I had quite a good time discussing that too Just_Ice_au, but since we got asked to stop, of course we had to end it before it'd get out of hand
lets stick strictly with music related stuff though. I can tell you right now that over my 20 years my taste in music has changed a lot. I started with only the softest of music, occasionally soft rock songs too, i remember
this was my favorite song at some pre-10 age... for a while the heaviest song i'd listen to was
this which i still today consider one of the best songs i've ever heard, "it's sort of both an alpha and omega for me as i heard it at the start, and re-discovered it when everything was over". I was only 12 when i was listening to
ac/dc all the time.
The kid who never understood why people would listen to loud or fast music. When i was 13 attempts were made by some "wannabe gangsta" types to get me into rap, honest attempt but failed miserably. The closest i came to liking rap was
this, and it's hardly rap since you know... the
original is still there underneath the remix. Great song btw. then i already told you the story but by the time i was 17 i was a fan of
this kind of stuff (linked only for music video), the kid i was 7 years before then if he had had any choice he would never have heard a song like that. Needless to say i wouldn't have been able to imagine liking it. But as you can see from the music i was raised listening to i turned 180° and went the exact opposite direction of wherever i had headed. I stayed on course too and now so much later i'm still listening to the "later" stuff.
Looking back at it, the music i was raised with i can still listen to, sometimes like depending on quality. The metal i can like, also the rock. but what was inbetween (linkin park, limp bizkit, disturbed and similar) i can't listen to anymore, they just sound silly to me now. The only music i don't listen to anymore that i ever liked was the types i used as a stepping stone to get to what i really like the most by now.
But the question is how i ever got into classical music and opera, that was also like you're talking about just added on top of everything fairly randomly probably thanks to (like Victor) being open to different things.
However i do remember reading scientific research on music and it's psychological & social effects. In that research it was clear that choices in music can be made by various judgement (from group pressure to actually just personality) but it was extremely clear that music had an effect on people, apart from heavy music inspiring violent and strong emotions and soft music inspiring serenity and calmness while listening to it, music also seems to have a long term effect, especially on those who don't care enough to manage what they're listening to or how they "hear" it. Bottom line was that if you listen to depressing music for a few years you're gonna get depressed except for rare cases (which i've managed to make myself, by just being aware of the issue and not allowing the negative emotions of music to affect me at all, sounds weird coming from a metalhead right? seeing as i listen to the most aggressive music you'll ever find! i've managed to become less aggressive over time despite listening to it. All because that article made me aware of this.) as much as humans can shape music, music can shape humans according to what i read. The article encouraged people to listen to happier music and avoid "emo" music.