[RoundTheBend]

There's been discussions in the past about liking certain music or disliking certain music...

Not so much on why...

Why do some unabashedly listen to pop music, yet clearly are well steeped in other music as well (stereotype is people of "high class" so to say don't listen to Vegas trash). Why do some like Avant-Garde or Free Jazz, and some just don't get it (me).

Not really looking for a discussion on why certain people listen to certain music, rather...

Why do you like the music you like?

No need to defend your top 100 in detail or whatever, just a quick synopsis of the type of music you like and why... I did this quickly in another thread and I've always wanted to understand more about this topic/people's reaction to the question.

For myself I wonder why I like what I like all the time...

[RoundTheBend]

Taken from my other post:

I am not someone who follows lyrics a lot, but love ideas if that makes sense... so unless a lyric grabs me (good or bad), I almost ignore 80% of lyrics... they mean less to me. I am more critical of them though than people I know, but definitely less critical than most on this site. Having said that, I was a German Lit major at school... so again I chose that mostly for the ideas... I'm way more into German philosophy than I am in let's say Goethe's Erlkönig because it sounds like a horse riding in the night if you account for the meter. That kind of structuralism/formalism just isn't my cup of tea.

I think I do focus on how music makes me feel or if it makes me think.

John Lennon's Working Class Hero or Bob Dylan's With God On Our Side and Only A Pawn In Their Game are extremely powerful songs to me due to their ability to express very powerful ideas. The melody/chords/key, etc. almost would be fine if they didn't exist. The music is secondary to those ideas.

Then there's how I feel: U2 makes me feel good. Yes, yes... make fun of it. But honestly I'm in a better mood if I listen to U2. Radiohead, as much as I love all but Pablo Honey, can be really depressing (especially Hail to the Thief... that album, even though I love it, sucks all hope and warm feelings out of my soul and sometimes I like that, but usually don't).

I also notice I'm more a fan of bombastic/grandiose music... Beethoven over Brahms (or for that matter Russian composers over French/mostly German), Little Richard over Elvis... you get the picture... I usually want it loud and in your face and full of passion than subtle. Not saying I only want quite music, rather passionate and strong quite music than simply atmospheric if that makes any sense. When I play with an effect on a guitar or bass... I typically fully explode the controls, not just have a slight effect... all or nothing.

For feeling... even though I like my "big bands", sometimes I get bored with them and want something new (hence this site). Feeling something fresh and exciting.

Then there's nostalgia. I mean it plays a small role, but when I listen to Motown, I'm immediately nostalgic to my childhood (I think the 80s had nostalgia to the 50s/60s... like the movie Stand By Me).

Anyway... Feeling and Idea is how I'd sum up my music...

[JOSweetHeart]

One reason why I love country music so much is because of it being pretty much an under dog in the music field, but another reason why is the honesty, the songs being about real life which means that true stories can be told in them as well. 😄 😄 😄

God bless you always!!! 😄 😄 😄

Holly
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[alelsupreme]

I like Coltrane cos it makes me seem sophisticated and too smart to enjoy Meat Loaf, which I secretly end up listening to more.
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[souplipton]

I don't think I have the words to adequately express my opinion on this topic, but I'm gonna try anyways.

My closest approximation of what makes me like a piece of music is that it makes me think or feel something. Music, like all art forms, is media, and media is a form of indirect communication. Someone, somewhere, felt or thought something, some inspiration, and made a piece of media (in this case, the piece of music), which relates to that thought or feeling. I then receive that piece of music, and it either makes me think/feel something or it doesn't (what I get out of a piece of music won't always be what they tried to put into it). Music I like succeeds in making me experience something I can relate to; a thought, an emotion, a perspective, or maybe just the urge to dance. It doesn't have to be something profound, or something complex, or something positive, as long it gives me a genuine experience. Music I don't like either creates an impression which I can't relate to, or lacks the ability to create an impression, which I guess my definition of bad music. I think this bad music is created when there is no initial inspiration which sparks the creation of the music, but rather the music was made for some reason other than to give people that true genuine experience.

Personally I like this answer, because it can explain the rather expansive tastes of some persons, because it doesn't matter what the music is, all that matters is its effect on the listener. Does Coltrane make you feel something?? Good. Do Kraftwerk also acheive that?? Also good. Nine Inch Nails?? The Beatles?? Kendrick Lamar?? David Bowie?? Can?? deadmau5?? Miles Davis?? All good. And if Katy Perry or Taylor Swift also somehow affect you (how is beyond me, but lets just say that they do)?? Then good for you. Music is intensely personal because different people will have different things which they can relate to. I haven't lived in your shoes, so maybe you've had lived some event where now these things speak to you where they don't to me.

On a related note, I do think that some musicians bury their messages deeper in their music (such as progressive rock), whereas others display it on the surface (such as bubblegum pop, but also punk rock). I think some of the music that I like that others don't is because I take more seriously than others, and I'm willing to sit there with my headphones on listening intently, trying to get every last bit of detail out of a piece, whereas others I know aren't willing to look past the surface. I think that may explain some differences in taste, but that's just my guess. And your guess is as good as mine.

Anyways, that's my best attempt at an explanation. I welcome feedback if you've got any opinions on my perspective.

[paladisiac]

Does this thread boil down the essence of comparing peoples' Myers Briggs, etc.?

Anyway, for me, the major events:

1970s: mom's 8-track collection and 70s radio
1980s: parents' record collection and 80s radio
1984+: michael jackson *thriller* and music videos
late 1980s-early1990s: going out to various dance clubs, college
1990s: nirvana *nevermind*, music email subscriptions, bmg/columbia house, alt-radio, cmj music mag and being an alternative/techno/hip-hop dj
late 1990s-early 2000s: napster & p2p, emusic & pitchfork and various other online mags (like TMT and cokemachineglow)
2000s-2010s: marriage, major surgeries and multiple terrabytes compelled me to check out "the history of music" more
2010s: it seems i've finally started to lose touch with new music due to age or less motivation, as more and more doesn't seem listenable to me. what a shame as i've been on top of and enjoying the hell outta new music since i was 2 years old (according to my baby album). i've continued to mine the history of music.

Psychologically? I've often rebelled against those that i was "around" the most. Nowadays, i don't go out much and i hang out on a few sites like this one, so my rebelling is pushing me more towards the pop spectrum.
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fav artists NOW | ALL-TIME favs | i listen 2 more music than u so u don't have 2!

[Jimmy Dread]

Folk because I have Pagan tendencies and feel more at home standing in a cornfield than at a Metallica gig.
Indie Pop because I like girls in polka dots and DMs
90s Indie because I was a radio DJ back then and had a huge fringe
Funk because I had an Afro when I was 16
MPB because I have a crush on Bruno
EDM/Rave/Electronica because I have a collection of glow sticks, and
'Reggae' 'cos I iz black an' ting.

Irie.
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[Norman Bates]

[Norman Bates]