Keen observers might equally surmise that young people use music much more intensely as a signalling device, visible in particular by the searing intensity of f

Keen observers might equally surmise that young people use music much more intensely as a signalling device, visible in particular by the searing intensity of fandoms and the currency of TikTok music microfads. The friction that endows signalling with its cost is simply opportunity cost — you can’t be a vocal fan of everything or go deep on every TikTok trend-strand. Also note that “discovery” here has been almost entirely mediated by TikTok or Spotify algorithms. If you’re tired of what those algorithms offer, in practice, it’s outlandishly difficult to do better than random walks to find something new you like….except through your friends’ signslling. That all said, I think you might be right. But I submit this radically different reading is plausible. My own anecdata suggest this.