Why do we like some music, and not other music?

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sicbeing

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I've asked myself wierd questions like this off and on throughout life, and I wanted to share one of those with you GTP members!

In my opinon, music taste has a lot to do with what your respected peers think, or what they like. I remember growing up with my dad playing Ozzy Osbourne, Alice in Chains, Duran Duran, Rush, and etc, and I still love those bands to this day. Now, if I hated my dad growing up, I would think that I would probably dislike this music?

I also noticed over the years that music can have a large tie in to memory, it seems almost as much as the sense of smell does. You know when you enter a new area, and you notice "Holy crap, this smells like my grandmothers house, and I haven't even been there in 6 years!",sometimes music does that to me. I'll hear an older song on the radio, and just immediatly be brought back to the time when that song was popluar or just came out. I'll remember what was going on in almost every aspect during that time, such as who I was dating, what job I had, etc, and how it felt during those times.

But anyway back to my question, why don't we like certain kinds of music? Is it that we don't like to be associated to the people who generally like that music? Is the music just generally "bad"? Do you not agree with the lyrics, if any?

Your thoughts.
 
Most people seem to like the music they grow up with, so anything new after they are adults is more likely to fall into the "don't like it" bin, making them complain about the "music of today isn't music at all" and basically sounding like their parents.

I dunno what makes us like and dislike it, but I think it's more down to the music itself than the influence of peers. Friends and family can introduce you to particular bands or types of music but it's then up to you to decide if you like it or not. If a song reminds you of a bad event or bad place, then I suppose you might think it's a good song but find it unpleasant to listen to, but otherwise, it's a personal thing I suppose, like colour. I reckon that the rhythms or pulses in music will tend to have some kind of resonance or pattern that, if it matches something funky about our brain setup, we like, it it clashes, we don't like, and I think many of those patterns are formed when we grow up because that's when we are introduced to music and it forms our ideas of what music should be and perhaps how to recognise it? Music can modify or amplify my emotions, and I like that, so I'll like what has the right effect and dislike what has no effect. As a result, I tend to prefer moody music which can take my brain to new places and promote internal creativity - daydreaming and so on.

All I know is that I used to hate Ozzy Osbourne until I actually heard him. Then he became my favourite musician. He seemed to be just what I needed at the time, lyrically, and he has a distinctive voice that I liked back in the day. A welcome change from all the screamers in metal. So it was the music that mattered, not what my classmates and teachers said.

I could just be talking rubbish, of course :)
 
Music I like is good music, music I don't like sucks. That's why! :sly:

Doesn't have anything to do with the lyrics, or even the genre (other than country, which lowers your IQ just being around it.)

Building a 4-beat sequence that loops for 7 minutes is not music. It sucks.
 
Depends I guess, and to that extent, I'm really not sure. I generally like most types of music from all different eras, but then again, I generally can't stand rap music (I like the old stuff...) and I certainly don't care much for country music (unless I've been drinking).

Tastes collectively change fairly often, and I'm usually under the impression that much of this is determined by the suits at MTV and the record companies as to what we like and what we shouldn't like. Fortunately with the advent of the internet, music spreads around quickly, and you can get into different styles more easily without having to vacate that one spot you're typically in.

Getting into the generational stuff, I guess, well... Thats a bit more difficult. I personally think that for the most part, music was better 20 or 30 years ago because it actually took talent to make a good song and make it popular. These days you've just got to look pretty and play decently well and you'll sell 2 Million copies (I'm looking at you Plain White Tees).

I guess my dislike for rap music is for many of the same reasons. When I was growing up, it took talent to become a big artist. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre certainly were the big names for me when I was younger, but these days, the new kids are a joke. Soulja Boy and "__________" *insert generic rap artist of the month here* are just passing fads, no real meaning or purpose to their music other than to get money and "bang those hoes." That doesn't mean that all of the new-school stuff is bad, Lil' Wayne and Common being two shining examples of rap with meaning and influence, but yeah, I hate about 90% of this post-Eminem scene.

As for country music, well, thats a product of my upbringing. Family issues aside, people who I didn't like listened to it, and accordingly I decided that I would not because of it. That is not to say that I wrote off country music altogether (I was forced to listen to it in the car, and it wasn't too bad), but I certainly ignored it completely for well over a decade. However, I'd be apt to pointing out that much of the newer country music acts are better simply because they've done a better job of making the music more appealing... Integrating other popular styles, and under some circumstances, stealing artists from other genres (I'm looking at you Jon Bon Jovi).

But in all honesty, wfooshee is right. This loop, sampling, DJ Mixmazta Flexington Dollar-Dollar-Bill crap is a damn-good reason why older folks hate the new stuff these days...
 
The older folks will always hate the new music because it's not what they grew up with, no matter what generation.

There are people out there who can see the beauty in all generations of music, I mean we really have a couple hundered years of music to go back and listen to as a people.

THe things that come out now adays are just what people want to hear. Don't blame the artists for exploiting what people want to hear, even if it is big booty bitches and dolla dolla bills yawl. Blame the consumer.

There is a lot of music out there that is actually good and created by talented artists, and some of it is mainstream, but not most of it. I bet most people have never heard the name Jason Becker.
 
I like music that is generally made by intelligent people. Stuff like jazz comes to mind. Making good jazz takes a lot of skill and talent.

Then from that branches out a lot of different stuff. I like electronic music, mainly drum and bass and trance, but that's because they frequently have a lot of jazz influence in them. Rock is also good, they share drum beats with drum and bass a lot.

The complexity of the music gives a good opportunity to make something creative. The beats of drum and bass are sometimes so complex that I can't tell when there will be a certain drum or something even when listening through the song a few times. It doesn't really have singing usually, neither does a lot of jazz, and a instrument is usually used to make a melody, instead of the normal songs you hear on the radio, where there is a simple beat, a bass in the background, and the singer makes the melody of the song with his/her voice.

If there is singing, I want the singing to make the music sound better, not the music to make the singing sound better, unless the lyrics are really really good.


To sum it up, if it's something that requires a lot of skill and talent to make, something that a normal person couldn't recreate even with a few weeks of practice time, then I'll probably like it. Originality catches my attention.

EDIT: On the other hand, something like the rap you normally hear on the radio, or country music, with incorrect grammar, stupid lyrics, not very original, or a beat I can make with simple slaps on a table, it represents ignorance to me, and I hate stupid people.
 
Perfect balance, if you haven't heard them already, London Electricity sounds right up your alley. (i only think one album is like jazz/break/drumand bass, try and find the song called will to love, its an amazing song imo)

I play these albums while I play gran turismo or any racing game really, the R:Racing Evolution Soundtrack and the Wangan Midnight Maxium Tune soundtrack, both can be found here free to download (I don't consider this piracy, they are just gamerips) http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/5795 and http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2707
 
We like music that we're familiar with, but as we get older, our tastes may change somewhat... basically, the more intelligent you are, the more you realize that pop music on the radio sucks ass.

Whether you like the same stuff you did as a kid depends entirely on how intelligent that stuff is. If you listened to the Carpenters or Menudo as a kid, it's a fair bet you don't now... :lol:

I hated listening to my Dad's Jazz when I was a kid. Now that I'm smart enough to understand it, I enjoy listening to some freeform riffs every now and then.

But then, it's possible that watching Sesame Street has primed me to like snazzy instrumentals.
 
It's all so subjective.

I don't think it has anything to do with what you grew up on or what your peers are listening to. To me, that's just kinda being ignorant towards music (harsh! but unless of course certain musical acts remind you of a certain time in your past you particularly enjoy. Kind of like looking at a photograph from way back). To me, it's what you're looking to get out of it. Whether it be a specific song, or a complete genre. It all depends on what you're looking to get out of it and why. It's important to stop and ask yourself, why is this song good to me? Is it because it creates an atmosphere that's reflective of my personality? or is it because I can shake my ass to it?

One thing for me is that music is art, and art imitates life. Life is full of emotions, and I like to find music to complement these emotions. Boards of Canada for those desolate feeling days, A Tribe Called Quest when I'm relaxing with friends, Lovage for when I'm feeling oh so sexual, etc.
 
I've thought about this quite a bit myself, and here's an idea I finally get to flesh out:

This is an interesting question for me, because I don't have a consistent taste in music. Tonally, Kasabian is very different from Nine Inch Nails—much "warmer", "full", and melodic, whereas NIN is commonly dissonant and abrasive, with some very catchy riffs and sequences interspersed.

And then I like gangsta rap, which really shares few qualities with any of them. The lyrical flow has almost no similarity, though I do admit there to some production similarity in my artist choices as there is with some of the other bands I like.

I liken Ice Cube and Eminem to Kasabian and Ratatat, the fuller sounding of their respective genres, with Jay-Z and Rakim more like Nine Inch Nails (purely from a sonic perspective, and not an artistic or innovative one) and say...Mindless Self Indulgence. The former have some very full, enveloping aural properties with lots of mid-range balance, whereas the latter often have a more polarized upper and lower-range sonic tendency (compare "Closer" by NIN with "Stuntman" by Kasabian and you'll see exactly what I mean).

But there's a commonality between all of those:

Critics praise Kasabian and Ratatat for that classical "full", "warm" and engrossing sound that good speakers really pronounce and compliment.

And I've noticed that, generally, most people can readily listen to and appreciate those 2 bands regardless of prior musical preference, suggesting we may have an inherent taste for these kinds of sounds.

However, the liking of rap and other more "hard" or abrasive sounds from rock and other genres may not negate that—it could be the sequences (..."riffs", note arrangement etc) that you enjoy, or the complexity (or lack there of) of the music, or something else, which another person may not (and, hence, appreciate a different value or property of an artist).

So instead of the sound of the music you like, it's the way it's composed you really enjoy.

At least, that's my theory so far. I think, near the end, I may have to clarify or revise a little bit to make it more concise, but that's pretty close to what I'm aiming for.
 
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It's all so subjective.

I don't think it has anything to do with what you grew up on or what your peers are listening to. To me, that's just kinda being ignorant towards music
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I've never met anyone who couldn't find anything modern that they liked, but at the same time I've never met an adult beyond the age of 30 who thinks that modern music in general is better than the music they grew up listening to. In my experience, the more interested someone is in music, the sooner they tend to cross the threshold there they mentally start separating modern music from their generation. They pick up on the changes sooner perhaps because they examine music in more detail. A lot of people I know who aren't particularly interested in music just need a decent beat or rhythm to dance to and are probably more tolerant to changes as a result.

I agree with you that it's all about what you want to get out of it, but I think that what you want to get out of music is in itself determined to some extent in your developing years.
 
I suppose you like what you like musically based on your experiences when hearing it:
- Having good times around a certain music; a hook to keep listening to it again, to relive those times.
- You like your friends, you hang out, you listen to their stuff and vice versa, because you get a good feeling.
- It speaks to your inner child/hippie/robot/ass-shaker.
- Enlightenment occurs when you hear it.

Perhaps we also have negative memories associated with music we don't like:

- "Conditioned" to dislike certain genres of music (it's uncool/your parents like it/it's different)
- There are negative connotations to the music (happy, upbeat music might not pleasure a depressed or downtrodden person, and vice versa)
- Meaningless or dis-associative lyrics.
- I've heard this sound before. I've heard this sound before. I've heard this sound before.
- 14-times-a-day-equals-I'm-mentally-over-saturated-by-this-pablum?!?!?

As I've aged, I find myself less daring to find "what's new", compared to what people thought in the past "was good". I really have to be cattle-prodded to listen to something new nowadays, since I'm rarely impressed with music I hear on many radio stations, nor am I hooked by the older stuff. Commercial radio stations in this market seem to have a defined niche and menu, and it doesn't crossover much unless it's a college radio station, which doesn't have to answer to demographics and trends and marketing reports.

Finally, I have 400+ albums, so it's hard for me to "find time" for new stuff, when there's something else in my collection or iPod begging to be listened to.
 

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