Is there no Such Thing as Bad Music?

[Deleted]

Another music thread, seeing a trend lately.

Question in title, what the hell, Escapists, is this how it is? If someone likes a song the maker is automatically a professional and they should keep making more.

Nothing wrong with that, small garage bands are fine, I'm not in one but hey do what you like. The problem is when a band or singer goes wide scale, obviously they have to be good for people to like them. But what about the bands that get thrashed, ripped apart, and spit out by reviewers and other more popular singers? The people who like these bands are the people who will not listen to anything bashing it. My theory is that the human body subconsciously ignores anything that might deter you from liking something you really shouldn't be. This is supported by the fact that more people either love or hate bands like brokenCYDE (I gotta admit WanderFreak's thread on it sparked this thread), there is no 'eh they're all right'. I will call this inherent ability some humans posses Fan's Mind.

So, the question... reviewers who hate bands, are they just wrong? Is the fact that you're making money off preteens who hate their parents for not letting them get a nose ring enough to say your music good by default? I don't think so, the old phrase "Three men make a tiger" applies here, if 10,000 people love a band, that means their music is good? They deserve their money? They deserve to get paid more than people who actually do something important (or bands that not many people hate instead of the split in the middle).

Enlighten me.

 

[tehweave]

"Good" is in the eye of the beholder.

Spoiler

http://www.fischart.com/assets/art/artwork/Games/d20/beholder.jpg

I joke.

Really, it's about popular opinions. One person says something. It spreads to word-of-mouth, then a well known reviewer gets ahold of the opinion, now everyone has it. Kind of like that.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

"Bad" music is commonly defined as music that is not popular. In my opinion, however, "bad" music is music that has succumbed to the industry and does not do what it wants.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Bad music lacks structure or creativity, it lacks soul or feeling.

I refer you to what is probably the worst band ever, brokenCYDE.

 

[jebus4you]

its always the listners opinion except anything on that damn disney channel who should all be shot and left to die in a gutter : P

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Yes there is no such thing as bad music, and no such thing as good music, at least not in any factual sense. Its all personal preference, some people can listen to a song and hear mindless grating drivel while others could hear a beautiful masterpiece. That's why discussions about music are largely pointless and don't go anywhere other than to express your own faves.

 

[Deleted]

Yes there is no such thing as bad music, and no such thing as good music, at least not in any factual sense. Its all personal preference, some people can listen to a song and hear mindless grating drivel while others could hear a beautiful masterpiece. That's why discussions about music are largely pointless and don't go anywhere other than to express your own faves.

But there must be something wrong with these people. Not just the preferences of music but the attitudes they derived from them. Its unlikely a businessman would like brokeNCYDE, but what you'd imagine a rebellious teen to look like would. Granted they'll grow out of it but I fear that the number of 'unfit human' (a sorta cynical way to put it I admit) will will increase and slow us down.

 

[boholikeu]

I would say that there's no such thing as a bad genre, but there certainly are bad bands/songs.

Edit: Just watched some of BrokeNCYDE's videos and.. wow, they truly are the worst band ever. It's like they took the worst parts of Emo and Hip Hop and mushed it together in a way that appeals to "popular crowd" in high school...

 

[Timotei]

There is such a bad thing as mucic, it's name is Vanilla Ice.

OT: I find it sad that people listen to reviewers. It's because of people like them that sometimes great things go unnoticed.

 

[Berethond]

I take it you've never been to an elementary school band concert.

 

[Timotei]

I take it you've never been to an elementary school band concert.

Or worse. An elementary school Recorder "concerto"

 

[Inverse Skies]

This is one of those situations where I just assume anything that isn't classical is bad. Although there are quite a few pieces of classical which are bad (third movement of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony... that's just weird), the ones that are good are way better than anything anyone else could ever write. But really, it's just a matter of subjective personal opinion, if you like something then that means it isn't bad for you. That's all this really is, just a personality thing.

I seem to be writing classical is heaps better a lot lately... there ARE a lot of music threads at the moment...

 

[smileyboybob]

if you listen to something enough, you can't help but like it. You could probably train yourself to like anything.

 

[Berethond]

I take it you've never been to an elementary school band concert.

Or worse. An elementary school Recorder "concerto"

Oh goodness.
My eyes are bleeding already.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Most music I hear on the radio is terrible. Even the best recent radio hits (Handlebars and Know Your Enemy) were not even close to being the best music by the band. The Flobots are actually my favorite alternative hip-hop band, but one of the best punk albums I've ever heard was released at the same time as 21st Century Breakdown (although Green Day is pop punk not punk)

So, my answer is- no. Something being popular doesn't make it good.

 

[Timotei]

I take it you've never been to an elementary school band concert.

Or worse. An elementary school Recorder "concerto"

Oh goodness.
My eyes are bleeding already.

Don't get me started. I had to listen 75+ 4th graders try and play the National Anthem at my school once. One is bad enough, but can you imagine over 75 of those shit sticks playing at once?

The horror......the horror.

 

[mojopin87]

Well the problem is people use the term "bad" or "good" in cases where they really mean "I dislike them" or "I like them." This creates a lot of confusion. Personally, I think that people have different expectations of what they get out of music. Some people are content with a catchy melody/chorus or a beat you can dance to. Others expect more such as an emotional connection, insightful lyrics, innovative structures, and/or technical proficiency. In the end I think "good" and "bad" are meaningless unless you refer to a recognized set of criteria for "goodness" or specify what it is that you should minimally expect of a song. You may also wish to change the focus depending on genre and context i.e. in rap/hip hop the focus shifts to the lyrics, delivery, and the beat whereas in pop the emphasis is likely more on melody and hooks. In short, its complicated.

EDIT: Ironically, despite what I just typed, it doesn't mean I can't complain about how shitty most top 40 bands are.

 

[TheHitcher]

Yes, there is such a thing as bad music.

It's called whatever's in the top 10 these days.

 

[Crystal Cuckoo]

You can't really say that certain music is "good" or "bad" because it is so subjective.
What makes one person feel good for the rest of the day will potentially cause someone else to retch buckets.

However, there are some things that deserved to be labelled "shit" because it is not actually music. I am of course referring to rap (looking at you Li'l Wayne), where the artists don't sing, they TALK. Such tripe does not even deserved to be called music.

 

[Jenkins]

I dont care what anyone says, Jonas Brothers are, and will forever be doomed to badness. infact anything band/music related Disney does is terribad.