No Accounting for Taste

[RoundTheBend]

Ok cool, thanks for clarifying. And yes adages are oversimplifications, so I appreciate the clarification.

[Rhett]

>>The bolded statement though... does that mean DSOTM=...Baby One More Time, or it just isn't significant enough to matter?

Most of us were probably surprised at the revelation, but Richard Thompson taught us that Max Martin's Britney tunes are pretty damned good.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/video...n-festival

[Applerill]

I honestly don't know what "educated opinion" means anymore, though, particularly when it leads so often to purism. This past semester I took a recording class taught by a professor that thought that hip hop "hadn't proven itself as an artform", and that Beyonce "should focus on learning her history instead of being on American Idol", and that "music is the most worst its ever been because of the loudness war". These are all expectations I expect from someone in their forties, but even in regards to things he should've been qualified in he was often mistaken, like when he thought Syd Barrett was in Henry Cow. Even though I've historically not considered myself much of an anti-intellectual, part of that inevitably made me wonder, "Is this really what having an 'educated' opinion looks like?"

In general, I just find it hard to believe in these "objective truths" in music without being a douchebag. With the girlfriend I had two years ago, I'd technically listened to many more albums than her, but every day I become more convinced that her taste was better than mine.

Then again, maybe "educated opinions" are a lot more specific than that. Maybe this is like the people in Louisiana who were there for the foundational Big Freedia shows in the early 2000s, or maybe people who studied in Italy with the most famous spectralist composers. But it seems like 99% of those who claim to have an "educated opinion" really just have a cloud to yell at, so I think I'm gonna keep on listening ephemerally while still reading as much as I can on why other people like something.

[RoundTheBend]

Great points about what it means to be educated Applerill. I think just because someone is a professor, doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. I feel like education in America=you had money to go to school, not that you actually know anything. I mean that is an oversimplification, and there are perfectly brilliant professors, but I hope you understand what I mean. Another way of saying what I mean is I knew a guy in Germany who failed his entrance exams to become a psychiatrist. And by failed, I mean he didn't get above a 70% or something like this. He will NEVER be a psychiatrist in Germany... if he came to America and had the coin... well he'd probably be accepted somewhere and eventually become a psychiatrist. (this is all besides the point... but just thought I'd ramble on about the status of a professor isn't what it used to be.

I think Muslim-Bigfoot hit it on the head on what it meant to be a master and where an educated/mastered experienced opinion does make a difference (but was also perfectly smart in being vague about it, because it isn't as black and white as I write... heehehe).

[boyd94]

It's easier for me to talk about my views on this matter in the abstract, of course art is subjective, but in reality when I'm having a conversation with someone about music, hearing someone's opinions about certain songs/artists, taking recommendations etc., the depth and width of their musical knowledge and listening will determine how much weight I put into their words.

I will still disagree with a music listener more enthusiastic than I, but I'll have more respect for their view and it might even cause me to revisit and investigate those points of disagreement when I get home to my music collection.

I'm more likely to just zone out with someone who just listens to whatever's on the radio. We don't have remotely similar points of reference.

It's elitist, but I can't help it.

[Rhett]

"I'm more likely to just zone out with someone who just listens to whatever's on the radio."

Haha. My bias is against people who talk over music.

[Applerill]

If someone thinks liking Muse makes them sophisticated, it's hard for me to take them seriously.

[craola]

[craola]

this is a little tangent,,.,,, but people like what they're going to like.

i have a friend who played in a pretty decently established jazz group back in the 70s. //knew jaco pastorious on a first-name basis. all that jazz. anyweigh, he's got great taste in music.

he also thinks U2's Vertigo is the greatest pop song of the last twenty years. i can't agree with him in the slightest, but it's his opinion. it's what his ears are hearing. it strikes me as odd, given his everything, but what gives?? objectively, i can't fault the song for anything. it's in tune. the band is pretty tight on the track. the production is solid. Bono's voice is pret impressive, as always.

subjectively, it's chalk'd up with too many cliches for my liking, but that's my own agenda on the table. Muse... i suppose i get to feeling the same way with Muse post-OoS. cliches abound. i can respect someone who digs it though. i get it. there's some cool stuff there. impressive stuff. objectively. as a singer and musician, matt bellamy's got chops. so do the other two guys.
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[RoundTheBend]

Totall agree with craola.

I know a woman who studied at Juliard violin performance. She easily had 16518498161 hours of intense music training/playing/listening to "sophisticated" [ ] music.

Yet she couldn't stand listening to it... she wanted Coldplay and Muse. It was more enjoyable for her to listen to that.

So absolutely, taste is taste.

On a similar note, there's members of this site who love like Britney Spears, yet they have very solid/experienced/educated/cultured/sophisticated [ ] taste.