Music

I honestly think you are wrong on this thought. There are TONS of people who play this game that are over your high end estimate.  Not that I am saying that there aren't people who play in your Age range, but to say that it is only 10-25 is crazy. 10-25 year old's are usually playing the next hotness that just came out and the free games with some playing NHL here and there IMO. The people that play this sports game, which is much less popular than 2k and Madden by a substantial margin, are going to be around the (giving a similar 15 year range) 20-35 most likely. 

This all being said, I will agree the music isn't great but I would rather they spend money on making the game better versus paying for music licenses that, if you ask a lot of people, generally turn off anyways due to it being distracting or they listen to their own music on alternate apps like Discord or Spotify etc.

35 yo creaking bones old guy here - I would prefer NHL didn't follow Madden and give me some classic/hard rock instead but there is a team of audio scientifimagicians who actually gather data on what music to add to games; I don't know like 95% of this playlist but I also haven't cared since they removed the ability to use downloaded songs and I just mute the background audio anyway

I agree the music is awfully and you used to be able to put your own music into the game in the old days. Also being playing since 2000 and im 73 years old. 

I'd be one to disagree.  2k I have to shut off.  This at least has singing and instruments being played instead of mumble rap.

Music is incredibly subjective. We can't possibly create a soundtrack that everyone loves. The best I can advise is to turn off the music and listen to whatever you like.

I think the music in these games is almost unanimously hated. Let's ask ourselves "what music do you think of when you think of hockey? What genre is played almost exclusively at the rink? Why do we not play THAT music?" Would it break the bank that much to grab some old 90's - 2025 rock songs? Every year it seems they drop 1 or 2 decent songs/ bands. I'm mostly playing hockey in the game though so it's not a huge issue for me, just sorta telling how far out of touch they are with their consumers.. the music, pressure system, match my room.. they just have 0 idea. I would be shocked if any of them actually enjoy their own game tbh. I truly believe this team just wants to use this title as something they can put in their resume.

The bigger the band, the more expensive it is to license music. So, we can put those resources into gameplay, presentation, fixing issues, etc. or we could spend a lot more on hearing the same songs you hear in arenas. 

I would be shocked if any of them actually enjoy their own game tbh. I truly believe this team just wants to use this title as something they can put in their resume.

There are many of us here that enjoy the game. We all have our frustrations of course though.