[awayyyythrow]

I think most of the explanations fail to account for a very important point: music doesn't exist in the abstract but comes with a setting, a context and a community. You don't just listen to music, you experience it. Whether it's an opera house or a jazz club or a rave or a rap battle or a dive bar, all music comes with an associated experience. It can be hard to truly 'get in' a genre and understand why people like it if you can't experience it the way most people who listen to it do.

I think the reason many people get stuck with the music they listened to as a teenager is because their most intense experiences involving music occured when they were teenagers. Then they move on, and if they don't obsess about music, they won't have stronger feelings about the new stuff.

[dandare]

Surely a lot of it is context, but my anecdotal evidence tells me I don't feel music as much as I used to when I was younger and when I feel something it is rarely with the new stuff.

[WarOnPrivacy]

I think it's unlikely for people to first hear (or first attach to) their favorite songs in a strong environment like a club/rave/bar. We're most likely to hear something new in a setting we control.

[djaque]

Sure, but at least for me, the reason they become a favourite song is that they become associated with good memories.