Do people "Give Up" on music in their 30s?

[Skeever]

Saw an interesting article today, and figured I'd share with the group.
Would  be curious to see from this group - how much of a role does music, in particular either playing yourself or discovery of new music, play in your life?

For me, it varies. I'm in the 2nd half of my 30s. I play my guitar about as much as I ever do, and am fairly active in a group that meets several times per month. I still seek out a lot of new music too, though nowhere near as much as I did when I was in grad school.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/16/bring-that-beat-back-why-are-people-in-their-30s-giving-up-on-music

There are many things you notice as you plow deeper into your 30s. It’s a transitional period with incredibly visible milestones: babies, weddings, houses, more babies. What gets added to people’s lives can feel loud and inescapable – but often what drifts away is less visible.

For the last few years, I have felt the inescapable disappearance of music from my friends’ lives. Even people with whom I have longstanding relationships that were born from a shared love of music have simply let it go, or let it fade deep into the background. A 2015 study of people’s listening habits on Spotify found that most people stop listening to new music at 33; a 2018 report by Deezer had it at 30. In my 20s, the idea that people’s appetite to consume new music regularly would be switched off like some kind of tap was ludicrous. However, now I’m 36, it’s difficult to argue with.

The capacity to be amazed, overwhelmed or sucker-punched by music remains a constant presence and ecstatic joy in my life. It’s something I’ve experienced a million times but when it hits it still feels new. The late DJ Andrew Weatherall, with his boundless curiosity, knowledge and passion for music, right up until his untimely death, is my personal benchmark and inspiration. I write about music for a living, and naturally I don’t expect others to maintain anywhere near the same level of interest – and not everyone reaches their 30s and gives up on music, as the success of BBC Radio 6 Music shows. Not that there’s anything wrong with tapping out, either – interests and priorities change. A parent with two kids under five has things higher up their to-do list than checking out Jockstrap. Gigs become less attractive when a small person screams you awake at 5am. I get it.

Nevertheless, it’s a strange and alienating experience to have a fundamental part of your relationship with someone deteriorate. The shift is a subtle one; a sudden realisation that hits as the once regular conversation of “what are you listening to?” is seemingly replaced permanently by “what are you watching?” I’ve lost count of the amount of free +1 tickets I’ve had go unaccounted for; the seat next to me becoming a coat stand. I’ve not been able to give away free tickets to see Nick Cave, staggeringly expensive arena pop shows, or even entire festival weekend passes.

It’s easy to chalk this up to simply getting older, as the rabid enthusiasm, naivety and passion of youth dwindles, but that has an ageist presumption baked into it. There may be more hurdles to committing to cultural discovery but people don’t become fundamentally less curious because they get older. Most people don’t stop discovering new books, films, podcasts or TV. Yet music seems to be something that more commonly slips away – or is even perceived as something you’re supposed to grow out of. Music is a key part of youthful identity formation: once your idea of yourself becomes fixed, perhaps by distinct markers like marriage and kids, the need for it slips away. Sometimes when I speak to people about going to gigs, festivals or raves, I see an almost pitying look wash over their face: “Really? You’re still doing that? Bless.” As if clinging on represents some childish refusal to let go of youth, the equivalent of a balding mod refusing to shave off their depleting feather cut.

One similarly aged and child-free friend who admits to a dwindling passion for music says it’s a combination of going out less – and so music is no longer the centre of socialising – preferring to listen to podcasts, and having more options available across streaming. Another simply says it’s harder to muster that same level of excitement about anything, period, while one former consumer and maker of music happily admits that he now only really listens to three bands.

This lack of interest in new music seems to coincide – or perhaps even feeds – huge surges in nostalgia around my age group: take the odd phenomenon of so-called indie sleaze, with its warped rose-tinted shutter glasses and desire to retroactively create something that didn’t exist. Objectionable as that particular fetishism is, it’s an interesting generational insight into how those staring down middle age recalibrate their relationship to music. Though I’m not begrudging anyone some nostalgia. The world can be an overflowing cesspit, and if using familiar music to ignite fond memories helps, then drink it up.

Nor is there anything wrong with stepping away from the endless churn. I loved Emma Garland’s recent article on deactivating her streaming accounts and giving up on endlessly chasing the zeitgeist (ie mediocre TV) simply because that’s what’s directing the conversation. Keeping up with new music can feel like an equally exhausting task bordering on the futile. I get numb from time to time too, and listening to albums can feel like going through the motions without absorbing anything. The sheer volume of culture makes it easy to feel as though we are trapped within a huge content-spewing factory working harder than ever to keep up with the production line. Stepping away from that madness makes sense.

But this desertion of music that I have observed feels different – less a tactical retreat and more a mushrooming apathy or indifference. Trying to remain dedicated to music during these apparent wilderness years can be a lonely pursuit. Something you once associated with camaraderie, shared experience and collective memories becomes a one-way exchange. It’s still special, and for many people that’s how they prefer to enjoy music – and there’s always community to be found online, though it’s a thin substitute when you’ve known the real thing. While the thrill of falling in love with a record hasn’t dimmed, it’s dispiriting to know that you have a shrinking group of friends to share it with, as more people seemingly outgrow the one thing you never thought was possible to outgrow.

[cramx3]

I would have guessed the average age to be even younger.  Other than my friends here, most of the people I know IRL hardly know any new music anymore.  It kind of felt that way right around the end of college when all my friends seemed to be trapped in just liking 80s/90s/ early 00s and then just stopped caring about finding new music.  I definitely don't fall into this catagory, I feel like I discover more new music now than ever, I'm 37. I do realize I'm not the average music fan though.

[HOF]

Ha, I just read this too. It’s funny, because I am kind of the opposite of what he’s talking about. I’ve all but dropped TV, books, and movies (there are a few TV shows I’ll watch with my wife, but I have no interest in movies or books), and I listen to as much or more music as ever. Now, I’m closer to 40 than 30 now, and ten years back when I had young kids and was also in grad school music did take a back seat for a bit, but over the past 6-7 years I’ve been as active in listening to and discovering music as ever. It does maybe make a difference that I’ve never been a concert goer. I can’t imagine fitting that into my family life.

I do think having a forum like this one helps keep me engaged in music in a way that I probably wouldn’t be without it. I’ve only had a few friends in real life who had a similar interest in music as me, and then our tastes differed quite a bit. I can see how easy it is to lose real life connection with other music fans as you get into your 30s, as life has caused me to lose connection with even those few friends.

[emtee]

Very relatable piece.

Every single person in my life's circle either moved past their love of music or abandoned everything they used to listen to, and went 100% country music.

Music has been the one constant for the entirety of my life. I will never move past it, nor will I ever stop loving heavy music.

[Lonk]

For me, that hasn't happened yet. I still enjoy listening to new music, and I make an effort every now and then to check out new artists/bands or revisit old bands I used to listen to. But some of my musicians friends are in that category though.

What I have noticed, at least for me, is that it becomes a lot harder to find music that catches my attention. More often than not, it's more of a "cool, but nothing unique about this" or "sounds similar to XYZ".

[Zantera]

I can definitely relate this to other people I know, people who seem to have kinda 'moved on' from music. I still love music but I suppose my love for it has changed and 'evolved'.

Take live shows for example. I used to love going to concerts and seeing bands and while I'm still down to do that (especially if I haven't seen the band before or it's something super rare) I feel like a bit of a fogey where I might use arguments like "Eh I would like to go but it's on a Tuesday night and I'll be tired after work and I have to go up at 5 the next day, pass" to not go. But not having many shows through Covid I am curious if that will push me into attending more shows because now I might have more of a perspective of "you gotta treasure it while you can".

When it comes to discovering new music, I used to be that guy always on the look out for the next 'cool thing' and I had multiple years of listening to over 100 albums in that year and I found a lot of music. This kinda went down over a few years but has gone up again this year (mostly due to being able to listen at work which greatly improved my time window). But overall my conclusion I've come to is that while listening to brand new albums is fun and exciting, a lot of these just end up like a tiny footnote at the end of the year as an album I listened to 5 times, maybe enjoyed but might never return to again. I've become more of a deep diver I suppose, I love taking a band I've been meaning to check out and just give them a proper go by listening to all their studio albums. To me those are the ones that tend to stick with me because I made it a project to get into it, and the 'check out new albums' approach is more of a hit or miss.

[Trav86]

I'll be 36 in a couple of weeks, and my love for music isn't nearly as strong as it was say when I was 13-20.  Except for a few favorite bands, I have to force myself to listen and discover new music. I mostly prefer listening to old favorites.

[Elite]

Very interesting article, that I think makes sense. At some point in your life, I can imagine especially for people who are not that heavily invested in music, that it's one of the things that goes away easiest. I don't think this is the case for me though, because even though I listen to a lot less music than I did, say, 5 years ago, it's still very much a large part of my life. That's mostly because I work as a music teacher and I play music very often (the story is for another time, but basically Covid has made me play more than ever, and the past three years I have been caught up in playing jazz guitar, so much that it's basically changed my life and I'm actually going to study jazz guitar next year because it's awesome), so you could say I'm quite heavily invested in music (making). That said, with shifting interests, I'm not at all looking out for new music in the progressive metal vein. That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy it (though in fact I might not), but I've had enough of that and there's some bands I still follow and would like to see live, but I used to be on the lookout for every new release and lots of random bands no-one's ever heard of and that just doesn't interest me anymore. In fact, I rarely really take the time to listen to new stuff and have been exploring older music for the past couple of years. I don't listen to a lot of music as a pastime (in the car, going to work), but I do obviously seek out and listen to stuff when practising, but I think that's different.

What I have noticed, at least for me, is that it becomes a lot harder to find music that catches my attention. More often than not, it's more of a "cool, but nothing unique about this" or "sounds similar to XYZ".

I can definitely relate to this as well and I can rationally make sense of why I would think that as well; at some point you've heard stuff and there's things you enjoy and you relate your new experiences back to what you know and, being comfortable with your favourites, newer music never really manages to impress if its too similar to what you already know. Makes sense?

[Skeever]

Very interesting responses so far.
To elaborate a bit on my own, I really resonated with what cramx said here:

I would have guessed the average age to be even younger.  Other than my friends here, most of the people I know IRL hardly know any new music anymore.  It kind of felt that way right around the end of college when all my friends seemed to be trapped in just liking 80s/90s/ early 00s and then just stopped caring about finding new music.  I definitely don't fall into this catagory, I feel like I discover more new music now than ever, I'm 37. I do realize I'm not the average music fan though.

There was a time in my life where nearly everyone I was friends with had some common musical interest. In fact, many times, music was at the foundation of those friendships. Heck, for awhile, all my friends were people I had played in bands with, and when the bands ended, the friendships also ended. Now, I meet new people, and don't even expect to talk music with them.

To the article's point, it's not that other forms of media have suffered like this - work acquaintances talk endlessly about TV shows, movies, games. But music almost never organically works into a conversation.

I'm 35, and I have kids. But music is still far more interesting to me than many others I know. Luckily, I've "found my musical home" playing jazz guitar with a group a few times per month. But without this, I feel that I'd feel even more rudderless with music as a pursuit and hobby.

[romdrums]

Every single person in my life's circle either moved past their love of music or abandoned everything they used to listen to, and went 100% country music.

This is the saddest thing I've read in years.  I don't want to denigrate the genre as a whole, but I would guess that most of the "country" these people switched to is the banal, pandering, assembly line, Nashville twangy pop that passes for country these days.  The kind that reinforces the banality of their existence, where the lyrics read like a combination of honey do lists and hallmark cards, with the occasional reference to PG-13 rated "bad boy" shenanigans.  Ugh.

[Samsara]

Interesting.

I'd say my wife and I (who are on the backside of our 40s) are still pretty heavily invested in our enjoyment of music. We still buy new releases religiously. We also go to the shows that we feel work out for us with the increased responsibilities we have. And of course, aren't uncomfortable. For example, we had tickets to see Anthrax/BLS/Hatebreed, and decided about an hour before going that we weren't going to stand out there in 100 degree heat with a mass of people. We've seen Anthrax and BLS multiple times -- it wasn't worth the effort. And despite that incident of having tickets and just eating them, we've become more careful on deciding to buy tickets. It has to be affordable (we skipped Alice in Chains because the ticket price for them, Bush and Breaking Benajmin were astronomical in the 100 level of the amphitheater that we had a local show at).

But we get excited for new releases from our favorite bands - Alter Bridge, Megadeth, all new records coming out we can't wait to have. Same with Muse, King's X, Nothing More and a host of others dropping new records.

We also have a daughter that is into the music we are, so that helps I guess in terms of not "giving up." But I doubt my wife and I would ever give up on finding new music and supporting the music we love. For me personally, I've noticed I gravitate more toward the legacy acts I love more than seeking out new artists. But it's not for a lack of trying. I just haven't found much out there that I really dig. The latest that I thought highly of was The Warning, the trio of gals who have started to gain some traction, and the other all-female group, Plush. Dig both those new bands. But I guess at my age, I'm searching for music that has familiar tones of what I love done in a new light.

All this shit on on Sirius/XM Octane - they all sound the same. And then...once in awhile, boom, one pops loose from the pack and I check it out.

But I won't give up on music. But I certainly have noticed I'm a bit more particular in how I spend my time on it...

p.s. I know AVATAR isn't a new group, but I'd say like three or four years ago I heard of them on satellite radio. Heard this song, clean vocals, loved it. Then I realized like 3/4 of their catalog is the whole guttural thing. That is a personal thing, but it's such a huge turn-off, and so many metal bands do it and it just doesn't work for me. Arch Enemy is another one. Music is killer. But it kills me Alissa sings the way she does when her clean voice is powerful and awesome. I say all that to say -- I tend to dig a lot of newer music...but the vocals for many bands are just a turn-off.

[Phoenix87x]

I lost interest in playing music around 25.

I'm in my mid 30's now and listening to and discovering music is just as important to me now as ever.

[Trav86]

Interesting.

I'd say my wife and I (who are on the backside of our 40s) are still pretty heavily invested in our enjoyment of music. We still buy new releases religiously. We also go to the shows that we feel work out for us with the increased responsibilities we have. And of course, aren't uncomfortable. For example, we had tickets to see Anthrax/BLS/Hatebreed, and decided about an hour before going that we weren't going to stand out there in 100 degree heat with a mass of people. We've seen Anthrax and BLS multiple times -- it wasn't worth the effort. And despite that incident of having tickets and just eating them, we've become more careful on deciding to buy tickets. It has to be affordable (we skipped Alice in Chains because the ticket price for them, Bush and Breaking Benajmin were astronomical in the 100 level of the amphitheater that we had a local show at).

But we get excited for new releases from our favorite bands - Alter Bridge, Megadeth, all new records coming out we can't wait to have. Same with Muse, King's X, Nothing More and a host of others dropping new records.

We also have a daughter that is into the music we are, so that helps I guess in terms of not "giving up." But I doubt my wife and I would ever give up on finding new music and supporting the music we love. For me personally, I've noticed I gravitate more toward the legacy acts I love more than seeking out new artists. But it's not for a lack of trying. I just haven't found much out there that I really dig. The latest that I thought highly of was The Warning, the trio of gals who have started to gain some traction, and the other all-female group, Plush. Dig both those new bands. But I guess at my age, I'm searching for music that has familiar tones of what I love done in a new light.

All this shit on on Sirius/XM Octane - they all sound the same. And then...once in awhile, boom, one pops loose from the pack and I check it out.

But I won't give up on music. But I certainly have noticed I'm a bit more particular in how I spend my time on it...

p.s. I know AVATAR isn't a new group, but I'd say like three or four years ago I heard of them on satellite radio. Heard this song, clean vocals, loved it. Then I realized like 3/4 of their catalog is the whole guttural thing. That is a personal thing, but it's such a huge turn-off, and so many metal bands do it and it just doesn't work for me. Arch Enemy is another one. Music is killer. But it kills me Alissa sings the way she does when her clean voice is powerful and awesome. I say all that to say -- I tend to dig a lot of newer music...but the vocals for many bands are just a turn-off.

I can relate to this. I do get excited about to releases from a select group of bands. I also don't go to a lot of shows, mainly because my family is my downtime. But i did go see KISS last years with my oldest son. Amazing night.

[MirrorMask]

I'm 42 and I still have music as one of my biggest passions in life. Of course time to listen to it is not as it was used to be (but I have to "thank" Covid for that - I worked from home 15 months, and each day I had 8 hours for music), but the passion is still there.

My music tastes have evolved, of course. Starting out I was big on power metal, now while I still follow the giants of the genre like Helloween and Blind Guardian, I don't really care for new and random power metal bands anymore. But I still have big enthusiasm popping up here and there - I've discovered in recent years the retro / occult rock genre so I have plenty new bands to listen to, and look forward to their concerts, and I've also discovered Bruce Springsteen during the pandemic so it took me being 40 to have another important artist to add to my "collection" (and when next year he comes around, I WILL be there).

So I don't think my passion for music will fade away anytime soon.

[HOF]

I definitely buy more older music than new releases (I’m still finding plenty of gaps in my collection even with artists I know, and older bands/artists that I’ve previously been unaware of or never checked out), but I still try to support my favorite bands when they release stuff, and I usually end up buying about 10 or so new releases each year. I don’t discover a totally new artist that interests me very often, but when I do I still get a big kick out of it.

[ErHaO]

A lot of people are into pop culture when they are young(er) and thus also musical artists. And a lot of teens and college students are part of a scene, some of which are tied to music in a way. I don't think it is/was all about the music for some people. And I think those parts of being young(er) do diminish a lot over the years. I can see it happening in some friends now that are 6-7 years younger than me and have finished their degrees recently.

Considering my parents are both in their 60's and have become fans of new(er) artists much younger than themselves, I doubt my love for music will significantly any time soon. I have opened up to electronic music and musicals in recent years, who knows what the future will bring. I doubt this will stop in a year when I hit that threshold age.

[SwedishGoose]

I'm soon to be 54. I lost music 24 years ago..... 

Nah.... there was a time during the kids early years where I had less time and money to buy and listen to music.
I still went to a show here and there and tried to keep up with interresting releases.

Now when the kids are older and I have more time and money to invest in music I go to quite a few shows and buy a lot of new music (and some older).

Some things have made the discovery of new music easier for me.
Getting Prog Magazine every month with both interesting articles and cover CD (which now have changed to downloads) help me find a lot of stuff.
Music related groups on facebook have also helped a lot both by showing me new music and by finding concert buddies

I"d say I'm listening to more new music and going to more shows now than ever before in my life.

Partly because I now live in Stockholm with east access to concerts.

[Samsara]

SG makes a good point. Prog magazine turned me on to a few bands several years ago. But once I stopped the subscription, it became harder, and my first reply above is where things sit now. Maybe I should fire up a new subscription.

[ariich]

At some point in your life, I can imagine especially for people who are not that heavily invested in music, that it's one of the things that goes away easiest.

I think this is a crucial point. I don't think I know anyone who was passionate about music and now has no interest at all, but sure some people who only had a casual/passing interest no longer have the time and have to drop something from their lives.

Same with TV, art, books, video games, everything. It's completely normal. As we get into our late 20s and especially into our 30s, for most of us our careers and/or families mean much less free time. So in totality, we naturally have to do much less of that stuff, and so we prioritise. I have had to massively cut back on how much time I have for TV, books and games, and also for playing/writing music.

The reason I've maintained music listening at the level I have - more, if anything - is that I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can listen to music while I work. So I listen a LOT. Many people don't have that option. Or maybe they'd be allowed to, but can't concentrate properly if they're listening to something with lyrics, or new music they're not familiar with, or whatever it might be.

[HOF]

Same with TV, art, books, video games, everything. It's completely normal. As we get into our late 20s and especially into our 30s, for most of us our careers and/or families mean much less free time. So in totality, we naturally have to do much less of that stuff, and so we prioritise. I have had to massively cut back on how much time I have for TV, books and games, and also for playing/writing music.

The reason I've maintained music listening at the level I have - more, if anything - is that I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can listen to music while I work. So I listen a LOT. Many people don't have that option. Or maybe they'd be allowed to, but can't concentrate properly if they're listening to something with lyrics, or new music they're not familiar with, or whatever it might be.

Yeah, one huge difference between music and TV, Books, Games, etc. is you can do other stuff while listening to music. I work from home one day a week and I can listen to music all day that day. I can listen to music in the car, while exercising, cooking dinner, cleaning up, etc. You really can’t do any of that while reading a book, LOL.

[Deadeye21]

I won’t ever be giving up on music. I don’t consider myself as attractive and I have a lot of problems that I can’t see are gonna leave me in a good standing for any serious relationships. But I believe in myself on stage as a musician. That’s who I am, it’s in my blood. If I gave up on it, I would be giving up something that is too vital a part of me. Maybe that will change, but I’ve only got 6 years to go and I feel like it’s still only just starting for me.

[wolfking]

That article is kind of me all over.  38 years old but for the last couple of years I've had zero interest in discovering new music.

I kinda gave up playing the guitar years ago but even though my love for discovering new music has faded the last couple of years, I've enjoyed picking the guitar up more the last few years.

[wolfking]

I won’t ever be giving up on music. I don’t consider myself as attractive and I have a lot of problems that I can’t see are gonna leave me in a good standing for any serious relationships. But I believe in myself on stage as a musician. That’s who I am, it’s in my blood. If I gave up on it, I would be giving up something that is too vital a part of me. Maybe that will change, but I’ve only got 6 years to go and I feel like it’s still only just starting for me.

Dude, stop that sort of talk, right now!

[Deadeye21]

I won’t ever be giving up on music. I don’t consider myself as attractive and I have a lot of problems that I can’t see are gonna leave me in a good standing for any serious relationships.

Dude, stop that sort of talk, right now!

When I no longer feel it to be true and can’t find evidence supporting it, gladly.

[ReaperKK]

Really interesting article. I'm 35 and in my friend group I can see that people have lost interest in listening to music. I'm the opposite, I've given up on almost all TV/movie watching and listen something new almost every single day, I play guitar more than ever, and I've started collecting vinyl in my 30's, it's a huge part of my life. I think it's one of the traits I get from my dad, he is 61 and is still listening every day although his discovery of new music slowed down.

[RoeDent]

I think as we get older and the world gets more uncertain we find stability in the music we liked when we were younger. Those recordings of those songs are never ever going to change because they're moments frozen in time. You know that every little detail is going to appear in exactly the right order every single time, without fail, while the rest of the world crumbles and flails about in panic around it.

[Stadler]

I mean, I get it, we're at a music forum, so that's what we talk about, but I kind of think this is a general phenomenon that isn't exclusive to music.  I'm 54, and I don't do nearly the same things as I did when I was 25.  I used to go to every Uconn Football game, spending all day Saturday at the field drinking and eating chicken wings.  Haven't been in ten years (up to this season, where I went to two games).  I used to go to at least five or six pro baseball games a year and watch three times that many on TV.  Haven't seen a baseball game in it's entirely in about ten years as well.

If anything, I go to MORE shows now, because I have a little bit of free time, a forgiving wife, and a little extra coin.  But other things have gone by the wayside.  I think as we age, most of us evolve, grow and change.  If those things we love - and the people we do them with - don't evolve, grow and change with us, they get left behind.   It's a part of life.

[Elite]

Yeah, everything Stadler said (but with different details).

[TAC]

I found the author to be a winey little bitch, honestly. Like he's trying to come up with something interesting to say, because, as he says, he writes about music.

[cramx3]

Same with TV, art, books, video games, everything. It's completely normal. As we get into our late 20s and especially into our 30s, for most of us our careers and/or families mean much less free time. So in totality, we naturally have to do much less of that stuff, and so we prioritise. I have had to massively cut back on how much time I have for TV, books and games, and also for playing/writing music.

The reason I've maintained music listening at the level I have - more, if anything - is that I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can listen to music while I work. So I listen a LOT. Many people don't have that option. Or maybe they'd be allowed to, but can't concentrate properly if they're listening to something with lyrics, or new music they're not familiar with, or whatever it might be.

Yeah, one huge difference between music and TV, Books, Games, etc. is you can do other stuff while listening to music. I work from home one day a week and I can listen to music all day that day. I can listen to music in the car, while exercising, cooking dinner, cleaning up, etc. You really can’t do any of that while reading a book, LOL.

THIS.

Music is different because of this so it's not really comparable to other hobbies.  If we were talking about concerts, then I can see the similarities, but music can be listened to while doing many of life's chores.  People can still discover new music by just putting on the radio while driving.  But I think that's more so the point, people lose interest in music discovery.  They don't stop listening to music, they stop finding new bands.  It's like some people (I know some people like this) hit a point where they know say 100 albums and they are satisfied listening to only those 100 albums for the rest of their lives.  And I don't think you can blame money as the reason either because of free streaming today. 

[HOF]

But I think that's more so the point, people lose interest in music discovery.  They don't stop listening to music, they stop finding new bands.  It's like some people (I know some people like this) hit a point where they know say 100 albums and they are satisfied listening to only those 100 albums for the rest of their lives.  And I don't think you can blame money as the reason either because of free streaming today.

Yeah, at this point I mostly use streaming services to pull up a specific artist/song I want to hear. There’s no good way to wade through everything that’s available to pick out something you like. Amazon’s auto play feature will sometimes introduce me to a new band that sounds interesting, but that feature is so limited by what Amazon thinks you want to hear or is a similar artist. There’s so much music out there I can see why people don’t want to bother with new stuff and just stick to what they know.

[Skeever]

Discovery is still important to me, but not so much finding new bands as diving deeper into stuff I like.
Jazz has given my musical world a ton of new vigor; there's so much to check out. I started exploring Miles Davis last year, and at this point I've heard around 10 of "studio" albums. 10 down, 51 to go. And then as many live albums. Oh, and all the albums where he was a side man. And the albums where the other players in his band went off to play with others. The sprawling network of music to dive into feels truly endless.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I think at a certain point, probably between 25 and 30, people give up on going for a career in music, but I don’t think most people give up on music entirely. I can only speak from experience, but at almost 29 years old I’ve accepted the fact that I won’t have a career playing music, and I’m currently working for the NYC Department of Sanitation, a great city job with benefits and a decent salary at top pay. I learned a valuable lesson that I wish I understood earlier, which is that I don’t have to be making a living playing music for it to play a fulfilling role in my life. I still play in my cover band, two cover bands now, and still write my own music in my free time as well. I’m able to be a musician as well as make a living, and just because they’re not one in the same doesn’t make me a failed musician. Music will always be a part of my life, and I’m a musician regardless of if it pays the bills or not.

[ProfessorPeart]

Never played an instrument, but music has been my primary hobby almost all of my life. I constantly seek out new artists and music, probably to some financial detriment. It's like an addiction. I can't stop and I really don't want to. I don't have much outside of music. I'm proud of my collection and that fact that it is ever growing.

My tastes have also evolved as I have gotten older. I have always been into many, many genres from Jazz to Pop to Rock to many styles of Metal. One thing I have noticed is that my tastes have grown heavier as I get older. I'm listening to more really heavy stuff and have even really grown with the growl style vocals, which I used to hate.

So, no, I did not give up in my 30's.

[Samsara]

Funny enough, as an addition to my last post. I picked up the guitar in my mid-20s as a distraction from the grind of law school. Once I graduated, I stopped. But here we are now, 20 years later, and I want to go get another and really put some effort into becoming a competent player...