What "aspect" of music do you like the most?

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For me, it's simply the sound. I've had songs that at the time they were popular, I had no idea what the song was about but it was my favorite song. I don't care about lyrics. It's strictly what it sounds like. Harmony, melody, quality of vocals, how they blend with the music, etc. I know some people who only listen to indie type music on principle or certain genres but not me. On my playlists, I'll have Metalica songs I like, Offspring songs, The Killers, even Hilary Duff has a few songs I like the sound of. Some people think that makes me weird and just want to see if anyone else thinks in a similar manner.

For me it's usually the beat and the lyrics.

Melodys and harmonys.

melodies, harmony, rhythm & improvisation very occasionally lyrics.

For me, it kinda varies. If it's old-school 80's music, I like the melody, the drums (I love the sound of the hard-hitting snares of that era) and the electro-synths (makes it sound like futuristic, space-music to me). But if it's new era music, it's the drum styles and the melody, as well as lyrics,

Oh, WOW. I was trying to think of how to put into words the answer to your question...then I read your post. I couldn't have said it better.

When I was younger, "My Sherona" was one of my favorite songs, but one time when it came on the radio and I said, "Oh, I love this!" and Mom said it had nasty lyrics. Her statement really bothered me because I didn't even listen to the lyrics. I just liked the bouncy base guitar sound. I also like songs that stop and then resume with a long, loud upstroke before continuing with the previous rhythm. ("Born to Be Alive" is another favorite for that reason.)

As far as genres, I like at least a little bit of every genre--even rap and opera--but my favorite genres are 50s-90s pop, baroque-renaissance classical, pop country, and classic rock.

I'd say that whether someone likes or dislikes music is much more intuitive than this thread might imply. What's most important to me is if the music has a good overall "flow" to it.

For example... melody doesn't matter if it's supposed to be harsh and mechanical sounding. The song can sound like it was recorded in a trash can and have bad lyrics as long as it has a pleasantly distinct atmosphere. I usually don't like music that's cutesy, but there's a particular band I absolutely love that epitomizes "cute" music but the combination of the instrument usage and the absolutely complex and dizzying melodies and shifts it makes makes it a joy to listen to.


Bataar sums it up perfectly though, but I figured I should try to word out my take on it anyways.

I know people who are basically morally opposed to listening to music produced by the big industry and only listen to indie stuff. They mildly criticize me for it but I just don't care. I don't care how hard someone works to make it big, if it doesn't sound as good as something that's been bought and manufactured by the big industry, I probably won't like it as much.

For me it's the visual aspect. I have synesthesia - I see sounds, especially music. I love watching music as much as I love listening to it. Most music looks incredible, so I don't mind listening to most of it. If you looked through my iPod, you'd think it was shared by a bunch of people with very different tastes.

QFT

Don't you love it when people like a band, then stop liking and listening to that band because they "sold out"?

Someone saw that I had Hilary Duff on my Zune and they were like, "Why the hell do you have Hilary Duff music?"

My response was, "I like some of her songs."

Their response, "But it's Hilary Duff!"

"So, I like some of her songs."

"But she's just a manufactured Disney bot."

"So, I like some of her songs."

every part of it

Maybe melody, though in the end it's the whole thing put together. I do care about lyrics, at least for songs in languages I speak, it's part of the whole thing and they either clash or go together with the rest. I listen to most things, there are a few genres I really don't like but in general I judge things more song by song than loving or hating a whole genre. I have music from classical to Rammstein, from traditional Sephardic music to Pink Floyd, from Madredeus to Juanes.

The sound itself is the part that I enjoy the most. I like music that creates a moody dissonant atmosphere but also contains interesting rhythms and lots of shifting/layering in the instrumentation. I like a lot of the weirder songs Radiohead has made. I also like some instrumental industrial/electronic music and some dark ambient stuff but it's hit and miss.

My favorite aspect of music is the emotion. Lyrics, rhythm, melody, and whatever else are ways of conveying the emotion. Anyone else know what I mean?

I'm into something I like to call catchy complexity. I like music that has many rhythmic layers that I can delve into, trying to extract all the bits and make sense of the cacophony. But it has to be 'listen-able' and have a hook... I don't like pure noise music. I like music that approaches noise at moments, but it has to be grounded in something.

I do like melody too, and a strong melody can drive me into the music. It doesn't have to overly fancy, but the melody shouldn't be completely obvious either.

I like novelty too, music that's too static gets boring to me. A couple of musicians can make music that is repetitive... and yet I still feel drawn into... but in general I don't like repetitive music. Ambient stuff and whatnot... most of it's not my thing... but some of it's amazing.

Old School video game music is kind of the groundwork that all the other music I like grows out of. In order to keep your attention and drive the game forward, it had interesting rhythmic parts. But the melody and harmony was kind of simple, because they didn't have that many voices to work with. And the melody had to be front and center, catchy and memorable because it was the emotional hook of the game as well. A mario game felt like a mario game because of the music.

The best examples of video game music had to be rhythmically complex enough to withstand repeat listening.

I don't pick up on the emotionality and expressiveness in music.... I can feel it in some music... but it doesn't do much for me. A strong melody played on a cheap synth by a computer has the same feeling to me as one played by a virtuoso. It sounds different, but I can't say one is better than the other. Again, listening to so many video games while I was young probably formed my aesthetic sense for music.

I can be powerfully affected by Lyrics, if I really get into what the songwritter is saying. But more often than not, I don't care and find lyrics to be a distraction. But when I really like lyrics... I can become obsessed with the lyrics.

My signature is song lyrics...