It’s an odd thought. It’s a simple one, easy enough to state aloud, but so fundamentally odd to some of us that it seems abstract and absurd: some people do not like music.
It’s not that they don’t like a specific genre or are just extra picky. They don’t like music, full stop. It’s familiar enough that there’s a name for it: specific musical anhedonia. Science might have finally figured out what’s behind it.
A decade ago, researchers from the University of Barcelona decided to dig into the mystery of why some people feel nothing when the beat drops. These weren’t curmudgeons who hate fun or sociopaths immune to the charms of Carly Ray Jepsen.
These were folks who responded just fine to all the usual pleasures except for music, to which they would respond with a resounding “meh.”
Turns Out Hating Music Might Actually Be in Your Brain
In their latest findings, recently published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, co-author Josep Marco-Pallarés explains that the condition isn’t a hearing issue or a general brain dysfunction. Instead, it’s a weak connection between two major brain systems: the auditory network (which processes sound) and the reward circuit (which lights up when something feels good). When those systems don’t talk to each other well, music can’t spark joy.
Using brain imaging, researchers found that, unlike typical listeners whose pleasure centers light up while listening to a catchy tune, people with musical anhedonia show little to no reaction in the reward areas. And yet, they still get jazzed about, say, money, food, sex—just not actual jazz.
To determine who might have this condition, researchers developed the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire. This five-pronged diagnostic tool examines how people interact with music emotionally, socially, physically, and habitually. People with musical anhedonia tend to score low across the board. They’ve got no favorites, never experienced chills or excitement from music, and thus never felt compelled to share their Spotify Wrapped every year.
While the researchers think they may have found a vital piece of the puzzle, it’s just a piece. This could be just one example of a broader phenomenon. The theory of a neural misfire might explain why some people don’t get pleasure from food, socializing, or even addictive substances. Genetics, environment, or even specific brain injuries might veer the brain’s wiring off course, into an area where it doesn’t respond to certain types of stimuli that excite others.
If you’re the type for whom music leaves you feeling cold and emotionless (or food, or movies, or whatever), take heart in knowing that you’re probably not broken; your brain just isn’t wired to find pleasure in it, whatever “it” is.
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