This pieces originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.When I was 13, I attached a chain to my jeans and sang along to Avril Lavigne on my MP3 player. After my 16-year-old heart got broken, I sat on my bedroom floor crying and listening to Bon Iver. I remember sitting in the car with friends, listening to our favourite songs for hours; I remember getting goosebumps when we put on Arcade Fire. I once welled up at a Portishead concert and I remember being fully convinced the song “Glory Box” had changed my life.
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Now I'm 29, this music still means a lot to me. When I hear “Glory Box”, I have flashbacks of dancing bodies, the smell of sweat, beer and tears in my eyes. Many of these old songs are still my most listened to songs on Spotify – they even rank higher than artists like Big Thief or Phoebe Bridgers. I’ve been listening to those artists on repeat in recent years, but I just don't get the goosebumps I used to ten years ago.It almost feels like new music isn’t as good as it used to be. But as film director John Waters put it, “No, the hit records of your generation are not better than today's. As soon as you stop listening to new music, your life is over. You are a fart.” This got me thinking: How come I'm less blown away by new releases?
To find out, I had a phone call with Tom ter Bogt, a cultural psychologist and professor of pop music at the University of Utrecht, who conducts research into the development of music taste and youth culture.VICE: I’ve recently realised I’m less moved by music than I was as a teen – why is that?
Tom ter Bogt: Many people experience this. There are basically two periods in a person's life when music is very important – during your adolescence and when you’re very old. Between ages 14 and 22, music is the soundtrack to everything you experience and you experience a lot during this period: You distance yourself from your parents, spend more time with friends, and most people enter into romantic relationships and discover their sexuality. These are all very important steps in growing up and music fits in well. A lot of music is about what it means to be young, fall in love and be let down by someone – that’s exactly why music is very important in this stage of life.
To find out, I had a phone call with Tom ter Bogt, a cultural psychologist and professor of pop music at the University of Utrecht, who conducts research into the development of music taste and youth culture.VICE: I’ve recently realised I’m less moved by music than I was as a teen – why is that?
Tom ter Bogt: Many people experience this. There are basically two periods in a person's life when music is very important – during your adolescence and when you’re very old. Between ages 14 and 22, music is the soundtrack to everything you experience and you experience a lot during this period: You distance yourself from your parents, spend more time with friends, and most people enter into romantic relationships and discover their sexuality. These are all very important steps in growing up and music fits in well. A lot of music is about what it means to be young, fall in love and be let down by someone – that’s exactly why music is very important in this stage of life.
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This is also the time in your life where your taste in music is formed. We see that it’s already partly formed by the time you’re 14 and that it’s matured by age 22.So will I spend the rest of my life listening to the music I loved when I was a teenager?
Your music taste doesn’t change much after the age of 22, but you can still discover new music, of course – it’ll just always be connected to the music you liked during your teenage years, in one way or another.To give a personal example, I used to be very into disco and dance, then when new electronic dance music surfaced, I immediately became very keen on the genre. I used to love soul, too, which now translates into my love for R&B and hip-hop, and when I hear a nice indie rock band, it reminds me of the New Wave music of the 70s.How exactly does your music taste develop during your teenage years?
First of all, your taste in music is formed by the time you live in: People had different tastes in the 17th century than they do now. The place where you live is also important. People in China or Nigeria listen to different music than we do in the Netherlands – although uplifting songs in 4/4 beats seem to do well almost everywhere.Your parents play an important role in forming your taste in music, though not as much as your friends. Research shows that this goes both ways: Your music taste plays a role in the choices you make when finding your friends and in turn, your friends influence your music taste.
Your music taste doesn’t change much after the age of 22, but you can still discover new music, of course – it’ll just always be connected to the music you liked during your teenage years, in one way or another.To give a personal example, I used to be very into disco and dance, then when new electronic dance music surfaced, I immediately became very keen on the genre. I used to love soul, too, which now translates into my love for R&B and hip-hop, and when I hear a nice indie rock band, it reminds me of the New Wave music of the 70s.How exactly does your music taste develop during your teenage years?
First of all, your taste in music is formed by the time you live in: People had different tastes in the 17th century than they do now. The place where you live is also important. People in China or Nigeria listen to different music than we do in the Netherlands – although uplifting songs in 4/4 beats seem to do well almost everywhere.Your parents play an important role in forming your taste in music, though not as much as your friends. Research shows that this goes both ways: Your music taste plays a role in the choices you make when finding your friends and in turn, your friends influence your music taste.
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My brother is really into heavy metal, but I’m not. We grew up in the same environment, with the same parents and we both studied philosophy – how do you explain this difference?
It sounds terribly stereotypical, but I'm going to say it anyway: Women are less likely to listen to noisy music. In terms of rock music, gender differences have only started to disappear in recent years, but death metal and grunting, for example, are still less popular among women. Of course there’s also an individual element to this – as well as your environment, your own personality influences your taste in music, too.So your music taste also says something about your personality?
Yes, there’s a correlation between music taste and personality. My own research has shown that, for example, rock fans are generally a bit messier – they tidy their rooms less often. They’re often a bit more depressed than average and a bit more awkward, too. People who’re into mainstream pop music are usually a bit more cheerful; hip-hop fans are often quite sociable and inclined to seek connections with other people; and fans of classical music are open to new experiences. But these correlations between music taste and personality aren’t very strong – there are very neat rock fans and grumpy pop fans.
It sounds terribly stereotypical, but I'm going to say it anyway: Women are less likely to listen to noisy music. In terms of rock music, gender differences have only started to disappear in recent years, but death metal and grunting, for example, are still less popular among women. Of course there’s also an individual element to this – as well as your environment, your own personality influences your taste in music, too.So your music taste also says something about your personality?
Yes, there’s a correlation between music taste and personality. My own research has shown that, for example, rock fans are generally a bit messier – they tidy their rooms less often. They’re often a bit more depressed than average and a bit more awkward, too. People who’re into mainstream pop music are usually a bit more cheerful; hip-hop fans are often quite sociable and inclined to seek connections with other people; and fans of classical music are open to new experiences. But these correlations between music taste and personality aren’t very strong – there are very neat rock fans and grumpy pop fans.
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What do I have to do to be completely blown away by new music again?
It can be helpful to choose music that suits your mood in that particular moment – you’d rather not hear depressing music at a dance party. On top of that, it’ll help if you listen to songs that match the music you discovered in your teenage years – algorithms can be very useful for this.What about the relationship between drugs and music?
First, music itself is already a kind of drug. Music has been around for as long as there have been humans, it’s buried deep into our brain – we’ve actually never found a culture without music.But indeed, certain drugs, such as ecstasy, allow for an even more intense perception of music. Under the influence of drugs, you can end up having the feeling of being in a waterfall of light, music and tones. What’s interesting about this is that you have to like the music already: If you’re not into it, the drugs won't suddenly make you like it.Why does music become important again when you get very old?
We see, for example, that people who suffer from Alzheimer’s sometimes no longer recognise their own family, but they’re still able to recognise the music from their childhood. Music really is the last thing to disappear from someone's memory.
It can be helpful to choose music that suits your mood in that particular moment – you’d rather not hear depressing music at a dance party. On top of that, it’ll help if you listen to songs that match the music you discovered in your teenage years – algorithms can be very useful for this.What about the relationship between drugs and music?
First, music itself is already a kind of drug. Music has been around for as long as there have been humans, it’s buried deep into our brain – we’ve actually never found a culture without music.But indeed, certain drugs, such as ecstasy, allow for an even more intense perception of music. Under the influence of drugs, you can end up having the feeling of being in a waterfall of light, music and tones. What’s interesting about this is that you have to like the music already: If you’re not into it, the drugs won't suddenly make you like it.Why does music become important again when you get very old?
We see, for example, that people who suffer from Alzheimer’s sometimes no longer recognise their own family, but they’re still able to recognise the music from their childhood. Music really is the last thing to disappear from someone's memory.