Why do we stop listening to new music as we get older?

It's important to remember that searching out new music always takes a little time and effort.

It's all too easy to find good music at the start of your journey (be it via cassette, 45, LP, CD or the internet) but as time goes by, the searching will inevitably reap fewer and lesser rewards.

Take for example the world of popular music.

Once you've explored the back catalogues of the likes of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Phil Spector, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Dylan, Donovan, Bacharach, ISB, the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, ELO, Bowie, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Bob Marley, Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Springsteen, the Smiths, R.E.M. Morrissey etc it gets progressively more and more difficult to find the same quality of 'musical hit' that initially fuelled your drive towards this wonderful journey of musical exploration.  

Anyone familiar with US and UK singles chart history from 1954 to 2023 will understand that it was those earliest decades, particularly between 1960 and 1980 were the best hunting grounds for classic songs.

Songs that may well be timeless.

I haven't given up on new popular music being made today but neither am I prepared to put much of my increasingly more precious time and effort in towards exploring it: not when the musical bang per buck for me is so pitifully low in comparison to what's already gone before.

As we keep reminding ourselves, this should mainly all be about enjoyment, shouldn't it?

really? I’m in my 50s and still digging for new music daily to the point of totally forgetting classic rock and most of golden age jazz. Not only digging, but enjoying as well. Audiophiles are totally different story. They can get stuck on just 4...5 albums and never go beyond.

I’m a Boomer who considers discovering new music one of the joys of this hobby. Streaming new titles on my Amazon Music subscription makes this pursuit easy and risk free. I also consult AllMusic.com to help research new artists, albums and musical genres that I am unfamiliar with. It’s also a great tool to explore the back catalogues of artists I already know.

I have a habit of trying out new/unfamiliar material that Qobuz puts on their home page (or is my personal home page thanks to their sneaky algorithms?). It's kind of like it was when I maniacally listened to AM...and then FM...pop radio.

OP, …”I gave it some thought and started wondering what defines "new music" in the context of this conversation?”.

For me, music I never heard before.  I started in the 60’s and 70’s with rock… then discovered Jazz, (stopped listening to rock) the jazz fusion, the classical, then world, world fusion… I’m sure a few more. About 20 years ago I added rock back in to the mix occationally.

Now I listen to new albums as they are released on Qobuz in most genera. I skip hip hop and rap. So, my horizons are ever increasing. If I find an album I like I will work backwards in their history if the have one… and try “similar” bands. I probably listen to 70 % music I never heard of two years ago. Some from the 1950’s most from the last decade or two.