The May 17, 2026, Psychology Today article, entitled, “Why Do We Like the Music We Like?” by Samuel H. Markind suggests that musical preferences can be explained by a neuroscience theory called predictive coding.

The article indicates that musical preferences are learned by culture, experience, and exposure rather than being innate from birth.  Predictive coding explains that the brain constantly tries to predict what will happen next in music and that enjoyment comes from having the predictions validated or invalidated.

The brain’s auditory system analyzes musical patterns and predicts upcoming notes, rhythms and harmonies.  The predictions are sent to the brain’s reward system.  When the music differs from what was expected in an interesting way, the reward system responds and triggers pleasurable feelings.  When this occurs, the brain releases dopamine which contributes to the sense of enjoyment.  This reinforcement gets us to seek out similar music.

People have differing musical tastes because their expectations are learned in different cultures and environments.  They also have varied backgrounds and life experience.

Markind acknowledges that the predictive coding theory may downplay innate biological influences and  over stress culture and learning.  The theory also fails to explain why we enjoy listening to songs when they become familiar with few surprises to predict.

The article argues that we like music because our brains learn musical patterns from our culture and experiences and then we get pleasure from predicting and interpreting the patterns.  The reward circuits in our brains are activated when music meets or challenges our expectations.  This creates emotional and physical responses to certain styles of music and creates meaning for us.

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