There have been several studies that show, the vast majority of people stop searching out new music when they reach the age of 30, some studies show 33. Their tastes become set at that point. Here's one:
Stop Discovering New Music
This may not be as true for many here, since people that post on audio and music forums are not a typical sample of the vast majority of music listeners.
It seems that nostalgia becomes a big part of this, and people want to listen to the music that was the "soundtrack of their youth".
For me, I have almost no feelings of nostalgia associated with music, so when I listen to music, I listen based entirely on the attributes I love in music. Those attributes hold true for new music, as well as older music.
Those attributes are, in no particular order: very high levels of musicianship, complexity, (usually) long form songs, deep and broad emotional and/or intellectual content conveyed, avoidance of verse>chorus>bridge song format, no need for a hook.
The genres that most often meet most or all of those attributes, are:
Prog, Jazz, Classical
I discovered prog in my early 20's (King Crimson, Yes, Univers Zero, PFM, Genesis, Anglagard, Henry Cow, Magma, Eskaton, etc)
I got into jazz in my late 20's, early 30's (Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Keith Jarratt, Oregon, Anthony Braxton, Coltrane, Steve Coleman, Allan Holdsworth, etc).
And finally, I didn't get into classical music until my late 50's. But the classical I am into is almost all from post 1950 up through the current era. Atonal, serial, avant-garde, Spectralism, New Complexity, etc.
So, I got one of the most "challenging", complex, thorny sounding forms of music at the ripe old age of 57-58.
And within all 3 of those genres I mentioned, I am in a constant search for new music, bands, musicians, composers. I get almost as much of a rush at discovering new music at the age of 65, as I did when I was in my 20's.
