[Elliot]

First, let me apologize for never coming here anymore.

Second, I was reading various journal entries on Last.FM recently and came across a journal entry about elitism and music taste that I disagree with. So, I wrote a LENGTHY (I'm really sorry, guys) response the guy somewhat in defense of elitism. Despite being really long, I think it's a worthwhile read. Here, I'll post the original article and then my response:

ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY PEBSTER49

Metalheads Openminded?


I always wondered why Metal never catchs on to the public. One reason is that its to crazy, to Brutal, To aggressive, to musically diverse and complex that the normal public can't get a grasp of. Its Music you can't judge on the first listen, or second but something that has to grow on you. Its music that gets better after each listen, it music you have to fully digest in order to understand it. Its not Pop, Indie, Country or Rap where you sticks in your mind, and you instantly can judge per play, its way too complex for that.

The point im trying to get here is that, thats not the only reason why Metal has never caught on...Metalheads are very hypocritcal, and brutal to even their own kind. Bashing of Nu-Metal, Metalcore, Deathcore, Grindcore, Thrash, Melodic Death, even Power Metal. Wtf does that leave us...Funeral Doom and Black? Seriously, Open-minded Metalheads are really hard to find, you know the ones that like Mayhem, and maybe a semi-known band like Mastodon, or Killswitch Engage. I rarely see it, I rarely see a Metalhead who like all the genres, or atleast respects it. I hate the phrase of calling even Atreyu and As I Lay Dying as EMo, do you even know what emo is? Just because it has Hardcore influces, and is different from you dark atmospheric Black Metal doesn't make it horrid. Metal doens't catch on because of its own fans, who bash beginners from the beginning. Its those Nu-Metal fans that evenutally progress to deeper stuff, but with this bashing from the beginning why the fuck even bother. Seriously whats killing MEtal is not Atreyu, its fucking Elists that need to keep there stupid mouth shut. Your not a better Metalhead for likeing only "true" Metal, your just a jackass.



MY RESPONSE

Stop zeroing in on metal; you're ignoring the bigger picture.

Most people who like pop music only like it because they don't have "intelligent" taste in music, right? To clarify, they like music simply because it sounds catchy or because it has a "good beat" (whatever the fuck that means - all mainstream hip-hop is in 4/4 time and has the EXACT SAME BEAT) or whatever shallow reason they can provide; they don't know enough about music to really decide what they like and don't like.

Thus, those who like less mainstream music are likely to have somewhat more "intelligent" music tastes, meaning that they look for specific things in the music they like. The reason that most obscure bands are obscure is that they do not play music intended to appeal to a wide variety of people, like those who make "good phat beatzz yo" or catchy, danceable tunes do. An artist who says, "I'm going to make music with a dark, depressing atmosphere" isn't going to become popular, since the majority of people do not want dark, depressing atmospheres in the music they listen to.

Those music fans who do know what they like and do not like (it takes lots of intelligent listening to know what one really likes and doesn't like about music, right?) aren't going to find it in the majority of genres, especially not those mainstream genres intended to appeal to a wider variety of people than the types of bands that play whatever style the intelligent fan has decided appeals to him the most.



Now I'll get specific to metal.


Obscure metal bands like Xasthur, Nortt, Esoteric, and Ahab all play very dark, atmospheric music, even though two are funeral doom, one is black metal, and one is black metal/funeral doom. Though their genres are a bit different, they could all theoretically fit someone’s definition of what the like, since they contain many similar elements. Someone who likes them probably likes the music he or she listens to to be depressing and dark or whatever (I need to find some better adjectives...). However, bands like Opeth, Tool, or Nine Inch Nails (taken from your charts) who also play generally "dark" music probably are not liked by fans of Xasthur, Nortt, Esoteric, or Ahab (though I myself am a fan off all the bands listed except for Opeth, who I respect as being very sonically in control, just find really boring).

The reason that the three bands I took from your charts aren’t always liked by those with obscure tastes in dark music is that the three bands take many elements from dark music and alter them so that they appeal to a wider variety of listeners. So because those bands don’t necessarily fit the specific definition of what a really “intelligent listener” (read: a music listener who knows exactly what he likes and doesn’t like) MAY (emphasis on may, since I’d hate to pigeonhole anyone) like, he thus will not enjoy those bands very much.

In short, I believe that the more music intensely you listen to music, the more specific your tastes become, thus the more obscure your tastes become. Conversely, someone who listens to mainstream music must not have a very specific definition of what they like, meaning that they haven’t really listened to music intensely.

So now we are arriving to the reason why elitists are elitists.

Elitists, generally speaking, have music tastes that lean to the obscure, right? It can also be understood then that elitists have very specific requirements for the music that they like.

It is worth noting that they (and anyone else) can like bands that sound totally different for completely different reasons; music fans with intelligent taste will have multiple definitions of what they like (for instance, I like my music to be generally on the “dark side”, though I also like music which can be calming to listen to, as well as music which contains technical proficiency [I’m being vague to save time and space, since this isn’t a main point of this article]).

Anyways, elitists have these very specific requirements for what they like, so obviously they will not like music which does not embody their definitions. Since their definitions are specific, the music that does not fit their definitions is much more likely to be mainstream (or at least more mainstream than the music that they like). Thus, elitists almost always dislike mainstream music or even semi-mainstream music or quasi-mainstream or any music which is in any shape or form MAINSTREAM (read: intended to be enjoyed by people without as specific of a definition of what they like).

That being said, obscure music tastes don’t justify being an asshole about music, but only disliking mainstream bands.

So, I partially agree with you: Yes, it isn’t necessary to be an asshole to people with less obscure music tastes then you, especially when they are on their paths to becoming a more intelligent music fan.

However: No, liking a band like Mayhem and thinking As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage and killwhitneydead and Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold suck goat testes is not a bad thing, nor is it destroying metal. The reason why people like black metal but not hardcore influenced metalcore is because they have a specific definition of what they like, as should everyone.

Sorry about the length of this, I got kind of carried away. That being said, it’s an interesting read, and I’ll probably post my own journal about this.

Also, I hope I didn’t offend you in any way, even though I did attack some of the bands you listened to. I’m glad you wrote your journal, since it gave me reason to solidify and voice some things that I feel. I hope a good, healthy discussion gets started.



So yeah. Let's discuss this. 8)