I weep for snobs...
We've all met them and probably been made uncomfortable by them at some point or another. Maybe you are one and think you're the coolest being to ever grace the planet. They're out there, scowling at radios and TVs and stores in the mall.
Snobs.
I'm not talking so much about people with a lot of money that only want nice things, because whatever, that's a completely different issue. I'm talking about people that are so picky and preoccupied with what other people think of them that they choose their music, movies, clothes, everything based on how they believe other people will perceive them, or even how they perceive themselves.
In particular today, I'd like to talk about Music Snobs, because I run into them more than anyone else and they annoy me more than any other snob I've encountered.
It's like a joke now, but you'll be talking to someone and be like "So what kind of music do you listen to?" and they're like "Oh, you haven't heard of them." Or you ask someone if they heard this awesome tune on the radio. "Oh, I don't listen to the radio, it's just so annoyingly mainstream..." First off, rude?! You're basically saying the other person isn't as cultured or experienced or whatever as you are because they haven't heard the band you're gonna prattle off AND they're not even worth the time of trying to explain the sound of the band you supposedly like so much. Plus, with the radio thing, you're implying that person is annoying or has annoying taste because they listen to...well, the radio.
Oh, and then there's the whole "selling out" phenomenon that most successful bands have dealt with. You start off playing in someone's garage, and then play dive bars and parties or whatever, all paying your dues with the hopes of one day getting a deal that will allow you to keep doing this thing you love the rest of your life and pay your bills at the same time. Heaven opens, miracles happen, and you get the dream deal! Huzzah!!!... until every fan you ever had starts trashing you to everyone they know because you sold your soul. Wtf, people? I mean, if you love this band so much shouldn't you be excited that they've signed a contract for 4 big albums? You're basically guaranteed new material for the new 5-10 years! Oh, you're sad because their sound changed? Well, guess what. Bands change over time. People get better at their instruments, they get new producers, they borrow styles and techniques... it's normal. If a kid didn't learn anything or change anything about himself for 6 years, we would probably consider him to be some kind of epic failure. Why do we expect bands and the people in them to be stagnant? And yes, that band will probably not be playing that awesome dive down the street from your flat anymore, you might actually have to pay to see them and drive to get there, but that's life. Suck it up, be a man, and deal with it.
And then we come to what I experienced today and got really sad about and wanted to actually write the blog about. A friend posted that she realized that she only had one artist in her music that was fronted by a female singer. So, because it's me, I sent her a list of about 30 bands and artists fronted by women that I like. Her response was that she used to have a ton of music, but ended up deleting everything but her top 20 artists and that's all she listens to now....and that's why she only has 1 female fronted group.
Mwehahea?!
Now, I know I'm insane with my 36.39GB of music that comes to 16.7 Days of sound just in my iTunes...but how does someone that claims to love music live with just 20 artists? And aren't you seriously depriving yourself to not even try out new bands and see if you like them? Like I said before, I'm crazy, but I listen to most every soundtrack of every movie I watch, I hunt down songs from commercials, I listen to radio stations that I wouldn't normally listen to, I watch YouTube videos friends post on Facebook, everything! I give everything a chance because, inevitably, if I blow off a song or artist, I end up in love obsessed with them within a month. Need proof? Ke$ha, Florence and the Machine, EddPlant, Beastie Boys... List could go on FOREVER!
I think every artist (except Creed) has at least one song that a person will like. Say you don't like rap? Eminem has a rock track on his new album. You don't like country? Taylor Swift has pop remixes. Irish music annoys the hell out of you? You obviously haven't listened to Enter the Haggis. Every genre and artist worth their salt has a wild card that draws people in. That's why they exist.
And as a general rule, insulting any genre or artist (except Creed) is a bad idea because the entire reason they exist is because someone liked them. Someone bought a ticket to a show, or signed them to a label, or recorded them playing on a street corner and posted it on YouTube. So yeah. Can't we all just...get along?
This rant has been brought to you by ch0pstikx. No harm was intended for fans of Creed, it's just that after more than 10 years, I still haven't found anything about them I like. Still looking, though, I promise!