Why do we love this or that music?

Our musical taste is not a random choice, but the result of our brain, which seeks pleasure and connection with the world around us.

When we listen to music, our brain is active. It predicts the following notes and rhythmic moves of the melody. If these expectations are met, the reward system in the brain is activated, producing a dopamine — neurotransmitter that causes feelings of happiness and satisfaction. This explains why a favorite song can cause euphoria. Different areas of the brain are responsible for different aspects of music:

This synchronous work makes music a powerful stimulus for cognitive development.

Genetics cannot tell if you will love classics or rock, but it can affect musical ability and rhythm tendency. Research has found a link between certain genes and traits such as sense of rhythm, absolute hearing, and the ability to feel emotions from music. For example, a study of Beethoven's DNA showed that he had a low genetic predisposition to rhythm synchronization, which demonstrates that — genetics is only part of the puzzle, and personal effort and environment are equally important.

The music we listen to as children forms the primary neural connections in our brains that affect our future perception. Children often adopt their parents' musical tastes, as they are the main source of sounds at an early age. It can be classical music played at home, songs sung by parents, or a radio station they listen to in the car. These early impressions lay the foundation for what we will consider «native» and enjoyable music.

In adolescence, music becomes an important tool for social identification. Our musical preferences are closely linked to the circle of friends and peers. We often listen to what is popular in our group to feel belonging and find common topics to talk about. The choice of a certain genre can be a symbol of belonging to a certain subculture.

The culture we live in determines which music genres and instruments are common and which is considered «correct» or «good» music. Our cultural environment shapes our expectations of melody, harmony and rhythm. For example, Western culture often uses the major and minor modes, which are associated with certain emotions. Studies with tribes isolated from Western music show that their perception of dissonance and consonance varies considerably, as their brains are trained in other musical structures. This factor emphasizes that music — is not only a universal language, but also a culturally conditioned experience.

Our musical taste is closely related to the personality traits studied in psychology. For example, people with high levels of openness to experience often choose complex and diverse genres, such as jazz, classical or indie music. Extroverts usually prefer energetic and rhythmic music, such as pop, hip-hop or dance tracks. People with high levels of neuroticism may prefer sad or emotionally charged music that helps them process and express their own feelings.

In today's technology-laden world, the way we discover music has changed dramatically. If we used to depend on radio, television or cassettes from friends, now streaming services and social networks play a key role in shaping our preferences.

Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube — are powerful tools that actively influence our taste. Their algorithms analyze each of our steps: what we listen to, what we add to the playlists, and what we skip. Based on this data, they offer us similar artists and tracks. This creates the so-called «filter bubble»: We constantly see content that confirms our existing preferences and rarely go beyond them. It's convenient because we always find something we like, but at the same time it limits our ability to discover new, unexpected genres.

TikTok and Instagram have become new «radio stations». Short videos of popular tracks in a matter of hours make the song viral, regardless of its commercial success. Taste is formed not just under the influence of the song itself, but also under the influence of the context in which it is used (for example, for a trend or a meme). This changes the psychology of music consumption: we consume individual «viral» tracks more often instead of entire albums, and music becomes part of visual content, which significantly affects its perception.

With the availability of music-making tools and global collaboration, we see a boom in hybrid genres — combining electronica with folk or hip-hop with jazz. This shows that our tastes are becoming more eclectic.