I had an interesting conversation with my cousin's wife the other day. I was talking about how I've noticed that many people I know listen to songs of different genres just because that song is supposed to be famous. They don't develop specific tastes, and listen to any song that is deemed popular by the media - or so I believe.
She agreed, and ventured to add that some types of music are so different that it's near blasphemy to say you like them both, for example, hip-hop and contemporary rock.
I was just trying to make the point that people should develop their own taste and try to find artists similar to the ones they like, or at least of the same genre, rather than listen to everything and never truly come to appreciate anything (more on that later...). But her point set me thinking on a different tack. Is it really not possible for someone to appreciate music from different ends of the spectrum? Can't say I agree. I listen to rock as well as western classical, and even celtic instrumentals like Corrs and Riverdance. My friend thinks it's funny that I have Corrs and Creed on the same playlist. All I can think is, there's a dish called fried ice cream, and my mom (who's a reputed culinary expert, by the way) says it's pretty good. Why not the same with music? I'm not going as far as saying S&M is brilliant, I'm just saying one can appreciate Metallica and San Francisco Philharmonic separately.
Which brings me back to another point... is it fair to think that someone doesn't have good taste just because there is no particular type of music he likes? I think yes. Without depth, you're nothing more than a dabbler. I would have more respect for a guy with a PhD than a guy with 4 MS degrees. I appreciate the fine points of the rock music I listen to, more so because I've heard all related genres from classic rock to metal to rap-rock. I just wouldn't have a discussion on any kind of music with a person who likes every kind of music. I might even think that such a person is not interested in music at all, but just pretends to because he thinks it's cool to listen to music.
Another of my friends tends to equate lack of indivuality with mediocrity... that's a very interesting topic to discuss... I intend to pen my thoughts on that on the next blog...
Cheers,
Prashanth.
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Came across this post while blog hopping. You make several valid points but I have to say that, one of the greatest issues that we face today is the fact that we believe that somehow we can understand how or why a person reacts to situations or makes choices. We somehow believe that we can understand other people, their motivations, their decision making process, their choices, while we can barely scratch the facade. As a certain someone said "Hell is other people". Pretending (or headstrongly believing) to make judgements of a person's taste based on your limited criteria just smacks of prejudice.
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