Well I'm going to start out by saying I'm pretty much not into top 40 at all. At least, I don' think I've ever bought a pop album, unless you count a rock album that makes the top 40 as Pop, and I would have a hard time arguing against you on that. Anyway, I guess I picked up some of my own musical snobbery as an early teen/pre-teen that if you listened to a top 40 station all the time, you were not very cool. Now, I really don't care what you listen to on your own time, but I pretty much stick to rock, punk, and alternative. Of course, rock is a HUGE genre spanning many decades and styles. I am not crazy about most country simply because I get the feeling the singer is playing up their country accent or outright faking it if they arn't from the South or West. Do I know any of this about the country artist? Absolutely not, but thats what crosses my mind when I hear it on the radio subconsciously. I'm also resistant to country and rap because thats all anyone listened to in high school, and I didn't like to be exactly like what I perceived as rednecks. I'm alot more mellowed out about such things now, but especially early on in high school you are still trying to carve out your niche in the world. I think my least favorite genre has to be emo, because I feel like it ruined punk rock. Styles that over-emphasize emotions just get on my nerves because I feel like they are trying to make money off manipulating my emotions.
One final thing that bothers me is when a singer/band leader is the focus of all the media attention. I don't like groups that go by a single person's name as a rule because it seems to me the person named is making money and fame off the backs of his supporting musicians. Trust me, even the most talented singer needs a band behind him or some sort to sound as good as they are capable of. I guess I could be persuaded to see how if the single person wrote all the music and lyrics to all the songs that the band should have his/her name, but I will admit to being cynical of such groups/singers.
All that said, if I mentioned some form of music you love, I hope you enjoy it as much as possible because thats the whole point of music! These are just my personal hang ups.
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I see what you mean about bands that have the "leader"'s name in the title. Ironically a lot of bands that I like are just like that. I guess I never really put that much thought into the name of the band before but I really like the music!
ReplyDeletehaha I've never really thought about musicians trying to manipulate emotions before. But that is exactly it. And damn, are they good at it! I think most people are more prone to stick with select genres or artists when they are younger. I definitely did. It took a while for me to step out of my musical confort zone, but it was definitely worth it.
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