Hey, Pete:

Exposure to a particular form of music is certainly part of the equation. Most people form their musical tastes, based on what was popular during their teenager to mid-twenties years. Music then becomes a permanent "oldies" program. Much of the music that I like wasn't popular at that stage in my life. I heard a little bit of jazz on the top 40 (Brubeck's Take Five, and Swinging Shepherd Blues by Johnny Tate being examples.) But that was two or three songs. I never heard reggae, and at the time mostly hated country music (which I like much more now... or at least did in the 70's and 80's, long after I was a teenager.)

Mostly, I've always had a curiosity for music, and my two closest friends shared my adventuresome nature. If there was music I didn't like, I didn't come to the conclusion that it was crap. I figured that there must be something there that I couldn't hear. And so I learned more about the music. In college, me and my buddies went to opera (which I never acq