May 2, 2023
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Good and bad music, what does that even mean? Does bad music exist? Are these terms we should be using to describe music?
I think the idea of anything creative being seen as 'good' or 'bad' is just plain wrong. In reality, it's an irrelevant type of assessment. Who decides what makes a piece of music good or bad?
It's a trap that's easy to fall into and by using those words, we can get stuck in a loop of assessing things from simplified perspectives. Doing so also limits our dialogue with each other. It doesn't allow for nuance when talking about music. Moreso being overly simplistic in referring to music that we do or don't like, makes things too binary.
We all generate opinions based on our personal tastes, and taste is the great differentiator. But it's all relative and subjective.
I think saying that you like a piece of music (and trying to articulate why) is more accurate and meaningful than just placing a stock 'good' or 'bad' label on things.
We have a personal reaction to the music that we experience and that which moves us most. So we're better off thinking about music in terms of how much we enjoy it and why we do, rather than describing it as inherently 'good' or 'bad', because those terms are too basic and somewhat meaningless in the subjective world of music listeners.