You’re right, there’s not one variable that can explain all our music preferences. Social groups are especially important in our teenage life, when our identity is in the formation process.

There’s also an interesting article in the New York Times that talks about preferences based on what was popular at the time we were teenagers. People that were adolescents when these songs came out tend to rate them higher than any other group: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/opinion/sunday/favorite-songs.html

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment Rachele!