Why do you typically get less interested in the chart when you get older?

Bill ClintonBill Clinton Posts: 9,389
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I still like quite a few chart songs, although it does go up and down, in my thirties now. I went through periods when younger of being a chart show fanatic (perhaps we all did!) but now when I listen I always feel quite a lot of irritation, sometimes with the tracks and how boring some can be, and with the annoying presenter on Radio 1 who seems full of herself. I used to put up with that a lot better when I was younger (although I did have Mark Goodier who just get on with the chart and was full of facts and background and wasn't all parti-yee and "daaaaan" with the kids, respect! nuff said!).

Songs I could grow into, would still shock me when I used to listen to the chart, how could this be popular? how could this be no.1? it sounds just the same as the last one by them! and then some weeks later I would usually have liked it by then. But now when I feel like this, I feel old and I feel as if the reason why I feel that way is because I am old and the chart is not for me anymore, especially with people like Justin Bieber in it! I've even started to think how much "class" old skool tunes used to have and how we don't get hits as good as the nineties anymore, particularly 1990-1994. We still do, Emeli Sande's Next To Me, Jessie J's Price Tag, Olly Murs' Troublemaker but they seem fewer and fewer between there doesn't seem a steady supply of great hits, although they do know how to make a song catchy these days.

Why is pop/chart music something we seem doomed to grow out of instead of enjoy the same as we used to when a teenager?

It's not about just fitting in socially with young people, when I WAS young I had far less friends than now and hardly ever saw anybody, yet liked all the chart music!
I did like a lot from last year, so maybe 2013 is just a lull and I'm not just getting older, I remember 2002 not being a very good year either.
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  • Diceroll_81Diceroll_81 Posts: 904
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    I still like quite a few chart songs, although it does go up and down, in my thirties now. I went through periods when younger of being a chart show fanatic (perhaps we all did!) but now when I listen I always feel quite a lot of irritation, sometimes with the tracks and how boring some can be, and with the annoying presenter on Radio 1 who seems full of herself. I used to put up with that a lot better when I was younger (although I did have Mark Goodier who just get on with the chart and was full of facts and background and wasn't all parti-yee and "daaaaan" with the kids, respect! nuff said!).
    .

    I was the same when I was at school. Listening to the Capital radio top 40 (usually while doing homework or playing video games) was a sunday afternoon tradition for me back in the mid-90s :D

    These days I think the internet makes it easier to discover music in their own time, without having to worry about listening to annoying DJs talking b*****ks over half the song. That always used to annoy me, especially when I was trying to tape the song off the radio!
  • Bill ClintonBill Clinton Posts: 9,389
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    Of course now you can go to www.theofficialcharts.com and see the whole Top 100 at a click, and in fact the Top 40's going back to 1952! When I did listen you mainly had to listen on Sunday to get the chart at all, especially lower down which I used to think was just as interesting, although it was listed on Teletext. For something that's going to sound really dated now, I used to actually go into a record shop and look at their chart printout which had the whole top 75 on it, imagine that!

    Now you can just think, oh I wonder what No.1 is this week, I'll have a look, so you don't even feel intrigued when listening to the Top 10 on Radio 1 anymore, plus the way it's been presented for years has been pretty annoying as you say, if you're a chart purist then they've more or less made it clear, it's not your show, because you're not "in widda crowd innit!"
  • Billy HicksBilly Hicks Posts: 475
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    Music, like a lot of life, gets less exciting the more you hear and the more you know. There gets a point (usually around your mid-twenties) where the charts start becoming mysteriously not as good as it used to be, usually around the time a new sound takes hold and while a teenager might be hearing the most incredible sounds they've ever heard, older audiences are either bored or put off by hearing an awful racket.

    The introduction of acid house and then rave to the charts in the late 80s/early 90s, for example, defined a whole generation but there's a huge amount of people who switched off the radio in disgust wondering what this horrific noise was. The Britpop movement, depending on your age, was either a triumphant return of real, guitar-driven music or a lazy 60s rehash. And depending on your age in 1999, you either loved the sugary manufactured goodness of Steps, S Club 7 and the like or instead just despaired at the sound of every note. Today there are hundreds of thousands of people who'll forever remember the chart stars of today as helping make some of their favourite songs of all time, along with a number of those who can't stand the constant urban dance beats and repetitive put-your-hands-in-the-air-on-the-floor-tonight lyrics. It's the latter who tend to post more on these type of internet forums, too :p

    You'll still occasionally hear a song that grabs you, but increasingly it'll be those that don't hit #1 and instead are lesser-known tracks, maybe by bands you've always liked who aren't chart stars anymore but still release albums. But nothing's going to beat that first 15 years or so of discovering music as a child, and soundtracking your teenage and early 20s years. Someone once said that something "wrong" happens to music when you turn 26, which sums it up...for me that's in a year and a half, which makes me wonder what it's all gonna sound like by 2014!
  • Glawster2002Glawster2002 Posts: 15,186
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    Music, like a lot of life, gets less exciting the more you hear and the more you know. There gets a point (usually around your mid-twenties) where the charts start becoming mysteriously not as good as it used to be, usually around the time a new sound takes hold and while a teenager might be hearing the most incredible sounds they've ever heard, older audiences are either bored or put off by hearing an awful racket.


    What complete nonsense!

    I'm 50 and i love music just as much today as i did when I first discovered music when I was @ 12 or 13, perhaps even more so as i have the disposable income to find more music!! apps like Spotify make it easier than it ever was to discover and enjoy new music and there is plenty out there, despite what many people on here will tell you.

    People do not lose their love of music as they get older, what happens is your musical horizons broaden to music outside of the Top 40. Not that I personally ever really liked chart music, even as a teenager.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,904
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    Generally, when you are younger you mainly listen to chart music because you are less aware of other music. As you get older your musical horizons broaden and you start having more choice and liking different stuff.

    I have also noticed that as people get older the musical taste can mellow a little.
  • Bill ClintonBill Clinton Posts: 9,389
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    I think it can be a bit of both, I like a lot more genres now, and have broadened out, plus I do get bored of the dominance of the Top 40, but I started getting into other things when I was about 18, film soundtracks, classical, country, oldies. I think to dismiss Billy Hicks point is unfair because I think that effect that he describes is very real but you still find songs from the Top 40 that "grab" you. If your needs were more easily met just by listening to the Top 40 when you were younger then the need to broaden out is caused by getting disillusioned by the chart music as well when older as well as just discovering things that inspire you.
  • AlrightmateAlrightmate Posts: 73,120
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    I think because the older you get, you see the charts as meaning less than you thought they meant before.
  • Bill ClintonBill Clinton Posts: 9,389
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    I think because the older you get you get to see the charts as meaning less than you thought they meant before.

    Yet noone seems to grow out of football scores which seem incredibly samey, if only the numbers in the music chart had the same amount of press and national significance.
  • Finny SkeletaFinny Skeleta Posts: 2,638
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    You definitely lose interest in the charts as you get older.

    When I was 6 years old I was mildly distracted by the charts; however, as I got older, say about 7, I realised that they were pointless and full of rubbish.
  • EraserheadEraserhead Posts: 22,016
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    I completely lost interest in chart music by the time I was about 20 (in 1987). I found it bland, boring, repetitive and dull for the most part.

    I think the problem is is part due to getting tired with hearing the same thing - pop songs are generally fairly limited in musical range, with similar rhythmic patterns and use of standard major scales. After a while it all starts to sound very repetitive. To young ears it's all new, of course, but as you get older you just end up hearing the same old stuff rearranged slightly differently.

    In addition for me personally, I liked listening to music which has a much harder sound, rock and indie etc. In fact, as the years have gone by I think I'm liking more extreme music. Even indie sounds boring, repetitive and generic these days for the same reason pop does - it's all been done before. So the stuff which makes my ears prick up these days has to be far removed from the comfort zone of what constitutes "normal" music (although I'm still partial to the odd bit of nice normal music like Elbow or Beach House or Arcade Fire).
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,304
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    It was only ever good to see what is the current trend.


    Some of the biggest songs of all time which have been around for 30+ years never made it to number one.
  • mushymanrobmushymanrob Posts: 17,992
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    What complete nonsense!

    I'm 50 and i love music just as much today as i did when I first discovered music when I was @ 12 or 13, perhaps even more so as i have the disposable income to find more music!! apps like Spotify make it easier than it ever was to discover and enjoy new music and there is plenty out there, despite what many people on here will tell you.

    People do not lose their love of music as they get older, what happens is your musical horizons broaden to music outside of the Top 40. Not that I personally ever really liked chart music, even as a teenager.

    im more inclined to agree with billy hicks... i think you do generally lose interest in music, or chart pop music (which is what the threads about) as you get older.

    as i see it, many people have 'their era' when they use the charts to define their teenage/early 20's. that era becomes sacrosanct, and is often referred to as "the best time ever". ive heard that from ex teddyboys, from 60's, 70's glam, punk, mod, ska, new romantic, 80's indie, rave, britpop, 90's dance, fans etc etc etc... they get arrested in that era, and only really listen/play music from that era. i cant do that personally, i dont want to associate memories from 60's songs for eg with todays memories.

    ive 'given up' on chart music several times in the past, only to regret later missing out on fully enjoying something good. however, i dont think ill be liking todays music retrospectively in the future.
  • CoenCoen Posts: 5,711
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    Yet noone seems to grow out of football scores which seem incredibly samey, if only the numbers in the music chart had the same amount of press and national significance.

    But football scores will always matter to people interested in football, because the primary objective of football is to score goals/win games so the scores are an important outcome.

    Getting placings in the singles chart is not the primary objective when making music, it's not an important outcome to many people who listen to music. And I guess people tend to realise this as they grow older.

    (I've certainly lost interest in chart placings as I've grown older, but if anything my interest in wider music has only increased.)
  • LewnaticcLewnaticc Posts: 3,933
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    I think it's primarily to do with just...getting older and preferring the genre of music you did when you were younger. I was 13/14/15 in 2005/6/7 and those were very R&B-filled years, and I tend to favour R&B even now despite it only making up about 5% of the charts anymore. Ultimately, that means I tend to care little about much of the musical content in the charts today, though that's not to say mainstream music isn't my primary taste. I loved that Bridgit Mendler song, and I actually find Taylor Swift more likable than I did back in 2008.

    Also, I think people who listen to the charts tend to find their favourite artists and stick with them for a long period of time, maybe even throughout their entire careers. The thing with the charts is that its "who's hot this week?" and there's always someone new being played. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if someone worships Rihanna they're unlikely to care about Emeli Sande (no link between these two artists, just the concept of 'there's only room for one on my iPod!')
  • Ancient IDTVAncient IDTV Posts: 10,107
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    I was still taking notice of chart music when I was at school in the sixth form ('85 to '87), and it still seemed important. I don't remember taking much notice of the charts after that, though. I've certainly taken no interest in whatever is number one in the last twenty years, which would make me pretty useless at pop quizzes, probably.
  • StratusSphereStratusSphere Posts: 2,813
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    Some really good points on this thread! I like the Billy Hicks point, how you put it summed it up really well, although I also agree with Glawster, I don't think I'll ever get sick of new music.

    I think there is some nostalgia that goes with and shapes your taste perhaps because you associate the music with a good time, or something like that.

    I've personally found 2012 AND 2013 to be quite sparse with new music that I've liked enough to buy, I only bought 8 albums last year released in the year which is quite low for me. I think as well with the massive swealth of songs around you can quite easily dip back a couple of years and listen to or buy songs that slipped under your radar at the time.

    For me, I've just discovered Frank Ocean who I didnt notice at the time (last summer) and I'm loving his music, especially as its not the kind of thing I'd normally go for.

    Pop music of this year in general does seem to be kinda returning on things I've seen before but I think that's more that I have a greater knowledge by now of music history and pop culture than I did in the 90s haha so I can see the resemblances to older stuff. I even quite like that song Need U 100% although it sounds (to my ears) like a blatant rip-off of something else!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 96
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    I used to love listening to the chart every sunday in my early teen years and finding out who the latest number one was, i'm 22 now and i think the music today has started to become very boring and predictable. I thought most of the number ones from last year were very good and there are some really good performers still around but all the numbers from 2013 so far have been complete shite.

    My favourite thing to do was listening to see who would be the christmas number one that sunday before christmas but with the introduction of the x factor (which i hate now!) i just found it boring. Hopefully charity records can continue to keep x factor of the xmas number one spot.

    Lately i've been taking an interest in the official uk top 40 and the American billboard hot 100 before i was born .
  • josh2721josh2721 Posts: 518
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    I went off Chart music when I was 18 - I find all the music very beat driven and overproduced, there are very few great singers left.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    Generally, when you are younger you mainly listen to chart music because you are less aware of other music. As you get older your musical horizons broaden and you start having more choice and liking different stuff.

    I was like that as a kid. I mostly listened to all the cheesy pop stuff (90s kid) and it's only in more recent times I've started looking for other music. It was harder to find other music back then.
  • boddismboddism Posts: 16,436
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    im more inclined to agree with billy hicks... i think you do generally lose interest in music, or chart pop music (which is what the threads about) as you get older.

    as i see it, many people have 'their era' when they use the charts to define their teenage/early 20's. that era becomes sacrosanct, and is often referred to as "the best time ever". ive heard that from ex teddyboys, from 60's, 70's glam, punk, mod, ska, new romantic, 80's indie, rave, britpop, 90's dance, fans etc etc etc... they get arrested in that era, and only really listen/play music from that era. i cant do that personally, i dont want to associate memories from 60's songs for eg with todays memories.

    ive 'given up' on chart music several times in the past, only to regret later missing out on fully enjoying something good. however, i dont think ill be liking todays music retrospectively in the future.

    Im older and Im still very interested in current music,not just "older" artists. (although I will concede a lot of the charts is dross!):o

    I have to admit I know a lot more about chart music & the music scene than most people my age.

    I suspect the loss of interest is largely down to lifestyle. Most people have busy jobs, lives & kids that take up so much of their time they barely have time to persue an interest in the music scene.

    If you listen to light pop radio stations such as Heart it'll soon be easy to lose track of the music scene.

    I find Im interested in less new musicians these days, but Im not interested in wallowing in nostalgia either.
  • mgvsmithmgvsmith Posts: 16,452
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    It's true when I was a devoted fan of T.Rex, I was interested in the singles charts but that didn't last long.

    Nowadays, many years later, I very occasionally listen to the singles chart but I often read though the album chart, which has always been more diverse.

    I've always listened to music outside of the charts since the 70s when the Whistle Test and John Peel were on.
  • AudioRebelAudioRebel Posts: 32,201
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    I have noticed that the majority of the 32,800 Facebook followers of the official charts company aren't from the UK and leave wierd & random waffle on the chart comments below the Top 100 singles chart.
  • rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,771
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    I find that I can't be bothered to follow the charts now. I just either listen to a track or watch a video on MTV and follow it up from there.
  • Glawster2002Glawster2002 Posts: 15,186
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    im more inclined to agree with billy hicks... i think you do generally lose interest in music, or chart pop music (which is what the threads about) as you get older.

    as i see it, many people have 'their era' when they use the charts to define their teenage/early 20's. that era becomes sacrosanct, and is often referred to as "the best time ever". ive heard that from ex teddyboys, from 60's, 70's glam, punk, mod, ska, new romantic, 80's indie, rave, britpop, 90's dance, fans etc etc etc... they get arrested in that era, and only really listen/play music from that era. i cant do that personally, i dont want to associate memories from 60's songs for eg with todays memories.

    ive 'given up' on chart music several times in the past, only to regret later missing out on fully enjoying something good. however, i dont think ill be liking todays music retrospectively in the future.

    It was once said that for most people what they consider the "best" music ever recorded was produced when they were between 16 - 19, and for most people that is probably true. The huge rise in "nostalgia" radio is ample proof of that.

    In saying that, though, I think it is debatable whether the chart music of today will stand the test of time in the same way chart music from the '60s, '70s' and '80s has.
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    When you're young, chart music is something you have in common with other people your age. You compare likes dislikes and argue about who you think is good and who you think is rubbish. As you get older, your taste in music can become more important to your social life - going to gigs or clubs - but gradually it becomes a more personal, more individual thing. You listen to the music you like, not what others like. The charts are what others like, so you no longer care what's in them.
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