The Teenage “Golden age” of My Music Taste

I used to believe that all pop music was processed, meaningless, and presented no real musicality. Although it was a very immature opinion felt by my 14 year old self, I felt it strongly and everyone who shared that opinion were the only people who I could give any credibility too.

I was so caught up in what I genuinely believed to be the “best” most “technically proficient” music I could find. But when I started doing some research into the algorithms of teenage music taste, I found that around 14 was the “golden age” of music’s influence on your activation of dopamine receptors. I guess there was a pretty clear explanation as to why I was so emotionally attached to such a narrow genre and selection.

I started to understand that I was really the only thing holding myself back from experimenting with my musical interests and finding some more influences. I began leaving my comfort zone and taking my predisposed bias out of the equation when listening to new music.

I really strived to learn music theory, there was countless content creators that examined some of my favorite songs from a purely musical standpoint. These Youtubers helped me to keep my mind open, to listen as a musician.

So now I share my open mindedness with all the musicians I have had the pleasure of knowing. From friends online who I share music with; even my own friends who don’t possess the same affection for music, but enjoy variety. I learned that music is about open mindedness and respecting all music as an art form. It’s not worth pretending to hate something you never even listen to, giving all music a chance really gives you the opportunity to soak in some influences that only help you to express your artistic ability.