When you listen to music--when you open up spotify and choose which album or artist you want to hear--you're deliberately seeking out a very specific mood to accompany your current atmosphere, or mental state. What mood you decide on depends on your personality. If you're feeling depressed, you might seek out very depressing music to find solace in, or instead you might try and cheer yourself up with exciting music. Some people have a tendency to be very explorative with how music affects their emotions: they're kind of like thrill seekers, but with new and exciting emotions that they never knew they could feel before. If I listen to, say, Xiu Xiu's record A Promise, that's music that incites feelings of self-loathing and apocalyptic angst virtually unparalleled by any other work of art I've yet to discover. Now, some people might say, "Hell yea, let's give that a shot," and others might prefer to stay in their comfort zone and rely on music like a crutch.

It's similar to food. I can try some exotic dish I've never had before which fills my mouth with new and interesting flavors or I can get the southern style mac n' cheese: it depends on what kind of person I am. When I hear an experimental metal or rock piece, that difference to the norm is a wonderful experience. On the other hand, somebody might hear it, say yuck immediately, and go back to James Taylor's greatest hits.