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Are you a music snob?


xgsjx
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I think as dincz hinted at earlier, there's a difference between being a snob and simply not liking a certain type of music.

Way I see it, at the root of it all, music is a tool for communication in a consumer-based industry, and not all of it is marketed/aimed at all of us- for example, I'd expect not many people here, myself included, would count themselves as One Direction fans, but then you could argue that this is because not many of us here are girls in our early teens(1D's target market- the people that the writers behind the band are trying to 'communicate' with) then we're not necessarily going to 'get' it. Music often has a very specific target audience(plenty of exceptions mind, before anyone says anything haha!) and if you're not in that target audience they could just as well be speaking to you in another dialect.

Not liking something once you've given it a proper go isn't always a sign of being a snob; maybe it's just not aimed at you. If you don't like certain types of music, try putting yourself in the mind of the people it's aimed at and all will become clearer- worked for me when I was being forced to study electro-acoustic/acousmatic composition at uni and I realised it was [u]mostly[/u] for pretentious arty-types with several cats.

True snobbery is not even giving something that first chance, like meeting someone new and clamping your hands over your ears before they can introduce themselves; even if, had you let them, they'd turned out to be a total yoghurt anyway.

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For me it comes down to:
- Do you feel the need to tell people their stuff is inferior?
- Do you look down on people for liking music that you deem inferior?
- Do you try to like stuff you do not really like - just because you think it has higher status and can be used as a self image booster even before you try to spread the notion to other people?
- RhysP's point about portraying an image about yourself.

Those things are what make snobbery for me. Knowing about superior or inferior music is not.
Some stuff simply is inferior. Worded seemingly more positively: some stuff simply is better than some other stuff. IMO there is no way that a reality can exist where this is not true. The question is just how we relate to this truth, and right away it becomes a question in the realm of social psychology - not a question of formal discourse.

Edited by BassTractor
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I definitely am as I have never been able to get into the bulk of orchestral music. Everything else is fine Jazz, folk, rock. punk, blues, dance etc. There is something about most orchestral music that I find difficult to like-even movie scores. I still like stuff like the William Tell but most leaves me cold.

Edited by Pinball
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I disagree with the premise that disliking a piece of music or a genre makes you a musical snob. Surely that would require you to consider one genre to be superior to others?

I'd say that different genres are just that - different. Not better or worse or superior or inferior, just different. And different people will like or dislike them according to their own personal taste - and that can change from day to day anyway!

Being snobbish about music is about as pointless as being snobbish about colours.

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Nope, no music snobbery here. I will genuinely listen to and find merit in just about all forms of music.

My iTunes library has Black Sabbath next to Britney Spears; Eek-A-Mouse next to Etta James; Half Man Half Biscuit alongside Hot Chip; Wu-Tang Clan rubbing shoulders with Yo-Yo Ma. I could go on... and god knows what's lurking in my vinyl collection (Camberwick Green soundtrack and Judy Garland shoved in amongst 90s jungle dubplates).

Open ears, open mind, etc :)


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No, not a snob. I grew up in the 60s when there was still top 40 where I was exposed to a lot of different types of music. Back then The Beatles and Frank Sinatra could chart at the same time.

I play bass guitar for money and while I have fun playing I don't play for fun. I'll play any genre as long as it's done well. I think it's why I work steadily.

The guys I know that will only play what they like, the guys that say, [i]" I'd never play this or that"[/i]. These very picky guys usually don't have an interest in working.They write and do home recordings and that's where they're are happy.

Blue

Edited by blue
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A lot of guys will say they don't like hip hop and beat up on it.

I'm 61 and know very little about hip hop. I do know that those hip hop stars are making money which means they have figured something out about the music business most of us ( including me ) don't. I would imagine it has to be creative and socially relevant and requires specific talents. I can't even figure out how they can remember so many words.

Blue

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[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1414341572' post='2588416']
No...if it's good it's good regardless of genre.
[/quote]

I can't agree. Almost all music is good only in its genre, but rubbish outside of it. Good punk is rubbish classical, and vice versa, imo. (Other genres are available...).

Edited by Dad3353
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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1414341459' post='2588415']
A lot of guys will say they don't like hip hop and beat up on it.
I would imagine it has to be creative and socially relevant and requires specific talents.

[/quote]
These would be the specific talents of massive marketing strategies?

Edited by inthedoghouse
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I'll try & clear up what I'm defining as music snobbery (which most of you have gotten spot on).
Where the listener will not listen to a specific genre(s) of music & dismiss it.

An example of this could be Hip Hop (I love this genre, but not very keen on gangsta rap). To say you don't like Hip Hop without listening to a couple of good tracks & finding the musical worth in them is snobbery to that genre.
It could be House music (another genre I adore) & thinking it's all just electronic push button stuff (it's not, there's some truly amazing basslines in there).

Something I must make clear, there's nothing wrong with being a music snob & sticking to the style(s) that you know & like, there's nothing wrong with liking every genre too.
So don't take offense, this is just for fun.
:)

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No excuses, I'm a snob. Always have been, probably always will. I grew up in the seventies, when you were either into albums or singles. Prog or glam. I was prog.

Then came punk which I hated with the same passion that they hated my music.

Now I listen to pretty much anything that I like. I'm enjoying the prog revival (that love which once dare not say it's name) but my iPod has everything from Coltrane to Gaga on it.

But I'm still a snob. I dislike hip hop (I suspect they haven't noticed my absence), I'm not keen on most of the bland pap they spew out of commercial radio these days (oddly, Radio One has started playing some really good new stuff), and you'd still struggle to get me to a country concert.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1414341766' post='2588420']


I can't agree. Almost all music is good only in its genre, but rubbish outside of it. Good punk is rubbish classical, and vice versa, imo. (Other genres are available...).
[/quote]

Well I can't agree then :P check out some postmodern jukebox cover versions on youtube and report back to my office at breaktime :D

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I'm not a snob, just choosy. I know that my time here is limited and that I won't possibly be able to listen to everything. Therefore I choose to listen to stuff I like most, but that doen't mean I hate or do not appreciate other genres.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1414349937' post='2588545']
Well I can't agree then :P check out some postmodern jukebox cover versions on youtube and report back to my office at breaktime :D
[/quote]

I would (or, at least, might...) if only I understood what [size=3] "[/size][size=3]postmodern jukebox cover versions on youtube" were..! :blush:[/size]

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[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1414350165' post='2588548']
I'm not a snob, just choosy. I know that my time here is limited and that I won't possibly be able to listen to everything. Therefore I choose to listen to stuff I like most, but that doen't mean I hate or do not appreciate other genres.
[/quote]
That's an interesting point. The internet has put more stuff at our fingertips than we'll ever be able to listen to in our lifetimes, and more literature than we'll ever be able to read, more films than we'll ever be able to watch. On this basis, it could be considered to be a waste of time looking for new stuff that you might not like when there is already plenty of stuff you know you will like.

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