When I dropped off my older son at college two weeks ago, the sight of all those cinderblock-walled dorms and people getting to know their roommates brought back memories. 
I didn't last two months with my first college roommate, and music played a big role in our eventual parting-of-the-ways--though it wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. No dorm director was going to allow a roommate switch based on Classic Rock vs. '80s Rock. But I need quiet when I study, and my roommate wasn't able to get any work done without listening to Genesis or the Police at top volume.
I never did wind up with a roommate who shared the same taste in music I did. My second roommate, who lasted for the next three years, was more into Michael Jackson than Crosby, Stills and Nash. We managed to work it out, though.
Then I moved on to grad school, where I shared a townhouse with three other students. Two of them were music students, so the music in the house was a little different. One roommate would blare big-band tunes, and the other would answer with Baroque harpsichord and organ pieces.
I wonder how my son's roommate is putting up with him. He not only brought a large and varied music collection, but also a bunch of instruments--and last weekend he took the didgeridoo back to school as well.
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