Why Music Fans are Inherently Terrible

[ariich]

I guess I'm a snob but I don't really care what genre people think they a band is unless they say something really stupid like:

"Why do you like The Offspring? I can't stand heavy metal".

Someone has said that to me.

Eh, to be fair, The Offspring have much more in common with metal than any other punk band. Still a pretty dumb statement though.

I guess I'd fit into the snob category, but that might be more of an OCD thing than me just being an asshole.

That's not being a snob though, surely? Just correcting someone is maybe a little pedantic, but it's not snobby. You're only a snob if it really bothers you, and if you judge others for it. And also if you judge others for what they do or don't like.

[Jirpo]

I guess I'm a snob, but I don't like to go too far with genres. But calling someone a snob for saying like "death metal is completely different to power metal" is not right, I think its very fair to distinguish between those genres without being snobbish.

[rogerdil]

Of those, I'm a hipster.

[kirksnosehair]

I like what I like and I don't like what I don't like.  I mean, I've tried just about every music genre there is in western music.   The music that seems to continue to draw me back in looking for more is mostly progressive style music.   For me personally, part of the attraction to the more complex style of progressive music is the fact that I am a musician.  While I certainly appreciate the fact that a great deal of talent is required to compose a song that is a pop-music hit, I tend to think that it takes (more? better?) talent to create a progressive music epic, say, like "Stranger In Your Soul" from Transatlantic, or "Beyond All Illusions" from Dream Theater.

Do these things make me a snob?  I don't know.  Maybe.

I go to Jimmy Buffet and Rod Stewart concerts with my wife and frankly, I enjoy those concerts.  Sure, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I love my wife and enjoy watching her enjoying her favorite artists, but I also very much enjoy other musicians playing music, regardless of genre.

I've played drums for a rap group.  I've played drums for a "Boy Band" modeled after "Boyz 2 Men" and I've also played drums in an Iron Maiden tribute band.  I currently play guitar, bass and keyboards and write all the music for my band The ANABASIS, which has been described as "Transatlantic with balls"

The point being, my musical listening and playing has been all over the map.

But if you look at my CD collection, it's almost all prog and metal.

So I guess in SOME ways, I do have a streak of snobbery running through my musical listening, but when it comes to playing or performing music, I'll get in on almost anything.

Interesting topic, I guess I rambled a bit there 

[jsem]

Probably fall into mostly the snob category, with a touch of the hipster category.

But as a general rule, I listen to whatever sounds good to me and I'm generally willing to give anything a try.

[PuffyPat]

I enjoy music for what it is. Yes, I would rather listen to indie and other underground things, but when "Party Rock Anthem" comes on the radio, I turn it up. Why? Because it's catchy as hell, and I love it. I don't care if I'm the only one who's heard it, or if it's everyone in the country's favorite song. If it's good music I'll listen to it, and not care what anyone else has to say.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

That was an amazing read, and definitely relates to how most of the people who I know handle their music, and something that annoys me to no end.

[Obfuscation]

If I was to fit into any one of those categories, it would definitively be a snob. A proud one too. 

[Progmetty]

I don't fit into any of these categories and I think there's at least 2 more not mentioned there. Cool article nonetheless.
Pretty progressive of the school news paper to allow swearing btw

[The King in Crimson]

I don't fit into any of these categories and I think there's at least 2 more not mentioned there. Cool article nonetheless.
Pretty progressive of the school news paper to allow swearing btw

I'm assuming it's a college newspaper, which are usually more lenient.

[sonatafanica]

i do not care enough about music beyond listening to it and liking it to fit into any of those categories i think

[Gadough]

You're "that token chiptune guy."

[ResultsMayVary]

I definitely fall into the 'Snob' category.

I'm okay with that though.

This, although not to the extreme that is outlined in the OP. People that I know may say I generally think 'prog>everything else' is basically a musical 'law.'

[MetalManiac666]

I probably lean most towards hipster out of those listed in the OP, but I generally try to be as open as possible.  I do feel a sort of satisfaction with the fact that my music taste is no where close to the mainstream though.

[lordxizor]

I'm a touch snob and a touch hipster I guess. Much less so than I used to be though.

[Bongasti]

I would probably be a mix of snob and hipster, while not being much of any of them, I do recognize a few minor tendencies here and there.
As for the whole "mainstream"-music part, I don't really dislike music if it becomes popular, but I'm more of a person that prefers more 'unknown' music.
Popular-music just doesn't do much for me, because many of the songs are constructed in a way that the listener will hear pretty much everything the song has to offer on the first listen, because it is designed for radio-play.
I more prefer songs that grow with each listen, and where I can find new 'hidden' sounds etc.

This is pretty much me. And I don't like too specific categorizing on music styles, but  calling everything with highly distorted guitars just metal is... wrong.

[ZirconBlue]

Would it be snobbish to point out that it should be spelled "poseur"?  Or that you don't record on a phonograph?

[Slain]

I'd probably be a snob, from the definition that this guy gives anyway. But I don't see what's wrong with correctly classifying music 
You could probably argue that everyone is a bit snobby when it comes to something that they love, or know a lot about. Like with movies, sports, books, anything.

[Dream Team]

I guess I'm a snob, because zombies annoy me to no end.

[TheSilentHam]

I was a snob 25 years ago, to my musical and personal detriment, but don't really fit into any of the three categories now.

[VioletS16]

I'm neither, even though I get really upset when people call Cradle of Filth or Opeth "Death Metal"
I have  a friend who insists that anything I listen to is Death Metal. so annoying! 

[zxlkho]

Opeth is pretty death metal...

[ZeppelinDT]

I think it's more of an evolution than three static categories.  At least, that's how it was with me.  I pretty much went through all four of these stages... in this order.

Step 1 = Zombie.  ("Everybody else loves this, and I want to fit in, so I'll listen to this too")

Step 2 = Hipster.  ("Hey, wait a minute... you mean there's OTHER music out there?!  This obscure stuff is great!!  Way more interesting than that mainstream stuff everybody else loves")

Step 3 = Snob.  ("This obscure stuff I listen to is way better than that mainstream stuff.  And since I like obscure stuff better than mainstream stuff, I must be better than people who listen to mainstream stuff!  Haha, silly stupid people still stuck in the Zombie phase")

Step 4 = Normal person.  ("Wait, some of this mainstream stuff is good too.  Maybe I should just listen to what I like listening to and stop caring about what everybody else thinks/listens to").

[zxlkho]

I think it's more of an evolution than three static categories.  At least, that's how it was with me.  I pretty much went through all four of these stages... in this order.

Step 1 = Zombie.  ("Everybody else loves this, and I want to fit in, so I'll listen to this too")

Step 2 = Hipster.  ("Hey, wait a minute... you mean there's OTHER music out there?!  This obscure stuff is great too!!"

Step 3 = Snob.  ("This obscure stuff I listen to is way better than that mainstream stuff.  And since I like obscure stuff better than mainstream stuff, I must be better than people who listen to mainstream stuff!  Haha, silly stupid people still stuck in the Zombie phase")

Step 4 = Normal person.  ("Wait, some of this mainstream stuff is good too.  Maybe I should just listen to what I like listening to and stop caring about what everybody else thinks/listens to").

Honestly this is exactly what I went through in the past 3 years or so. I still consider myself in the snob category though since I'm still a dick to other people about music most of the time.

[Aramatheis]

Zombies are the WORST

[zxlkho]

Also I think you switched the definitions of Snob and Hipster there, Chris.

[ZeppelinDT]

Hmm... idunno, I think the way I have it is right.  I feel like the "hipster" is more about discovering/loving obscure stuff and hating anything mainstream, and then the "snob" phase comes in when you take the love of obscure and hatred of mainstream and turn it into a judgment against those who disagree and a judgment against anybody who listens to mainstream.  I'm not seeing where the mixup is... :/

[zxlkho]

Pretty sure "hipster" is just dismissing everything mainstream, and "snob" is just being a douche about everything.

idk who really cares.

[ZeppelinDT]

Well yeah... isn't that what I said?  I don't disagree with you... I'm just not seeing where the reversal is.  I think the dismissal comes first and then leads to the douchiness.

[zxlkho]

yeah so hipster first, then snob?

[Ravenheart]

It's obvious from this conversation that neither of you is a true music fan.

[Dark Castle]

It's obvious from this conversation that neither of you is a true music fan.

This.  Guys, I'm a hipster, and its not like I go out of my way to be obscure or shit on mainstream 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

The interesting thing with all of those is that the actual enjoyment of music doesn't really factor in. Snobs break their music down to a science. Hipsters will only listen to their music if it's obscure. Zombies will only listen to music if it's popular.

Music fans really are terrible.

[zxlkho]

The interesting thing with all of those is that the actual enjoyment of music doesn't really factor in. Snobs break their music down to a science. Hipsters will only listen to their music if it's obscure. Zombies will only listen to music if it's popular.

Well I think the thing about this is that most of the people that fit into these categories still enjoy music a lot. Saying that "the enjoyment of music isn't a factor" is just incorrect. Hipsters "enjoy" their music if it's obscure, snobs "enjoy" breaking it down into a science, and zombies "enjoy" listening to popular music. IF people are enjoying their music, who really cares.

[ariich]

Yeah, the people who do any of that without enjoying the music (and they do exist) aren't really music fans at all.