Spotify released some interesting data today. As the company continuously tries to find out what its listeners are listening to, some other data has popped up.

As it turns out, people at the age of 45 start to rediscover pop music while parents tend to not listen to new music at all. Other interesting bits of data were also discovered. If you’re wondering why your musical tastes have changed lately, take a look at these stats.

The Older Crowd

Spotify has discovered that people around the age of 42 tend to get into pop music that once did not interest them. For example, some 42 year olds may suddenly start tuning into the latest pop music station whereas that kind of music did not interest them at all during their 30s. Throughout a person’s 30s, Spotify has discovered, people start to discover music that appeals solely to them, but not popular music. Music maturity tends to taper off at age 35, according to the research.

On the other hand, teens listen solely or mostly to pop music, and people in their 20s start to discover their own music, but that doesn’t really happen fully until the age of 35 when music habits end suddenly and people seem to lose interest in discovering new music. This could be, researchers speculate, because at the age of 35 most people start to have kids or have had kids, and those kids are still young. So, it’s not until parents are done having their kids or that the kids are older that parents start to be interested in music once again.

Why Spotify Bothers

Have you ever wondered how Spotify seems to know exactly what you want to listen to? This isn’t a mistake. Streaming companies like Spotify constantly try to understand their target markets, so that they can better suggest music for each person listening or subscribing. This is how streaming companies make money, and it’s how they keep someone interested in a membership that costs nearly $10 per month. It’s all about figuring out what you want to listen to, and what kind of music you may be more interested in discovering.

While many people may not want to hear that they are no longer part of the cool crowd, this is really how Spotify plans to win over streaming music subscribers. Without this kind of data, the company wouldn’t be able to cater to different ages and different subscribers. So, even though people in their 40s or people with kids may not listen to a lot of popular music, simply understanding what those people do like makes a world of difference.

How This Data Will Be Used

The next time that you hear Spotify suggestions, think about this data. If you are past the age of 35, there’s a good chance that you won’t hear any pop music suggestions. But, if you are around the age of 42, those suggestions might just start popping up again. Then again, it could just be that people in their 30s with kids don’t listen to Spotify, or that they are listening to something other than the mainstream - and, really, is that so bad?