Hipsters/music snobs bother the hell out of me.

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It's a downright pompous and ridiculous notion for someone to think that his/her musical tastes are better than everyone else's and to act as if his/her opinions are facts. That's why I don't really listen to music critics, such as those at Rolling Stone magazine. People should decide for themselves if they like something and not belittle others with different tastes. Tastes are, in the end, based on personal preferences and people need to respect others' preferences. There's no such thing as "good" or "bad" taste.

I don't understand why some people like the music they do... but I can't deny that they do in fact enjoy it for whatever reason.

I can argue the merits of certain types of music... and criticize other music... and there is quite a bit of music I hate out there. But the minute you start putting down people, and pumping up the music you like just to make yourself superior... something is wrong. Then it isn't even about finding good music anymore... it's another social contest.

I won't go so far as saying there is no such thing as "good" or "bad" taste... I believe there is music in "bad" taste. But I can live with people enjoying the "bad" music. And hidden away in the bad music there may just be a kernel that I can enjoy... if I was forced to.

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and a few others have achieved almost god-like status, to the point where daring to criticize them as seen as a flaw in your ability to appreciate music and may affect your social standing. Now, I like the Beatles just as much as everyone else, but I think that crap like that is going a bit too far.

On the flip side, enjoying bands like Journey, Foreigner, and Styx is seen as "uncool" and a flaw in your taste. I think that's also going too far. If you don't like that kind of music, just don't listen to it. Don't act like there's something wrong with people who do enjoy it. People should enjoy whatever they want to enjoy and there's no good reason to try to make them feel guilty about it. Enjoying yourself is far more important than trying to please others.

I like many types of music. Especialy, many types of rock like alternative, Goth, punk, you name it!!

What's a hipster?

Tim

hipsters are those people with laptops who listen to indie music, write sh***y poetry in notebooks decorated with magazine clippings, and work at coffee shops and record stores.

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pet peeve: people who only like music no one else has heard of. i just can't understand the point of view that anything popular=sh***y... meaning, apparently, that there are abosolutely no really popular bands that got there because they are really good (radiohead, anyone?).

whenever anyone asks what i listen to, i just say "i have really bad taste in music". or i say "jazz"... although it is dangerous to say that around other jazz fans... they lose respect for you really fast when they try to talk about obscure albums you haven't even heard of by fringe giants.

i agree with pugly- everything (even the genres that everyone loves to dump on, namely rap, country, and metal) has something cool in it somewhere, if you listen right.

except pop punk, of course, which is an unfogivable sin.

Yeah they tend to annoy me too (hipsters, music snobs, elitists...). And I tend to like a lot of obscure / underground music so I've encountered them a lot. It just strikes me as very narrow-minded. They are missing out on a ton of music by being stuck in their little worlds. The whole concept of a "guilty pleasure" is absurd to me. I am not ashamed of anything I listen to.

I personally don't like much pop / commercial music but its not because its commercial, its because it simply doesn't do anything for me. I realize it has its place in the world and for a lot of people it can be enjoyable. I don't believe in putting anyone down for that... its just not my thing.

And yeah Metal is one of those genres that gets dumped on a lot by hipsters / music snobs. That is their loss - they are missing out on a huge amount of diverse quality music. Sadly a lot of people have an ignorant view of metal anyway and don't have a clue what the genre is capable of because they make blanket assumptions and don't actually listen to it first. The funny thing is there is also a huge current of elitism within metal culture itself. I've been into metal a lot in recent years and that aspect has always annoyed me.

I don't understand amateur music critics, either. It's natural to prefer certain genres over another - that's a matter of individual taste. But to argue about music (or religion, politics, etc.) is something I don't understand. I think it comes down to the fact that many people are afraid their own tastes, ideas and opinions are crap, and so they're desperate to defend them and/or make others feel like crap about their own. Not even worth talking to people like that about anything. Who cares what they think.

I have been accused of this in the past, but I honestly don't think that my musical taste is better or worse than anyone else's. What I do believe is that some people - far too many in my opinion - will make their decisions about what they like and what they buy based on what everyone else says they like and what they are told to like by the TV/Radio/Magazines etc.

Whilst there are some great artists who make it to the big stage (bc's example of Radiohead is one, for me the Chili Peppers are another) the vast majority work in relative obscurity and it can take a little bit of work and effort to find music that really moves and touches you in the way that music should. What genre that may be is irrelevant. Genres are simply a tool created by record companies to analyze their demographics and record stores so they don't have to think about which shelf to put a particular album on. I believe each artist and each piece should be judged on its own individual merits and the effect it has on YOU, no one else. I also think you can respect and appreciate a band/artist without necessarily liking what they produce. For example, I think Squarepusher is a fantastic musician with loads of talent and creativity, but I rarely listen to his music simply because its not the kind of thing i particularly like listening to.

So if you're not prepared to make the effort to do your own listening and make your own decisions then to be honest, I'm not interested in your musical opinions, whether they agree with mine or not. But if you are and have made that effort, then no one can tell you are wrong or have bad taste because you've earned the right to choose.

Just my opinion...

Howabout flipsters and fingerpopping daddies ?

I must say I'm a bit of a music snob. I just can't take people listening to most mainstream music, or even most non-electronic alternative music. I think too much of the music out there is just too stupid, and that's something I sometimes attribute to the people listening to it as well.
That's just how I work. It's more like a trait of mine than an opinion I have.

My high school had a faction of hipster mathrock morons who put down everyone else. I was talking to this one kid about bass amps and happened to ask him what he listened to. He was like "oh, nothing you've ever heard of, I'm sure." I told him to just tell me. He named a bunch of obscure sh***y math rock bands, which I checked out on myspace. They all sounded like a group of angry ret*ds dry-humping bad guitars in someone's garage. I was like "eh, that's really not my kinda thing." Then he tells me I "obviously don't know anything about music." I was like, "actually, I listen to progressive rock and classical which takes a lot of musical knowledge to appreciate." He said "whatever" and told me to check out his band project with the rest of the hipster faction. I went to it's myspace and it was god-awful. First of all, they didn't have a bassist. No bass frequency=sh***y hollow garage sound. Everyone knows that. Secondly, the music consisted of random drumming and a guitar with so much tremolo effect lathered on it that you couldn't even hear the notes. There was somewhat of a melody going on that was pretty decent, but it sounded terrible with the trem and the no bass. I offered to play bass for them (I was bored) and they said they didn't need a bassist. I was like, yeah ok. I can't wait to see what your album sounds like . He was like "oh, you will. It's gonna be huge." About a week later the band broke up. I was like, "lol."

Final Score:

Todd: 1
Hipster morons: 0

Anyway, that's my amusing anecdote of the day. Thanks for reading the whole thing, if you did.