I can't believe I'm about to link to The New York Times for this piece (and I hope I'm spared a zot for doing so) but here goes: Is 14 a ‘Magic Age’ for Forming Cultural Tastes?. Actually, long before that article was published, I've heard from other sources that for most people preferences in music and food become hardened between the ages of 13-16. Using a universe of one (me) as a metric, it's true. If I hadn't already become accustomed to something by then, my "taste habits" just stubbornly remain in place. That's probably why the 1960's music revolution just passed me by and why I still prefer smoother sounds to this day.
I also place a high value (maybe even too high) on the politics of the artist. I'll shun music produced by known leftists even if their artistic skills are otherwise without fault. And likewise, I'll give a break to those to those whose talents may be a tad subpar if they're Christian and Conservatives. That's why my favorite genre of music is Southern Gospel which even some of my colleagues at church find not to their liking.
My friend, who’s now in his 50s, played drums in a proto-punk band in the 70s that went nowhere being slightly ahead of its time, and today (he) plays the mandolin, classical as well as folk, and listens to old, old record, those from before 1930, even transcriptions from old wax rolls. His brother, a guitar player in that band, plays surf and rockabilly guitar to this day.
What I’ve also found is that most people like to claim that their musical taste is wide ranging or eclectic, and when you ask them what they like they’ll list the names of some pop or rock albums that sold 20 million copies each, often pretentious, pseudo-artistic works favored by non-discerning listeners. I don’t tell them that, but I think their musical taste is rather pedestrian.