Let's compare a person's late teenage years (ages 17–19) and their early 20s (20–23). I am in my late teens and I will be 19 in November. Are people more likely to like the music that was popular in their teenage years or the music of their early 20s? Because in their early 20s they would be old enough to go to dance clubs and have fun, but they wouldn't be having fun if they didn't enjoy the music. Does it vary from person to person?

So far I have been unimpressed by the mainstream music of my teen years, and I hope that the music of my 20s will be better. Sure, there are some songs that I like here and there, but there are so many songs on the radio each year from 2011–present day 2014 that I absolutely despise. I'm hoping that it gets better from 2015 onwards. I think the 2010s are gonna be defined by the middle and later years rather than the early and middle years.

Does it vary from person to person?


Yes, and from country to country. In most of Europe, you can go out with no time limit from age 18 on - I was never the one who really liked it, though.

And about the music taste: As for me, I didn't like the music during my late teens-early 20s at all. It was the bland time between 2003 and 2009 and I absolutely hated most popular music. I listened to the 60s and 70s basically, like Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton and so on instead.

Even though, today's music is probably not targeted at people in their late 20s, I really like it. It has its very distinct style which I will always associate with my time at university.

It actually depends. There are people who like the music that was playing in their teens and dislike the music that's playing in their 20s and vice versa. Sometimes, people like the music better when they are in their late 20/early 30s. For me, I did like the music that was released in my teens and now I like the music that's playing today (but not all of it). So to conclusion, I like both, but it depends on the genres.

I'm much more connected to music that came out around 1998-2002/2003. The early 2000s had a lot better music than the late 2000s.  My music taste has nothing to do with dance clubs.

I'm connected with the music that came out in the 1980's.

IMO since the 1970s or so, these cohorts are generally similar since 18-22 (perhaps up to 24) are considered college, with the rest generally being adult but not yet married or even if they are, not having kids yet. They are both part of the youth demographic, though their tastes may be slightly different from 13-17 (Jr. High/Sr. High/Proper teens). And being 29 currently yet still single, I still feel that the music made prior to entering adulthood (around the time glam rap and pop punk became mainstream) is what I prefer to the most, with a few softer songs, but the "adult contemporary" music of my time is a lot different from my parents' "Dire Dire Docks" keyboard/drum machine/melodic Phil Collins/Lionel Richie/Whitney Houston pop, which in term was different from my grandpa's Perry Como/Dean Martin/Doris Day piano/organ/string/choir pop. It feels too phoned in and lacks the passion of previous generations. But that 2003-mid 2008 era of crap in which I was part of this demographic? Not for me, I was wailing and then getting into classic music. I never went to a dance club during my late teens/early 20s! I may be square for my generation, but there's no law that stops me from that!

My music taste has nothing to do with dance clubs.

I never went to a dance club during my late teens/early 20s!

I never said you went to a dance club. Just because it's called a dance club doesn't mean they only play dance music...

I'm more connected to music that came out around the time I was born than anything that comes out right now.

I'm more connected to music that came out around the time I was born than anything that comes out right now.


I also really like the music from the time that came out around my birth, but I don't really feel connected to it. It's just not my music. I feel way more connected to the music from the millennial era, even though it was not my favorite music - it's probably just because it's from my very influential early teenage time. 

Perhaps maybe I'm not a huge fan of music from 2011 onwards is because it's not my generation's "time" yet. It seems like everything that is considered "cool" is aimed at the people born in the early 90s, and therefore their tastes reign supreme.

I also really like the music from the time that came out around my birth, but I don't really feel connected to it. It's just not my music. I feel way more connected to the music from the millennial era, even though it was not my favorite music - it's probably just because it's from my very influential early teenage time.


I feel the same way, I like the music that came out in my era, the 70's and early 80's.

I think it depends on a number of factors.  Life situation could definitely be one of them.  If your life was bad in a particular era, you wouldn't want to listen to music from that era so much, at least not the mainstream stuff (stuff from that era you discovered later would probably be fine).  The opposite is true for those who had good lives in a particular era. 

As a 25 year old, I prefer the music of my early 20s, the university years.  My life was better then, so I made more nostalgic memories during that time than I did to the music that was popular in my teens, though I am admittedly a sucker for good 00s Alternative Rock like The White Stripes and The Killers. 

Recently, I listened a bit to an itunes station playing popular music from 2000 to 2013 or so.  I actually found myself often times skipping past the early and mid 00s while letting early 10s and late 00s songs play as is.  That, more than anything, made it clear where my music sympathies lie.

I also really like the music from the time that came out around my birth, but I don't really feel connected to it. It's just not my music. I feel way more connected to the music from the millennial era, even though it was not my favorite music - it's probably just because it's from my very influential early teenage time.
I understand. I feel connected to a lot of music from 1997-2005 because that was my childhood, and I never really liked current music when I was in high school.

I think it depends on a number of factors.  Life situation could definitely be one of them.  If your life was bad in a particular era, you wouldn't want to listen to music from that era so much, at least not the mainstream stuff (stuff from that era you discovered later would probably be fine).  The opposite is true for those who had good lives in a particular era. 

As a 25 year old, I prefer the music of my early 20s, the university years.  My life was better then, so I made more nostalgic memories during that time than I did to the music that was popular in my teens, though I am admittedly a sucker for good 00s Alternative Rock like The White Stripes and The Killers. 

Recently, I listened a bit to an itunes station playing popular music from 2000 to 2013 or so.  I actually found myself often times skipping past the early and mid 00s while letting early 10s and late 00s songs play as is.  That, more than anything, made it clear where my music sympathies lie.


I agree (btw, I always enjoyed reading your posts, you're a very good voice of reason and really knowledgeable on things like pop culture imo. :) ) Yeah, I think it's interesting how there's definitely some correlation with our personal lives at the time.

I've often wondered if I would've loved 80s music as much as I currently do and always have if, a: I hadn't been alive at all then, b: if my parents weren't playing it all the time, or c: if my life as a kid sucked and I perhaps associated those songs with a tough childhood. I think I still would've liked it (just because its so catchy and melodic), but my perception would've been much different too.

What's interesting too (just using myself as an example) is that, as I've mentioned before on here alot, my own life was kinda hard as a very young teen around 1994-1996, but I always liked the movies, TV shows and music. Yet several years later, I actually had a pretty good time in my Junior and Senior years of high school (late 1998, 99 and 2000) and that's the first time I started actively disliking pop culture and music.

Today? Other than the retro tinged pop hits, or synthy indie bands who don't cross over that much, I think almost all modern pop music is horrible...and my life is actually pretty good now. But I'm already nostalgic for 2007-2010.

I don't know I like 80's and 90's music(prefer 1994-1996 music over the rest of the decade.) I despise 1999-2000 and late 2007+  music. 2001-mid 2005 music I like. Mid 2005-Mid 2007 music I could take or leave. I am 34 years old.

1999-2000 the music was too teenybopper. Late 2007+ Music sounds way too over polished.

Let's compare a person's late teenage years (ages 17–19) and their early 20s (20–23). I am in my late teens and I will be 19 in November. Are people more likely to like the music that was popular in their teenage years or the music of their early 20s? Because in their early 20s they would be old enough to go to dance clubs and have fun, but they wouldn't be having fun if they didn't enjoy the music. Does it vary from person to person?

So far I have been unimpressed by the mainstream music of my teen years, and I hope that the music of my 20s will be better. Sure, there are some songs that I like here and there, but there are so many songs on the radio each year from 2011–present day 2014 that I absolutely despise. I'm hoping that it gets better from 2015 onwards. I think the 2010s are gonna be defined by the middle and later years rather than the early and middle years.

Music in my teen years was a 90's/2000 mix. I was to concerts as a teenager. I was a rock listener, so most pop and rap didn't appeal to me at the time. I miss my early 20's, being 21 and 22 in particular because I went to my first club and could go to bars and actually drink. The novelty of that wore off fast though. The pop music of that time was changing too into a sound less familiar. I do like today's rock though.

I am in my late 20s, and looking back I loved the music of both my late teens and early twenties, but I liked the music of my early twenties a bit better.

This year, 2014, is the first year I am really starting to feel a disconnect from the music and that its no longer my generation's music.

I think it depends on a number of factors.  Life situation could definitely be one of them.  If your life was bad in a particular era, you wouldn't want to listen to music from that era so much, at least not the mainstream stuff (stuff from that era you discovered later would probably be fine).  The opposite is true for those who had good lives in a particular era. 

As a 25 year old, I prefer the music of my early 20s, the university years.  My life was better then, so I made more nostalgic memories during that time than I did to the music that was popular in my teens, though I am admittedly a sucker for good 00s Alternative Rock like The White Stripes and The Killers. 

Recently, I listened a bit to an itunes station playing popular music from 2000 to 2013 or so.  I actually found myself often times skipping past the early and mid 00s while letting early 10s and late 00s songs play as is.  That, more than anything, made it clear where my music sympathies lie.


I agree. I think emotional attachment plays a big part in music so what you listen to is often an indication of what is going on with yourself on a personal level at anytime in your life. I liked my childhood (1980s-1991) so I tend to listen to a lot of music from then. 1994-1997 were horrible years emotionally for me so, apart from some exceptions, I tend to avoid music from that period of time.

There are other factors like personal values, influences, social events (including dance clubs) and peer pressure but emotional attachment seems to be the core that links these other factors.

I think it depends on a number of factors.  Life situation could definitely be one of them.  If your life was bad in a particular era, you wouldn't want to listen to music from that era so much, at least not the mainstream stuff (stuff from that era you discovered later would probably be fine).  The opposite is true for those who had good lives in a particular era. 

As a 25 year old, I prefer the music of my early 20s, the university years.  My life was better then, so I made more nostalgic memories during that time than I did to the music that was popular in my teens, though I am admittedly a sucker for good 00s Alternative Rock like The White Stripes and The Killers. 

Recently, I listened a bit to an itunes station playing popular music from 2000 to 2013 or so.  I actually found myself often times skipping past the early and mid 00s while letting early 10s and late 00s songs play as is.  That, more than anything, made it clear where my music sympathies lie.


Yeah, this is pretty much what I was thinking. I like quite a bit of the music from this decade, but I still cling to alot of late '90s/early to mid '00s stuff, not necessarily because the music was that good (much of it wasn't), but because that was a really fun time in my life and I have alot of fond memories attached to it. I could certainly see how, if I'd hated my junior high/high school years instead, I wouldn't be particularly interested in listening to American Hi-Fi ever again.