Although others that are passionate may try to prove that their preferences are far superior to yours, no metric can dictate that and nor should it. At the same time, you can listen to the top 50s on your commute and say you’re into music. Every memory and connotation I attach to a song, artist or album creates a unique experience that I connect with.ĭon’t get me wrong, you can still be pretentious, listen to the deepest cuts, and “gatekeep” freely. My musical taste is impeccable because it means a lot to me and is a reflection of my lived experiences and personality. Whether I’m listening to Aphex Twin or Sister Vanilla, both can be valid to me as good music while still being validly regarded as bad. That is the beautiful nature of music it is completely subjective and arbitrary. I had the preconception that to be interested in music, I had to be pretentious, listen to the most obscure music and know every artist I was asked my opinion on.Īfter realizing the absurdity of categorizing musical preference as good or bad, valid or invalid, my perspectives changed. Despite starting this club, I still felt completely unqualified to be able to associate myself with music as a genuine interest. Shortly after finishing my first year at Queen’s I started “Queen’s Album Club”, an album review club with the central goal of bringing people with similar musical interests together. Preference, at its root, is a reflection of the listener’s identity Kate McConnell Although much of the ego-inflating behaviour is normal and expected, it still perpetuates a strange narrative that to have what is considered to be a “good taste” in music and identify as a “music lover”, you must be extremely knowledgeable and listen to the most obscure tracks. It’s a hard pill to swallow that your highly curated playlists may not be the best thing to ever exist.
I will admit that being pretentious about music can be fun at times. Accompanying their niche preferences, they will most likely carry the mentality that their taste is far more superior than any casual listener. Their sense of entitlement may stem from production nerdiness as they rant about how a legitimately good song MUST be pristinely mixed and mastered by the most talented artists. They listen to SoundCloud leaks, YouTube only mixes, and strictly support artists under 10k streams. Preference, at its root, is a reflection of the listener’s identity, influenced by their experiences, opinions and media consumption.Īlthough no quantifiable metric dictates what is considered good or bad music, we all know at least one pretentious music enthusiast who thinks they’ve figured it out. Despite its ubiquity, the subjective nature of musical preference is undeniable.
Music is a medium that connects people, promotes dialogue and invokes intense emotion, which makes it the ultimate universal language.
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