Your Favorite Band Was Probably Locked In by 7th Grade, and That Explains a Lot

If someone played the music you were obsessed with in seventh grade, would you proudly sing along or immediately ask them to turn it off?

According to a new survey, there is a very good chance that the songs you loved back then are still shaping your tastes today, whether you want to admit it or not.

Ticketing company TickPick surveyed more than 1,000 people and asked when they first heard their all-time favorite band. The average answer was age 13, which lines up almost perfectly with seventh grade. In other words, your musical destiny was probably sealed around the same time you were figuring out lockers, awkward crushes, and how to survive middle school.

That age also lines up with another milestone. People said they were first exposed to explicit music at around 12 and a half. So right as music started getting a little more rebellious, it also became a lot more meaningful.

That combination might explain why those early favorites stick so hard.

When it comes to what actually shaped people’s music tastes growing up, friends were the biggest influence by far. Sixty-six percent of respondents said their friends played the biggest role. Radio came in next at 59%, followed by movies at 52%. Parents also mattered more than you might expect, with 48% citing their father and 45% their mother as influences. TV, concerts and festivals, and siblings rounded out the list.

Speaking of siblings, nearly half of the people who said a sibling influenced their music taste admitted it was usually an older sibling introducing them to music their parents probably would not have approved of. That feels like a timeless tradition. Big brothers and sisters have been sneaking questionable CDs and playlists to younger siblings forever.

Parents, meanwhile, are not exactly subtle about their musical opinions. Sixty-four percent said they have actively tried to influence their kids’ musical tastes.

Indie rock parents are the most aggressive about it, with 75% admitting they try to pass their favorite artists on to their kids. Fans of hard rock were close behind at 69%, followed by jazz lovers at 67%.

Classic rock, heavy metal, country, and folk fans all landed at 64%. On the other end of the spectrum, punk rock and pop fans were tied at 62% for being the least likely to push their tastes on their kids. The thinking there is probably that kids will find those genres on their own anyway. There is a reason Hot Topic somehow refuses to die.

Among parents who do try to influence their kids, 23% said it was important that their kids like their favorite artists, while 27% said it was important their kids like their favorite genres. Truly, the stakes have never been lower, and yet the passion remains high.

So if you still love the same bands you discovered in middle school, you are not stuck in the past. You are just extremely normal.