Published: October 31, 2025
Reading time: 5 minutes
As we near the end of October (“Happy Halloween y’all”), I came across this article from a 2022 Guardian article Bring that beat back: why are people in their 30s giving up on music? by Daniel Dylan Wray. I know it maybe old in this day in age, but here are some of my thoughts and reflections as well as maybe some insight :).
Lets begin. I thought I would paraphrase what the article discusses. In its short-read it focuses on how many people in their thirties are gradually losing interest in discovering new music, a shift the author finds both strange and isolating. Studies from Spotify and Deezer suggest people stop seeking out new music around age 30-33,¹, and the author—a 36-year-old music writer—has witnessed this firsthand as friends who once shared a deep passion for music have let it fade into the background. I think we all can relate to at least a few friends who became “enlightened” to their musical curiosities; buying albums; grabbing tickets at Lollapalooza. While responsibilities like children and exhaustion make attending gigs less feasible, the author argues this isn’t simply about aging but rather a curious phenomenon where music specifically gets abandoned while people continue discovering new films, books, and TV shows. The piece suggests this may relate to music’s role in youthful identity formation: once people’s sense of self becomes fixed through milestones like marriage and parenthood, the need for music diminishes. The author acknowledges the overwhelming nature of keeping up with endless new content and doesn’t begrudge anyone stepping back, but laments how what was once a shared passion has become an increasingly solitary pursuit, leaving fewer people to exchange musical discoveries with as friends seemingly outgrow something the author never imagined could be outgrown.
I read this Guardian piece with a mixture of recognition and defiance. Yes, I’ve got two kids under five. Yes, there are mornings when the only soundtrack is the Spider-Man theme or Bluey theme on infinite loop while I’m trying to negotiate breakfast. Yes, I have a demanding full-time job in an entirely different industry from music. And yet—somehow—I’m still pulling in roughly 10 hours a week of genuinely new music.
Let me clarify what I mean by “new”: music I’m hearing for the first time. Not just newly released tracks, but new to me. That obscure 1970s Brazilian psych record I stumbled across? New. That ambient producer who’s been quietly releasing on Bandcamp for years? New. The latest hyperpop chaos from someone I’ve never heard of? Absolutely new.
The Guardian article mentions that “a parent with two kids under five has things higher up their to-do list than checking out Jockstrap”¹—and fair enough, but here’s the thing: music isn’t a checkbox on my to-do list. It’s oxygen. It’s how I survive the chaos and remember that I’m still that crazy musician/artist on the inside.
The article’s author mourns friends who’ve traded “what are you listening to?” for “what are you watching?” I’ve experienced this too. My wife, a classical pianist and educator loves her Netflix binge sessions over taking in a new classical piece, and that’s fine. I’m happy for her, but I refuse to accept it as inevitable. Studies mentioned show people stop listening to new music at 30 or 33 the Guardian, but that’s a choice, not a biological inevitability. The great Miles Davis, among others (Andrew Weatherall mentioned by the author) kept their curiosity until their death—that’s my benchmark too.
How I Make It Work:
- Commute time: 20 minutes each way becomes discovery time
- Dishwashing/cooking: Bluetooth speaker, new album
- Weekend mornings: While the kids play, I’ve got headphones on
- Late nights: When everyone’s asleep, that’s when I dive deep
- Making my own music: Even with limited time, I carve out space to create. New work. New inspiration.
- Working out: They say pain is weakness leaving the body. Why not provide a new soundtrack?!
The reality is that being an artist myself—someone who creates despite having zero time and working in a completely different field—means I can’t afford to stop listening. Creation and consumption feed each other. Every new sound I discover becomes a potential ingredient in my own work.
Do I go to fewer gigs? Absolutely. Do I miss festival weekends? Sure. But discovery doesn’t require a venue. It requires headphones and intentionality.
The Guardian writer worries about nostalgia taking over. I see it differently: my kids are actually forcing me to discover more new music, not less. I believe parenting provides us the tools to water our children’s garden of curiosity. Someday, they may return the favor. All that considered, I refuse to let my musical identity freeze at whatever age I became a parent. That would be admitting defeat and becoming part of the void of normalcy of which I’ve never been a part of that club.
My top picks from this week’s listen
John Adams – The Wound Dresser
Ruben Ganev, Sejon – Temporal Dust [mld012] Released: 17 May 2025 Bandcamp: https://rebrand.ly/mld012-bandcamp
Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu Plays Mulatu
1. Wray, Daniel Dylan. “Bring that beat back: why are people in their 30s giving up on music?” *The Guardian*, August 16, 2022. [Read the full article →](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/16/bring-that-beat-back-why-are-people-in-their-30s-giving-up-on-music)