Do you think that Spotify's suggestions for new music becomes stranger all the time? It may be because of you. In a unique study with researchers from University of Gothenburg, 15 years of listening data shows that musical taste becomes more refined with age.
Music is a strong marker of identity – but what we listen to changes with age. The results may not be that surprising, but now there is scientific evidence for the first time through an analysis of how listening habits change over time.
The international study from University of Gothenburg, Jönköping University and University of Primorska, shows that younger users listen to a wide range of contemporary popular music and follow trends in popular culture. In the transition from adolescence to adulthood, music habits broaden – more artists and genres are explored, and listening becomes increasingly varied. With age, this spectrum narrows, while music choices become more personal and influenced by previous experiences.
40,000 users
"When you're young, you want to experience everything. You don't go to a music festival just to listen to one particular band, but when you become an adult, you've usually found a style of music that you identify with. The charts become less important," says the study's co-author Alan Said, associate professor of computer science at the University of Gothenburg.
The researchers used data from the music service Last.fm, where users share music listening habits from platforms such as Spotify. This makes it possible to build a personal music profile and gain overview of one's own music listening. Since Last.fm users can enter their age when they register, it was possible to link listening habits to age. The study is based on data spanning 15 years and covering more than 40,000 users. The data contained over 542 million plays of more than 1 million different songs.
"In the study, we can follow how music listening changes over a longer period of time. When companies like Spotify try to develop music recommendations for their customers, they don't necessarily look at listening habits throughout users' lives," says Alan Said.
Nostalgia a strong driving force
It turns out that music listening continues to change throughout life. In middle age and beyond, nostalgia becomes a strong driving force; the music from one's youth accompanies one as a 'soundtrack of our lives.' Among older listeners, the patterns is twofold; they continue to engage with new music, but at the same time repeatedly return to songs from their youth.
Musical taste also becomes more unique the older the listener is. Teenagers can find many favourite songs in common with their peers. This becomes more difficult with age. Your neighbour listens to death metal all the time, while you are obsessed with Genesis or reggae.
"Most 65-year-olds don't embark on a musical exploration journey," says Alan Said.
Improved recommendations
For companies or individuals behind a recommendation system, such as Spotify's suggestions for new music to its users, the study's findings present important challenges and opportunities. This type of lifelong analysis of listening habits hasn't been possible until recently, simply through the fact they haven't been around for long enough until now.
"A service that recommends the same type of music in the same way to everyone risks missing what different groups actually want. Younger listeners may benefit from recommendations that mix the latest hits with suggestions for older music they have not yet discovered. Middle-aged listeners appreciate a balance between new and familiar, while older listeners want more tailored recommendations that reflect their personal tastes and nostalgic reminiscences," says Alan Said.
