Music Hits Men Hardest at 16 and Women at 19, Study Shows

Ever notice that songs from your teen years hit harder than anything new? A new study from Finland reveals that gender helps determine when those lifelong musical bonds form. Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä found that men tend to form their strongest emotional connections to music around age 16, while for women, the peak arrives closer to 19.

The study, which surveyed nearly 2,000 people across 84 countries, asked participants to name one song that was personally meaningful. Using Spotify data, researchers calculated each participant’s “Age at Release”—how old they were when the song came out. Even after 10,000 statistical tests to control for bias, the pattern held: women form deep musical attachments later than men.

Why the difference? The researchers suggest it reflects how men and women use music during adolescence. Many men use intense music, such as rock or metal, around age 14–17 to assert independence and connect with peers. These songs often become lifelong emotional anchors. Women, meanwhile, use music for emotional expression, relationships, and social connection—a process that takes longer to develop, which may explain their later peak.

The study also found that musical memory changes with age. Men maintain strong ties to songs from their teens, even into their 60s—a “dual-peak” pattern combining youth and recent favorites. Women, however, show a shift toward more recent music as they age, with the teenage peak fading.

Overall, the study shows that music shapes memory differently across genders and life stages. For men, the teenage soundtrack endures; for women, meaningful songs evolve over time. As the authors note, “The soundtrack of our lives follows different schedules for men and women.”