Floyd Toole's research at Harman would suggest otherwise. Here is how a variety of listeners performed (100% being best). I have to ballpark the numbers as it comes from a graph:
The How to Listen blog/app I linked and the Harley book are good resources. I will warn you, being a critical listener is a double edged sword. Once you know something is "wrong" you can't ignore it any more. It can interfere with enjoyment.
- Selected and Trained listeners: >90%
- Retail Sales (audio): 35-40%
- Audio Reviewers: ~ 20% (but admitted small sample size)
- Brand Sales and Marketing ~10%
- Student (i.e. completely untrained) ~ 5%
The How to Listen blog/app I linked and the Harley book are good resources. I will warn you, being a critical listener is a double edged sword. Once you know something is "wrong" you can't ignore it any more. It can interfere with enjoyment.