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"Taste is subjective" (pg. 3)
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| Nrg2Nfinit |
| it sounds good when im on drugs |
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| elFreak |
| I think this question only matters to those who care if others enjoy the same music as them. It is one thing to argue about music, art has been argued ever since it has been appreciated , but to argue on arguments is a tad insane on the some of you need get out of the basement more often.:p |
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| PETRAN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nrg2Nfinit
it sounds good when im on drugs |
Haha exactly. Problem is that taste is not only inter-individual subjective but intra-individual as well. Depending on context, mood, thoughts etc. i can feel entranced by listening to an orchestral Sigur Ros piece at home, but then again if i go out with some nice people i can have the time of my life by listening to some cheesy stuff (and no, i don't do drugs, neither i get drunk,i'm natural). I witnessed this recently when i went to an electronic festival, and there was this mainstream greek neo-synth-pop band "Mikro". Whilst many of their tunes are quite cheesy, at one point, whilst jumping within an enthousiastic crowd watching an enthousiastic live performance , listening to the sweet and poppy electronic melodies vibrating through the crowd, i felt great.
What matters is our perceptions of, as well thoughts and attitudes towards the music. And these, can change easily, depending on factors such as the ones i've stated before. The human mind creates a lot of illusions, and one of them is that we are mostly stable and rigid, able to predict our behaviour and future (wrong!).
Furthermore, taste and musical complexity and/or accomplishment are two different things. You can argue that a Britney Spears tune is very simple, that is stuff like: it lacks muscianship, the ideas used are simplistic and old etc. But so is a lot of EDM and modern pop and rock music in general. I wouldn't suggest to use these factors as criteria of goodness, first of all because these objective factors and subjective perceptions are two different things (there is no tautology), second because we would be forced to discard a lot of modern music (including the majority of EDM) as not good due to the lack of complexity. |
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| Clovis |
| Knowledge is power! |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sykonee
I've often found the entire 'taste is subjective' argument mostly revolves around one's exposure to the arts. Impressions are usually formed through comparisons, and, in most cases, the more one is exposed to the arts, the greater understanding of what it encompasses can greatly alter one's taste. |
That's bang on the money, and what we keep in mind when reviewing something. To put it another way: there may be no right or wrong in what sounds good, but there's always experience. How valid is the opinion of someone who's never heard any music before?
Other stuff that often matters when judging someone's taste are qualities such as open-mindedness, attention span, bias and simply thoughtfulness. People who think about music more are likely to have better taste. |
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| RJT |
| Also, for those who say the whole subjectivity comment is an easy out, while that may be true in some cases, the fact that there are even 30-40+ year olds who are long time Tiesto fans would seem to indicate that some people just like bad music forever - and they're more than entitled to. :p |
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by RJT
Also, for those who say the whole subjectivity comment is an easy out, while that may be true in some cases, the fact that there are even 30-40+ year olds who are long time Tiesto fans would seem to indicate that some people just like bad music forever - and they're more than entitled to. :p |
They also wear snorkeling masks to clubs, and t-shirts that say "SEX INSTRUCTOR, 1st Lesson FREE".
I mean, to me, this indicates bad taste on all fronts. |
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| enydo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Clovis
I mean, to me, this indicates bad taste on all fronts. |
This usually seems to be the case. Not to say they're wrong for doing so, if that's what they're into then that's that. Some people change and others don't. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by RJT
This. |
I would agree, but I think taste develops with experience (breadth and depth of listening), so it's not such a simple matter.
| quote: | Originally posted by PETRAN
The human mind creates a lot of illusions |
well, the human mind is basically a collection of illusions. i believe taste is an illusion. i think people with good taste are more aware of their delusions than people without. |
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| RJT |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
I would agree, but I think taste develops with experience (breadth and depth of listening), so it's not such a simple matter.
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Agreed (though I never indicated it was a "simple" matter in the first place), but experience doesn't necessitate the development of specific tastes.
And people's tastes are (once again) spurned by all sorts of motives we can't even really speculate on. Sometimes people just want to appear hip and mold their "taste" on that rather than what they actually like, sometimes people don't care what anyone else thinks and unabashedly proclaim their love for "The Anthem" - and everything in between.
Personally, I get far more irritated by the kids who absolutely have to make sure other people think their taste is hip than I do by the laser reachers. At least the trance-crackers are honest. |
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| elFreak |
| germans in turtlenecks. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by RJT
At least the trance-crackers are honest. |
haha, yeah. then again, possibly suffering from the same delusion. :p
there are a ton of people who listen to clubby trance music because they think it makes them different or attractive in a club or sensitive when they are jazzercizing and singing along to the anthem. i happen to know several
*hippie hat*
as for me my music selection is pretty much guided by one principle, and that is that I just sense something deeply spiritual or inspired in the music. it's completely subjective i suppose, but i think there are some things that are universally emotional. it's sort of like tapping into a huge cosmic river of collective consciousness. It's why I prefer tracks that sound 'timeless' to tracks that sound 'timely', ie trendy or faddy. |
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