[Mike B.]

Most of us don't qualify as the average listener. We stay aware of as many options as we can and read about offerings in audio related forums and magazines.
The average listener does not stream or explore like most of us. My guess is the majority get their exposure though radio and TV. In contrast we have the tools and hunger to seek out and try more sources.
I buy a lot of current music. My comments above focus on the top 40 over produced, electronic altered stuff. I would be interested to see more data on what sources most listeners access.  Anyone have more data?

[Carlman]

Today's youth neither 'watches TV' or listens to the radio from what I've seen.
They stare at their phone and do whatever their social platform tells them to do to conform.  If a boy band in Korea is deemed 'hot' then that's what they also like (not a slam on Tyson )... but that's the standard of how today's generation is getting exposure to new music.
The ones that seek new music will use streaming services to navigate the algorithmic rabbit hole to their level of tolerance like I and many of us do.  I really like Pandora for this... plus they have obscure stuff I wouldn't have guessed they had.
Spotify isn't anywhere as good. Quboz had nothing but what I chose when I had it... not sure if it changed.

[mix4fix]

What is their or our timeline of "old" and "new"?

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I still listen to music from the 70's but not as much as I use to.  There is some excellent music today, but you have to look for it as it is not mainstream.

Groups and Artists like London Grammar, Artic Lake, Alman Brown, Flow The Group to name a few.   Also, Blue Coast and Sound Liaison puts out a lot of good music.

I like to browse the Bandcamp site for new music.
https://bandcamp.com/

I also find some great music on forums like this one.

[newzooreview]

What is their or our timeline of "old" and "new"?

"Only songs released in the past 18 months get classified as “new” in the MRC database,…"