When people only like one type of music...

[AurionEmblem]

Well, on the one hand, I feel pretty "meh" towards most mainstream music. What I was trying to get at is something along the lines of:

Starting off at a sort of "genre-neutral" point, if you go towards screamo/metal/etc. you would pass through points where the band has a short bit of screaming in the occasional song, longer bits of screaming in occasional songs/short bit in most songs, having a section between verses with screaming in a fair chunk of songs, screaming being a regular fixture in songs, and screaming being the entirety of a song. For this genre direction (if I am going to be listening to this genre), my ideal point would be, say, a screaming section between the second and third verses of a song. This is the cusp of the crater. If you go past it, my interest/enjoyment drops off considerably but then kinda flat-lines, whereas if you under-shoot it, my interest is closer to a parabola--a slightly more gradual descent to genre-neutral which is probably lower than the flat-line part.

Thus every genre has its own max point, so to speak. Suppose a band decides "We like the sound of Ska, but want to have some Screamo mixed in." Well, I like Ska and Screamo to varying degrees, and given infinite possibilities, there will be a mixture of the two that I like. But if the band is playing at the pure average of my Ska and Screamo points it will be in the crater rather than towards the cusp, I think...

The more I write, the more I'm confusing myself. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I generally don't like mixing genres as much, because the end result can lose a lot of what I liked about each of the genres, which makes it underwhelming in comparison.

[DkrANGEL]

Personally, I enjoy a wide variety of music.

I love all subgenres of rock and metal. I see so many people partial toward one or the other, for example the age-old war between punk rock and heavy metal, (which is lately becoming metalcore vs all other metal) but I don't see why that is. But I digress. These are the primary genres I listen to.

I also listen to a lot of electronic music, from nightcore to deathstep.

There's only a single rapper I like, Immortal Technique.

As far as pop goes, I do like the older ideals of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

Being from Texas, of course I can't not appreciate country music.

To me, it just seems kinda narrow-minded to only listen to a single genre of music.

[Pra7ul]

It doesn't matter what other people's fav type of music is..

all i can say is that i like each and every kind of Music which is pleasant to my ears.

[† Emotional Outlet]

Well, no, what other people listen to generally has no effect on me. It's usually when they're jerks about what they enjoy, like it's superior to what I choose to listen to or choose not to listen to, which is the topic I believe the OP meant to have us discuss.

I enjoy a lot of pop songs--they're easy to listen to, easy to enjoy. They're like potato chips, really. I also enjoy a lot of indie stuff and have stalked artists through the years, downloading their new albums when applicable and buying them when applicable (most of the people I listen to distribute their music for free). But because I have some passing knowledge of and interest in the music of artists like, say, Nicki Minaj, some people look down their noses at me as though I'm the scum of the musical world and I listen to absolute garbage.

I don't care if other people like or dislike Nicki, based on her music or not--what bothers me is when people act like they're superior to me because they don't listen to her, or because they've been listening to her longer, or whatever.

[legend1551]

I like different types of music. How can you discover something new or interesting if you only listen to the same exact thing. It becomes dull.

[Xanders]

I listen to variety of music, I do in fact met people who only like one type music I just think they have their way while I have mine as long as they don't out any thing offensive stating the music I listen to is rubbish while theirs is superior, I don't mine them at all.

I'm very passive to music like Heavy Metal as someone who loves this music ask what I think I just put it out simple what I think about it in a good way

[davchang]

Liking one genere of music is fine...it's when you start to bash others I can't stand.

[Shima_XIX]

I'll listen to practically any gene of music, except maybe rap (Never quite developed a taste for it).

I follow a live and let live policy as far as music goes. I don't attack others' tastes in music and I don't feel I'm wrong in expecting others to return the courtesy.

[Snowburden]

Yes it tends to annoy me as well. I am a Symphonic Metal kind of guy (I'm sure a LOT of you don't know what Symphonic Metal is anyway.), and it annoys me when I'm with my Metal buddies and they don't even give that genre a chance. If any of you don't know what it is, check it out on Youtube. Bands like, Epica, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Lunatica, and SO much more... Check them out if you can.

 

Why I like Symphonic Metal is a HUGE majority of it is Female singers, and extremely good their voices are. Some of them are WAY better than the female pop artists you hear out there. But since Symphonic Metal isn't known that well in America I can see why. But the genre is HUGE in Europe.

 

The thing is, people need to be more open-minded when it comes to Music. such as Sub-Genres. Don't be that individual that only listens to Metal, without knowing other Sub-Genres such as Symphonic Metal, Doom Metal, and others.

[† Emotional Outlet]

I think part of the problem is that in the same breath people encourage others to broaden their musical horizons, they also tend to disparage the music others like--as you did in saying that symphonic metal artists sing better than pop artists. It's hard to take on the advice of someone who thinks the things you like aren't as good as the things they like. I like pop and I like indie bands--I don't see why I can't enjoy both or why I'm automatically lower on the totem pole just because I unironically like Nicki Minaj or Maroon 5.

 

Like I'm pretty sure you don't mean to come off as elitist or condescending, but it happens so much with almost every other genre. Pop, rap, and country all get thrown under the bus almost automatically because they're such large and popular genres, seemingly at the detriment of other genres.

 

I'll agree that a lot of popular music is engineered to be popular and the music industry is far from a scrupulous business, but that doesn't mean the music that is being generated isn't good or that these people aren't actually talented or that they're purposely and maliciously trying to stifle other genres.

[† Mute point]

You show me someone that only likes one type of music, and I'll show you someone who hasn't given the other types a chance to prove themselves.

 

A buddy of mine used to hate country, absolutely hate it. Then one day I plugged in some Brad paisley (one of his rockish type country songs, don't remember which one.) asked him what he thought, he said that was good, what is it? So I told him it was country. He got quiet for a minute, and then asked if I had more.

[Snowburden]

I think part of the problem is that in the same breath people encourage others to broaden their musical horizons, they also tend to disparage the music others like--as you did in saying that symphonic metal artists sing better than pop artists. It's hard to take on the advice of someone who thinks the things you like aren't as good as the things they like. I like pop and I like indie bands--I don't see why I can't enjoy both or why I'm automatically lower on the totem pole just because I unironically like Nicki Minaj or Maroon 5.

 

Like I'm pretty sure you don't mean to come off as elitist or condescending, but it happens so much with almost every other genre. Pop, rap, and country all get thrown under the bus almost automatically because they're such large and popular genres, seemingly at the detriment of other genres.

 

I'll agree that a lot of popular music is engineered to be popular and the music industry is far from a scrupulous business, but that doesn't mean the music that is being generated isn't good or that these people aren't actually talented or that they're purposely and maliciously trying to stifle other genres.

Good point. I don't care what people think about music, all I'm saying is they should give other genres a chance. I mean I used to hate a certain genre, then listened to it years later and it was actually pretty good. Plus not that, it's the artists, some people can be so judgmental on a genre, because in the end, they probably only listened to about 3 or so artists (that they hate of course) and then just condemn the entire genre altogether. People can do what they wish - condemn a genre just from a few artists. But they should try to listen to more than just a few, just to make sure that they really do hate it. I absolutely hate Country. BUT, I like a couple of artists. There are genres that I really just dislike, but I enjoy a few artists, because for me, I went through dozens of bands just to see if I really hate the genre or not. I'm not a person to influence others beliefs and such to the other way. But I can count on it, if you really listen to just "one" genre, cool I guess, but I know for a fact that that person probably would like a few other genres (because there's dozens of dozens of genres out there) if they went on Youtube for a day and just went and listened to everything random that they could find on Youtube for music.

 

Music is a beautiful thing. Don't limit yourself to just "one" thing, there's ought to be something you like as well out there, right?

Edited March 17, 2013 by Snowburden