Gamers have terrible taste in music.

[RadiusXd]

Honestly, spending time in music forums teaches me that music nerds actually do despise video game nerds, just because they think they all only listen to anime and video game soundtracks, and crap like Nickleback, Drowning Pool and Linkin Park and other varieties of rock and metal made to appeal to 12 year olds. I think personally it comes from the stereotype that all video game nerds don't have a social life or are culturally inept, or are immature because they don't see video games as a legitimate past time for anyone over the age of 10. Not all think that, but the incredibly elitist do, and I have seen a fair few look down on video game players, who honestly don't help themselves too much with the abundance of "BLACK OPS NO SCOPE MONTAGES" with Drowning Pool in the background.

Mind you gamers come in all forms, from those that think Nickleback are the greatest geniuses in music today, to those that listen to deeply underground and obscure artists, there's all sorts and you can't generalise at all, some gamers have what seems to me awful taste, but others have fantastic taste. It's all subjective, so no one can answer that question definitively.

hey hey hey, whats wrong with linkin park?
I mean, I listen to a variety of music. but I don't mind linkin park. I don't like their newer music so much though, if thats what you meant.

 

[Pinkamena]

What is this, I don't even.
There's no such thing as "bad musical taste". There's different tastes, but they're all subjective! No taste is "better" than any other.

 

[Sidiron]

I agree with the previous posters who have pointed out that the statement makes no logical sense, the common thread between gamers is that we play games, so we will all have different tastes in music, although admittedly we may encounter bands from music in game and thus you might say that the games do give us some influence when it comes to music but the music changes with genre of game.

That being said, reading down this board has slightly raised my hope in humanity as the music tastes generally agree with mine.

 

[Jazoni89]

I was admittedly a huge metal head when I was younger, but now I'm in my twenties I just listen to anything, because the music stereotypes lessen when you get older.

I Can listen to something like Tool, and then to something like Shy FX, and then to something like Warpaint, then to stuff like Bassnectar. I have a incredibly broad taste in music, which really reflects the fact that I just like music, and not one style.

So no, the gamer stereotype when it comes to music is very wrong, but i do know a few people who are gamers, and listen to nothing but metal, but I digress.

 

[xplosive59]

Loving the sarcasm there...or are you being serious? :S

 

[Kryzantine]

I don't even know this stereotype. My musical taste is completely independent of my gaming taste. OK, not completely independent. I listen to a lot of game and movie OSTs. But apart from that, my gaming has not influenced my musical taste at all. I can recognize good sound when I hear it, be it classical music, hip hop, rock, etc.

 

[Latinidiot]

I have never encountered that stereotype?

 

[Your once and future Fanboy]

What stereotype?
I don't know where you've seen this, but gamers love music.
we have franchises with excellent music, like Final fantasy, Halo, Chrono; trigger & cross, Metal gear solid, Xenosaga, breath of fire, and many more.
music is an essential part of games, and we have world wide concerts with game music.

and if you think this is bad music, listen to these songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jh89VELCo4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiOmVguL7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0mQk7JEVq4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbeeMm9LQSM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3BqszYW-O8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH3fLzxRX40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqe6ajhMO2E

I limited myself to one song per franchise, and only lesser known songs (i.e not stuff like mario, final fantasy or zelda main theme), so there are a lot more.

 

[ryanxm]

Have you ever heard jonathan coulton? I rest my case.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I abhor this "everything but country and rap" or whatever mentality people have going, which I find can actually be prevalent among gamers, and highly dangerous.

The whole "I listen to everything but country and rap" thing is always quite amusing; the only people who ever say that are generally quite unadventurous in their exploration of the world of music and don't realize at all how deep the rabbit hole goes and quite how many totally unique holes there are in the first place..

I find criticizing people for not liking a particular genre or two just as narrow-minded as disliking entire genres. To some degree, I can safely say I dislike rap as a genre, not because it's "all bitches, hoes, and bling" but because I find the style and focus on "the beat" to be boring. There are a few exceptions to my dislike, Beastie Boys, Spearhead/Michael Franti, and Outkast, but 99% of what I hear in rap does not really hold my attention. It's a similar situation with country.

Essentially I would liken it to painting. Certain genres of music rely on specific colors of paint to define them, and no matter how you present the colors it won't change my opinion of a painting that is primarily done in brown, blue, or whatever color you choose.

Also, I'm willing to bet there's a genre or two you're not fond of that someone could make the same argument towards you.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Is this a stereotype? I've never heard it before.

I like so much random crap, so it's hard to tell. My main thing is metal, but I can also dive into jazz and even some punk stuff. Hell, I actually enjoy the occasional pop song. Although even the metal is all over the place, going from like 80s thrash to progressive death to instrumental-jazz-infused-awesomeness.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

I am a gamer.

I enjoy Avenged Sevenfold.

Therefore, gamers do not have bad taste in music.

 

[Ubermetalhed]

Never heard this before from anyone ever.

So dumb thread is dumb.

 

[BoredDragon]

Last time I checked, Guitar Hero and Rock Band were video games

 

[Jezzascmezza]

That's a pretty generalised statement, but judging by the amount of awful heavy metal screaming crap put in a lot of montages, it could be viewed as true to some extent.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

I suppose this stereotype is laid down by modern pop and rap listeners, who listen to Kesha and The Millionaires.
I say that not only is it opinion but my musical taste is "fresh". For lots of shit non-gamers listen to isn't even made by a musician of any sort. Also most people who lay down that stereotype don't like Zappa. And that's not okay.

 

[KnowYourOnion]

As you said, it's all subjective, it all comes down to individual taste, so there is no answer to your question.

Yup taste is subjective, but there is a technical level in music that can either be matched or not matched.

Just because music is technical doesn't mean it's good. For example a lot of metal is un-melodic bilge but that doesn't stop it being technical whereas some of the simplest songs are much more beautiful .

 

[erto101]

"Bad taste in music" doesn't exists. If you enjoy Justin Bieber or whatever then fine. I enjoy Jazz my mother hates it. It's just a matter of taste

 

[Sahasrala88]

I don't really think you can identify video game music as a specific genre. Different games have completely different styles of music. Some games like World of Warcraft and the Final Fantasy games use orchestral music, while games like Super Meat Boy and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time have a more rock based sound. Then there are the older 8-bit and 16-bit era game tunes from games like Tetris, Mega Man, etc. that could be considered their own genre. As far as stereotyping, I think people who aren't familiar with video game music make the assumption that video game music is all stuff from the 8-bit or 16-bit era. But I don't think there's really a stereotype that gamers have bad taste in music. There is more of a stereotype of what people think video game music is.

Just because we listen to game music doesn't mean that's all we listen to. I listen to classical, various rock genres, jazz, and soundtracks (film and video game). Video game music is just another set of the music spectrum with it's own set of sub-genres that share similarities with other music genres. Whether people choose to listen to it or enjoy, it doesn't really reflect their entire set of music tastes. So even if it were a stereotype, I don't think it would hold up.