Anyone else notice how kids today skip the shared music moments we had?

[u/No-Communication1543]

my class went on a walk last week and two kids were sharing one pair of earbuds, taking turns picking songs from a phone. it looked fun but something felt off. when I was their age you heard the same song over and over at recess or in the car with your family. it stuck because it was tied to the place and the people around you. now everything is on demand and private. i wonder if that changes how songs settle into your memory. my own kids still ask for the same bedtime music but I catch them skipping tracks halfway through if it gets boring. the repetition just isn't built in anymore. do you think the way we experienced music back then made it last differently?

[u/stev_mempers]

They have their own special relationship to music just like you did when you were young. It's taking a different form than what you experienced, but that's how it goes. As long as they're bonding over music, who cares how?

[u/Funeral_Goat_1446]

Sure. And in the times before recorded music you had to actually go watch someone play or play it yourself.

[u/salty_seance]

I think people still have that experience of shared music within certain social circles because certain social/cultural groups are defined by certain music and they share playlists and music app libraries with eachother so they are all listening to the same stuff.

I think it's way different collectively though. I can bond with anyone my age from any social group or subculture because certain songs dominated airwaves during a period of time we all shared across demographics. That's been lost imo.

[u/Bambooworm]

I am so happy to listen to what I listen to whenever I want to. I loathe mainstream music and I get ear worms easily. Seems like people are still listening to the same music somehow, too. Parties, gatherings, your parents' cars, etc

[u/Wompatuckrule]

when I was their age you heard the same song over and over at recess or in the car with your family

Sure, you knew those songs but that didn't mean those aligned with your musical tastes. I "discovered" the local college radio stations when I was in junior high. Suffice it to say that by high school my tastes were fairly divergent from the majority of my classmates.

However, I had friends who shared my tastes which made me much more like those kids sharing an earbud in our shared love of certain bands & songs.

the repetition just isn't built in anymore

Repetition is listening to music that you love. What you're describing is being "force-fed" songs.

[u/Xavus]

This has big "old man yells at cloud" energy.

People experience and interact with the world in their own ways.