Why do we like the music we do?

in #music7 years ago

So when i was in college i studied music exclusively( i know it was a waste of money just move on). In my studies i was able to find out that pretty much all music is the same. When we are growing up we are told that our taste in music is unique to each person. However when i got to college i learned that we are predisposed to enjoy certain note combinations and tempos.
We also learned that these tempos and combinations spanned every genre of music with very few deviations. Some of which are musically identical to others. For instance why is their a love for folk rock and a hatred for country music in certain circles when the two are completely identical in every way. The same can be said about the love for metal and hatred of classical to some people. I hold the theory that these preferences are caused by societal influences. I.e when we are in our teenage years we seek to rebel and if our parents like something we don't and vice versa. This also means that we are surrounded by people who also rebel at the same time and accumulate our interested with those our age. I believe that this is why we develop our love for certain music and hate for others. Granted there are other factors in this time in music such as effects and comfort levels with the emotions we feel when listening that play a part in the issue in fact i always wonder what secondary problems people have with different music and how it has shaped their personal music library