One of the more interesting things I have discovered so far in listening to classical music is how many people around me listen to at least some classical themselves. From friends to employees to neighbors to co-workers. All but a couple are into classical as much as I am, but they all have their niche of stuff they are familiar with and enjoy.

When I really started to analyze on what the common denominator was in these cases (after all we are talking about such a variety of people form different social, economic, ethnic, regional cultures) where there shouldn't be - or at least at firts glance.

Then I recognized it. They all had these three things in common - with those who listened to classical in comparrison had these things even more so:

1) They all listen or have a familiartiy with several genres of music, versus just one or two (bearing in mind that here in classical there are several genres as well, this makes "sense" to me that those who enjoy a variety of genres are more likely to enjoy some aspect of classical music).
2) They all consider themselves music buffs.
3) They all consider themselves audiophiles of some degree or another.

#1 is the one that sticks out the most to me. People who are willing to explore and look into different genres of music period seem to have a greater appreciation of classical. So an open-mindness about music I think is a very strong indicator of how or why someone would like classical music.

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Remember the 3 SW's: Some Will, Some Won't, So What!