text: If you're in your early 40s, own a flash car and have started listening to Taylor Swift and One Direction, you are likely to be having a midlife crisis. Streaming music service Spotify believes it has identified the average age of midlife crises at 42. Staff analysed data and found users aged around 42 drop their usual playlists – which usually contain hits from their youth – in favour of today's chart toppers from the likes of Rihanna and Sam Smith. Streaming music service Spotify believes it has identified the average age of midlife crises at 42 (file picture) Spotify and its rivals in the streaming music world are working hard to understand the tastes of their listeners, so they can make better recommendations for them (file picture) 'During the teenage years, we embrace music at the top of the charts more than at any other time in our lives. As we grow older, our taste in music diverges sharply from the mainstream up to age 25, and a bit less sharply after that,' explained the company on its Insights blog. 'We're starting to listen to "our" music, not "the" music. Music taste reaches maturity at age 35. 'Around age 42, music taste briefly curves back to the popular charts — a musical midlife crisis and attempt to harken back to our youth, perhaps?' The findings come from a study conducted by Ajay Kalia, who oversees Spotify's 'taste profiles' product, which tries to understand people's tastes based on their listening habits. Spotify and its rivals in the streaming music world are working hard to understand the tastes of their listeners, so they can make better recommendations for them.
target: Spotify believes it has identified the average age of midlife crises at 42 .
  Staff analysed data and found users aged  42 drop their usual playlists .
  Start listening to today's chart toppers, such as Rihanna and Sam Smith .