 60s of Bollywood even my favourite singers also changed. Every generation changes their taste which is beyond our control. In my opinion 70's audience taste diverted from music to colour when colour movie stared releasing, earlier lyrics was even censored and removed or corrected if found any vulgarity. 80s onwards (my collage days) colour, cinemascope and stereophonic effects started, movies subject (storyline) projected based on them. people stated liking movies of high budget irrespective of story and music. that way people started liking visuals rather than music and storyline. There can't be bad music and good music because it's purely personal taste, but everyone agree that there is good sound quality and bad sound quality

 

[Ashenden]

My thoughts, some of which might overlap with what other members have mentioned here:
This hypothesis can be true for popular as well as classical music, but again the assumption is that the sights and sounds associated with a period we have fond memories of can have an effect on our choice in music. In my case, I picked up an interest in old Hindi, Malayalam and Carnatic Classical music mainly by listening to the cassettes my father used to play. Over the years I've picked up interest in different genres and music from different languages, which too share a good part of my listening time.
In the case of a person who didn't have an elderly family member interested in music, I guess his choices are more open and can be quite interesting (less constricted) than mine, in case he/she develops a liking for music. On a parallel, my choice in movies have evolved over time with no clear definition and I watch movies from around the world from the silent era to the modern times (with preference leaning towards classics), same applies to books with interest changing from sci-fi thrillers/mysteries while being a kid to literature now.

There is another grey area, which is a sense of identity which we try to achieve through all this. This too can change our interests as we progress in life.
Eg:- As we grow older (and more serious?), we mayn't like to be associated with, say a song from the 80s which had some cheesy lyrics (which used to be a favorite back then).

 

[Deleted member 15865]

My thoughts, some of which might overlap with what other members have mentioned here:
This hypothesis can be true for popular as well as classical music, but again the assumption is that the sights and sounds associated with a period we have fond memories of can have an effect on our choice in music. In my case, I picked up an interest in old Hindi, Malayalam and Carnatic Classical music mainly by listening to the cassettes my father used to play. Over the years I've picked up interest in different genres and music from different languages, which too share a good part of my listening time.
In the case of a person who didn't have an elderly family member interested in music, I guess his choices are more open and can be quite interesting (less constricted) than mine, in case he/she develops a liking for music. On a parallel, my choice in movies have evolved over time with no clear definition and I watch movies from around the world from the silent era to the modern times (with preference leaning towards classics), same applies to books with interest changing from sci-fi thrillers/mysteries while being a kid to literature now.

There is another grey area, which is a sense of identity which we try to achieve through all this. This too can change our interests as we progress in life.
Eg:- As we grow older (and more serious?), we mayn't like to be associated with, say a song from the 80s which had some cheesy lyrics (which used to be a favorite back then).

Ah @sandeepss you’ve opened up the topic further by linking it to identity formation. Yes, our identity is a complex and evolving phenomenon which is influenced by nature (birth), nurture (parenting), culture (surroundings) and our own individuality (conscious choices). And therefore all of us, as we travelled/read and got exposed to other cultures would acquire newer musical tastes. Our own individuality as it evolves we might make conscious choices with respect to he music we listen to. But to some extent (differing from person to person) early impressions during our childhood and teenage when nurturing and immediate/surrounding culture respectively played major role in our shaping do remain. And that includes the music we were exposed to then. It’s quite possible that our sense of musical appreciation is also influenced by it and we might find that particular kind of music more euphonic. While we might adapt to listen to and music from other periods, and this is especially true of classical music which is an acquired taste for most of us (@jls001’s point), our early conditionings wrt music (as with almost all aspects of life) do continue, even if in dormant form. Isn’t it?

 

[Arvind Singh Lodhi]

Certainly such hypothesis cannot be linked to classical music preferences.

Also music played by elder family members has influence on one's own choices.

 

[greenhorn]

I have two windows of music that I love, one around the time my parents grew up, and then another around the time I grew up. There is a hole in between, mostly the eighties and early 90's which I'm not a big fan of. I still keep current with most of my favorite artists, so that to window has still not closed

 

[shankarcams]

I have two windows of music that I love, one around the time my parents grew up, and then another around the time I grew up. There is a hole in between, mostly the eighties and early 90's which I'm not a big fan of. I still keep current with most of my favorite artists, so that to window has still not closed

Exactly. I think we like music we grew up to, which is a) what was current in our youth, and b) what our parents listened to (which in turn was what was current in THEIR youth). So I think it may well be that the +/- N years theory has a rational basis.

 

[greenhorn]

For me one Genre I discovered in my late twenties, and am still a big fan of is vocal trance. While most modern 'pop' music has deteriorated, and is mostly mass produced by the music industry, Trance has relatively been left to its own devices, with very little involvement from mainstream media companies due to its niche appeal. It has evolved tremendously over the past 10 years, and continues to do so.

In a way, it is the spiritual successor of a genre that never died - Starting with Electronica giants in the 70's like Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk, to some obscure italo disco artists in the 80's (anybody heard of Koto?) that somehow managed to make it into my dad's collection, to Paul Van Dyk, Chicane, to the early 2000's - DJ's like Above and Beyond, ATB, Armin Van Buren, to more modern, and still Not yet famous acts like Omnia, Aurosonic, Denis Kenzo who are still making a name for themselves.

 

[CircleGame]

It's a great way to think about this. It rings true for me for over eighty percent of my collection. The exceptions are from the '90s which had some innovative music from the Seattle grunge bands, World Music which I've discovered recently and some Jazz which comes from an earlier time. Listening to the albums I heard in my childhood (the LPs my relatives brought back from USA) is still special, and I've attempted to buy all of those again in the past couple of years after getting a vinyl setup. I experiment very little with newer artists.

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Thanks Arvind for this thread. Like the other FMs I also think that our formative stage is important in listening to music. This is at least true for me. In my childhood I listened to songs that my parents liked. We had a record player and some vinyls of Bengali songs. I listened to all those umpteenth. Besides radio programme listening was another practice of the time when I grew up. Both the vinyls and radio programme contributed much to my taste for music. As I grew up and took up a job I couldn't forget those songs rather on different formats, vinyls,cassettes, cds or even streaming services I collected the songs of the bygone days. I listen to almost all the genres but would like to cherish the oldies that came 15 years earlier than my birth. But I don't dislike the modern/present day songs. Arijit Singh ,Shreya Ghosal and the other singers are also my favs. In my childhood I listened to many live concerts and those also exerted influence on me in liking the Indian classical music.
Cheers
Bhaskar

 

[COOLDUDE7808]

its to do with your age ...I grew up (school and college) in 80's and 90's . So heard what was been dished out at that time . When I listen to them today , I have fond memories of my school days ...cassette player and cassette collection .... Vividh Bharati ...Chitrahaar , Single screen theaters ,Independence day wherein we use to sing all those patriotic songs , Ganesh chaturthi etc . Also all of us who grew up in that period used to listen to what we used to call as old songs ie Kishore , Rafi , Lata , Asha , Manna De etc ...thanks to Radio ....so which means you go back to atleast 60's . I am not able to connect with say KL Saigal type of songs ...that's too old

if you eventually end up as a Audiophile ...then u never stop listening ....so from 1960 to 2020 is what I listen in Tamil , Hindi , Sanskrit and some of the stuff in Telugu and English ...There is no reason to dislike anything .....its just music period .

I think its lack of variety/innovation /repetitiveness/ monotony which resulted in Technology taking over and when people heard something new they welcomed it . Listen to any of those great music directors ...the world changes but they don't change their signature style ... Ex - R.D Burman in 1942 a Love Story , Nadeem Sharvan in their latest soundtracks are still repeating the 90 's music style . AR Rahman has come but Ilaiyaraaja continues giving music as if the world is still living in 1980's . You can produce very good music without using computer/synthesizer ...they are not able to do that now and that's the reality .

Identity does play a role in your music tastes .....Satellite television exposed me to Tamil / Telugu Films ...and from there on I started regularly tracking and listening to Tamil songs ...my father used to play carnatic classical or those Sanskrit shlokas , I was young and wanted to switch that off and listen to film music .... later on as my sense of identity grew stronger ....I started purchasing CD's and listening to the same music .

 

[Hari Iyer]

Can anyone develop a new / fresh interest in music 30 years after birth? I think not. Most music lovers I have met have got interested in music at 8 to 14 years and have pursued them later. I have not seen anyone who have no interest in music till the age of 30 and suddenly is becoming an audiophile at 31.