all ears
Playing the game of musical knowledge can produce surprising results. Many throw out the canned response of listening to everything, except country. Some have only heard what their source of music feeds them. Different tastes derive from binging the radio, social media, and/or other sources. Some go underground to where radio songs become a foreign language. Others fixate on specific genres to blindness in others.
Answers to whether someone heard something can span from wise to ludicrous. It depends on your taste, whom you ask, and your preconceptions of them. Many more variables can
I get people wanting to educate others on what they consider ubiquitous and cultural. As an extreme example, uncontacted tribes know who Michael Jackson is. If you don't know who he is by now, you can find out too. A bit of playful ridicule can go a long way to expand others' musical horizons. Hearing out negative feedback helps everyone by sowing common ground.
What someone likes about a particular song, artist, or band can be difficult to answer. Approaches to theory, lyrics, sentiment, and other values make appreciation individual. Some music is instrumental, some spoken word, some silence. Judging by catalog may be the scenic route to judging by captivation. What qualities of music make the hairs on your arm stand straight?
Differing modes of discovery don't have to impede help. See generational gaps as opportunities, not curses. Random walks can inform checklists and vice versa. Of course, sharing recommendations doesn't need mandating. But bowing out that way can feel like a strange unwillingness to play the game. Models of thought don't have to align to generate meaningful insights. Zooming out, working out differences and conflict shapes the world.
Our world contains far less perfect or open information than we expect. Other people do not know the entirety of what you know. The same goes for your lack of their knowledge. Express gratitude for that fact. New changes, discoveries, and surprises color our lives. Understand that others' musical journeys to the present differ from yours. They're bound to share knowledge checks you will fail based on your journeys. That's okay.
At the end of the day, we are all human. Our musical diets are unique from one another. Yet, we can still enjoy common songs, share our hidden gems, and listen to each other.