What Do You Look For In Music?
Why do you choose to listen to the music that you do? Do you look for interesting lyrics, compelling melodies, or just something catchy? Do you look for a psychedelic adventure, something fast and angry, or just something to relax to? Do you look underground or pull from the top 100? Posts could be something like but are not limited to, "I like pop music because I like something easy to sing along with," or, "I'm all about Scandinavian death metal because I like a driving rhythm," or, "Gangsta rap is the shit because thug life all day." Instead of debating taste (i.e. country vs rap) we can discuss the merits and demerits of various genres and examine the reasons people might prefer listening to them.
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It really depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm in a party mood, then I generally like listening to the top 100 kind of music. A lot of bass, and something that I can dance to. If I need to relax then slow rock, something that I enjoy usually all the time. But all-in-all, I like searching for music that's not popular. Part of it probably has to do with me searching for it, the search is half the fun. Alternative is always something I love. I love music that has meaningful lyrics too. Something that I can think of a moment in my life because the lyrics take me there. 1
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Why do you choose to listen to the music that you do? I choose what I can really get into. If I don't like it, I'll avoid it. Not that I put it on a black list, but I'll just not try and listen to it when I'm looking for music to listen to. Like the other day, I listened to three Breathe Carolina songs, and only liked one (which I like the remixed version more). So I'm not going to try and listen to them anymore (33% on their top songs? c'mon). Do you look for interesting lyrics, compelling melodies, or just something catchy? Lyrics I look into only after liking a song. Rarely will the lyrics make me enjoy a song that I didn't really like before. However, it can make me pay attention to something that at first I didn't like (like Still Alive by Pearl Jam). To me, though, what's most important is the music itself. Not just catchy. Catchy is fine and all, but what I'm really looking for is something that can either excite me (Alabama Shakes), make me wanna move (or fight, like Marilyn Manson or House/Dubstep), and/or blow my mind (Pink Floyd, of Montreal, and System of a Down). Do you look for a psychedelic adventure, something fast and angry, or just something to relax to? All depends, really. Fast and angry fits me when I'm not in the best mood. Also when I'm trying to get out of bed. Relaxing is better when I'm trying to sleep or already relaxed. Psychedelic is great for weed and psychedelics, but I love it in general. Do you look underground or pull from the top 100? Both. I think that a lot of musicians prefer music that is technically fascinating. For example, guitar players liking complex guitar riffs and solos. Vocalists liking vocal harmonies and groups with strong voices. Drummers liking music with intense and fast percussion. Song writers liking music that all comes together like a work of art. People not as much into making music are more into catchy stuff. this is the stuff on Top 40, and there's nothing wrong with it, but they're less concerned with the technical aspect and more concerned with whether they want to shout out the chorus in a group of friends and can learn it easily. The politically/philosophically minded (not mainstream politics, either) are more into music with lyrics that talk about politics, philosophy, history, etc. This will delve more into punk, folk, underground hip-hop, etc. Not to be limited to this, of course. All types of music get political. But they want music that's mostly about the lyrics, and lyrics that speak to them. And there's music that speaks to culture. Southerners with country, Hispanics with Salsa and reggaeton, blacks with hip-hop and rap, etc. In today's world, I'd say that it's easier to be musically diverse. Music has been around for centuries, and it's been enough time for people to recognize that others exist. As well, we live in an information age where music sharing is so fast, easy, and even inevitable. You're going to be exposed to music you've never heard of before in this day, no matter how hard you try to stay away. Automatically this results in people liking more kinds of music than ever before. 1
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People not as much into making music are more into catchy stuff. this is the stuff on Top 40, and there's nothing wrong with it, but they're less concerned with the technical aspect and more concerned with whether they want to shout out the chorus in a group of friends and can learn it easily. I kind of equate pop music to fast food. People choose the easy, cheap, fast alternative instead of expending time, effort, and money to get something quality. I'm not against eating fast food, and someone who always eats fast food is not an idiot or a failure in all aspects of life, just in the way they eat. Similarly, people who listen almost exclusively to pop music are not inherently and entirely bad in my eyes, they've just chosen to follow the well beaten path of apathy and consumption for that part of their life. And, when critiquing their musical tastes, I find there to be little to nothing to respect. I understand it, but if you listen to pop you've opted out of developing a musical taste and decided to like whatever pop culture shits out. I restrict my judgement and condemnation of those people very much to that one aspect of their personality, and it's an opinion I usually keep to myself unless someone engages me in conversation about it or tries to set pop music playing in my car. Or, apparently, if I'm on a debate site. I don't want you to get the idea I shout at people when try drive by bumping pop music. I guess what I'm trying to say it I wouldn't respect someones taste in restaurants if I knew they only ever ate fast food. I wouldn't take seriously someones opinion in a discussion about good film if I knew they only every watched Jersey Shore. I don't think people are wrong or bad for eating fast food or watching Jersey Shore, I just think it somewhat devalues your opinion about good food or television if you only eat and watch crap. Pleasurable crap, perhaps, but if so I think it should be an occasional, guilty pleasure, like me being lazy and starving and scarfing a McFatty Burger every now and again. People choose the easy, cheap, fast alternative instead of expending time, effort, and money to get something quality. What's the point in spending time, money, and effort on something for aesthetic value? That just seems like a douchebag thing to do. No one should be working hard to enjoy music. It should be natural, and it truly depends on your personal preference and lifestyle. Not on some kind of aesthetic superiority. Like when it comes to fast food, I don't give a shit about what I'm eating as long as it doesn't taste like dog shit. And many studies have even been done to show that people's judgment of gourmet vs. fast food is based more on the fact that it IS gourmet and less on the taste. As well, penn and teller has an interesting episode on the matter. Another vid they did shows how people will just say something is better because they think it's gourmet. not an idiot or a failure in all aspects of life, just in the way they eat. Elitist statement. they've just chosen to follow the well beaten path of apathy and consumption for that part of their life. Just more elitist judgment. Aesthetics have no objective value. if you listen to pop you've opted out of developing a musical taste and decided to like whatever pop culture shits out. Or you just prefer pop. I try to get people to listen to Pink Floyd or Infected Mushroom, but they just don't like it. Maybe if I put them on shrooms, but shrooms have made me enjoy Kid Cudi much more. It's just a mind opening experience where you can see the greatness in all types of things, including pop music. Not that all songs are great or w/e, I draw the line at certain artists or songs, but not because it's pop but because I personally don't like it. I also don't really like The Black Keys. Only have listened to a couple of songs, and it is in the Blues genre (which i really like, mainly Jack White stuff), but personally, still don't like the Black Keys. I guess what I'm trying to say it I wouldn't respect someones taste in restaurants if I knew they only ever ate fast food. I don't know what exactly you would judge the food by... it's food. What more do you need? Flavor. check. edible. check. that's about it. I wouldn't take seriously someones opinion in a discussion about good film if I knew they only every watched Jersey Shore. I dislike Jersey Shore, but it is fun to watch with other people. Same with Maury and Jerry Springer. I'm a pretty harsh critic on TV shows and Movies, but movies and TV shows have a lot to judge based on. Music does, as well, but music is also for other things, like dancing. Movies are to be watched, and if the movie lacks in any aesthetic appeal, it could be panned. however, people who like Transformers are okay in my book so long as they don't try to say that the story, plot, or acting were good. It was an awesome action flick, like Transporter or Expendables, and like those movies, everything else about it was either unoriginal or w/e. Now, I try to get even the music elitists to enjoy the music they never thought they would (death metal, dubstep, pop-house, experimental stuff like Crystal Castles or Justice), and sometimes it works. I didn't really start good with you, cause I came off harsh, but still, don't judge something based on pop. Just judge it based on whether you like it. Worry about the technical and lyrical aspect after you've come to enjoy it. Makes it easier to not throw away things that could actually be good. 1
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Why do you choose to listen to the music that you do? Do you look for interesting lyrics, compelling melodies, or just something catchy? Do you look for a psychedelic adventure, something fast and angry, or just something to relax to? For me it's an organic process, if the track catches me the right way, then it works. I've a love of music in all it's form, I make EDM, but that's only because I don't have the skill to make other types as well. One thing I've noticed about myself is that I don't go to a particular sound to fit my mood, or, not intentionally anyway. I listen to Metal or Techno first thing in the morning and Classical before I go clubbing, but not always, I just get a taste for it. I've got 1000s of CDs, records and cassette tapes that I've been collecting since I was a kid, so at anyone time I could be listening to the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack followed by New Order and the then Metallica, I can't explain it and some people find it weird. It also makes for interesting Dj sets a the early hours of the morning when people are coming down. Do you look underground or pull from the top 100? Both really, I have tons of each, I will admit a history of music snobbery, generally in my late teens, where I would criticize others for their taste, usually because they were into chart music, but the older I got the more I chilled out about that and actually now find it to be a massive personal flaw, that i deeply regret It's funny because I've gone back through all of my records a few times and have pulled out many top quality tracks that were in their day considered chart music. 1
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I will admit a history of music snobbery, generally in my late teens, where I would criticize others for their taste, usually because they were into chart music, but the older I got the more I chilled out about that and actually now find it to be a massive personal flaw, that i deeply regret It's funny because I've gone back through all of my records a few times and have pulled out many top quality tracks that were in their day considered chart music. Same, and while I generally refrain from criticizing all but the best of my friends (who might, alternately, attack the music I listen to, so I think it's somewhat justified) and have come to understand why people listen to modern chart music, I still, for want of a better word, disagree with it. Chart music back in the day still required some level of being able to sing or being able to play an instrument, but no longer. You can be an ugly, talentless, tone-deft individual and through the miracles of plastic surgery, autotune, and premade instrumental loops/backup bands you can still crank out hit singles. Im pretty sure the Jonas Brothers were grown in a Disney lab and artists like Taylor Swift cant struggle their way through more than a few guitar riffs without the help of a much more talented backup band. We have hip-hop artists trying to trademark technology that does their singing for them, and skilled producers fabricating a so-and-so (feat.) so-and-so tracks without the two so-and-sos ever actually meeting. In that regard, I don't think artists, producers, and music in general in the past had the same level of shameless, money-grubbing depravity, though I'm sure they would have if they had the chance. I make EDM, but that's only because I don't have the skill to make other types as well. The difference between a simple house beat and a simple guitar riff is a steep learning curve at the beginning, getting down the basics for guitar, and a steep learning curve after you've already made your track and are attempting to master it at the end for electronic music. In my experience. Having learned how to play several instruments to various degrees of proficiency in addition to regularly producing, I can safely say it's just as difficult to perfect music of the electronic variety as it is any other type. What do you produce? Genre wise? When it comes to electronic music I listen to a lot of deep, tech, and minimal house, but I produce almost exclusively laid back downtempo tracks. 1
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As far as I'm concerned, the three main things I look for are melody, tempo, and instruments. As long as a singer doesn't have a raspy voice, though, which bugs me for some reason, I am fine with absolutely any voice. (No matter how many times people try to point it out to me, I usually just cannot hear auto-tune.) Lyrics don't matter much to me, but if I relate to them then that's a plus. But meaning is not a factor for me in the least; I'm more about the sound. Due to the fact that I care about melody, it annoys me when singers hold their voices or notes for a long time, because it really distracts from the melody. I also genuinely like melodies that are...not necessarily repetitive, but predictable, so I can basically grow to like any song if I hear it enough times. As for tempo, I like both fast and slow songs, but they have to match with the instruments--like, I don't like a fast song played on the guitar. Some of the instruments I would say that I like are guitars, especially in songs with finger-picking (i.e., Time of Your Life); I prefer acoustic to electric though, and I hate stuff like distortion. I also love piano, both acoustic and electric, particularly in faster songs. However, I don't like instruments like the banjo or the trumpet as much, and I don't know a lot about music, but I think I prefer major chords to minor chords. Songs that have a peppy feel to them also make me feel happy, whereas other songs that use minor chords tend to put me in a depressed mood (which isn't always a bad thing, but still). I think that's why I've never liked classic rock. As for what I pull from, I don't think I pull from anything in particular. I don't listen to the radio (which also means I can enjoy Call Me Maybe and You Belong With Me on my own time and don't have to complain about stuff being overplayed), so I wouldn't really say that I pull stuff from the Top 100. And honestly, most stuff on the radio doesn't appeal to me. But I don't necessarily make a point to look underground, either; I like Taylor Swift just because I like her and her sound, and I also spend a lot of time listening to Hank Green because I love his video blog and lots of his songs are very popish. Plus, there are certain musicals that are on the popish side that I like a lot, such as Wicked, Hair, and Little Shop of Horrors. So I think that those three things are what I listen to most of the time. I definitely don't like classical music; I tried to listen to it at one point when I really had a good attitude about it, but it still went in one ear and out the other. I don't know...I mean, I respect all these composers for working so long and hard to create these things, but I can't really get myself to feel...impressed by it. And again, the sound just doesn't do it for me. So overall, I think that although some of the music that I like might be on the cheesy side, that is not a result of my not trying hard enough. I think I'm very aware of the music I listen to, and I know what I like. 1
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