Convince me otherwise
Thatās an open question.
I personally think snobbery and the class divide is bigger than ever. Views will depend on which side your bread is buttered on and is beyond this forum.
As far as music, do your best to transcend the snobbery with your selections and the way you present them.
And highly necessary too
Care to elaborate?
Fuck snobbery, discerning I can get down with thoughā¦
Some people will look down on others as a way to fluff up their own importance/talent etc. This happens in many arenas, music is just another platform for this to play out. I have always just had the view of āremove the subject matterā be that music, cars, money and all the other ways us monkeys like to stroke ourselves, and you are just left with a behaviour and attitude. If that attitude is noxious, that is all that it is. Some people are very wired to this type of fuckery. I have always thought the whole idea of someone elseās music choices is as personal as what flavours in food they enjoy, or what temperatures they enjoy the most, the whole notion that it is somehow not as good as yours or should somehow conform to something or other is beyond bizarre.
I agree with you both.
I was listening to Luke Unaās latest show and it struck me just how egalitarian the whole scene is now. I personally canāt afford Ā£400 rarities but it doesnāt mean I canāt listen to them. Fantastic music is everywhere and no one appears to be trying to keep their latest discoveries secret, Iād say itās the total opposite. Whether itās blogs, IG, Bandcamp, Mixcloud, Soundcloud, or here, thereās a vast amount of knowledge being shared, and time permitting, so easy to keep up to date. Itās such a huge difference to the days when music (apart from on the radio) was only available on physical mediums. If we remove vinyl and music gear from the equation, I guess my question should have been āis music snobbery still possible in 2022?ā
Iāve never really understood why anyone would want to keep good music a secret.
Iām pretty sure, at the time of recording, an artist has never said, āIām making this record, so it will only sell a few copies, fade into obscurity, only for it to be rediscovered years later, but then remain unknown because the person that rediscovered it, refuses to share what it is,ā
Another point I feel worth mentioning, the (daunting) gatekeepers behind the counters in the best record shops 30 years ago, who basically determined what they were willing to sell to you as opposed to the ānameā djs who got the cream. Theyāve had to embrace the Internet/social media to remain relevant. Eg: compared to 15 or so years ago in the early days of Internet music communities when all were in denial regarding āacid houseā roots, it appears nowadays itās no longer a dirty word, a massive shift I feel from the prevalent attitudes back then.
As a punter, imvho thereās never been a better time than the present for music. Quoting Luke Una, āfalling down the cracks of sofasā, if you werenāt doing that where were you? Propped up on velvet cushions on a 15th century chaise longue?
Thereās certain musicians I really do not like, but if somebody I met told me that act was their favourite type of music, thereās no way Iād give my negative opinion pertaining to said performer. As @MastaF stated, it comes down to attitude. I consider everybody within this forum to have their musical feelers stretching far and wide, seeking well beyond the cultural norms. If you have good taste and a tidy music collection, enjoy it! Share it!
The reason I DJ and present a 20 year running radio show is to get the music to the people, pure and simple. Sydneyās DJ scene is small and itās painfully obvious who the whoppers and shitcunts are. They are clueless about it, but the rest of us are painfully aware and discuss them with a rolling of the eyes. In 2022, the idea of the egalitarian coveting of music is absurd. The only person you should be trying to impress is yourself. By that I mean, still reward yourself with uncovering that much wanted nugget or by hitting a store and coming home with something completely new and exciting.
Iāve made playlists for relative strangers I follow on Instagram, because I can see they have an interest in a story or post Iāve made about something Iām into. The threads on here such as āwhat are you listening toā or āwhereās music atā have been invaluable to me, especially when seeking new material for my radio show. Sharing really is caring.
Also, donāt be a re-issue snob. We ALL have reissues in our collections. Yes, nothing beats a wantslist OG find, but if I canāt afford the crazy price, hell, bring on the reissue so I can sit back and listen to it regardless.
I have been guilty in the past of dissing the Millennial collectors with the Crosley turntable and coloured vinyl collection, but thatās maybe cos Iām old and those kids who jumped onboard the āvinyl revivalā train are an easy target. I realise thatās completely hypocritical regarding all that Iāve said above, but Iām no saint and itād feel false if I didnāt cop to my own previous prejudices here.
@fred_dibnah - what was it about Luke Unaās show in particular that lead you to think about āhow egalitarian the whole scene is nowā? I only ask because I need to quantify if my nagging suspicion about that guy is correct.
I am no doubt biased given Iām a northerner. However I completely relate to his reminiscing regarding Hulme and what was happening in Mcr for example. Heās 2 years older than me, and a lot of what he says rings true to my own experiences. I genuinely always look for the best in people, yes I think he got very lucky with the nights he put on, but everyone needs a bit of luck, and at that time Mcr was a void for several years after the Hac closed down, the developers moved in etc, and fair play, their club nights filled that void and revitalised Mcr.
Luke waffles on about holy grails, records found in old flats behind wall paper and under floor boards it gets a bit tiring and puts people off listening to his shows. Music snobs you have to take with a pinch of salt thereās obviously more going on there if someone flips over someoneās taste in music. I seen guys on other forums completely attack people for their music taste in really nasty and aggressive ways, worst was when dj Robert Miles died and people were leaving condolences and then there was one who had to say what he thought of the hit single Children there was no need the guy just died and no one cares about music when a person dies. As the singer from Travis said years ago after covering a Brittany Spears song Any song that gets kids into music at an early age is a good thing, they will grow to love music from there onā¦
Digital has played a huge part in all of this. The scarcity of physical copies in the past and limited means of copying and playing music meant that an individual with the right connections/background could have access to music/rare versions that no one else could. That scenario is the classic breeding ground for snobbery.
Today is (almost) the polar opposite. You could almost assume that everyone has access to everything, and with Bandcamp/re issues at a reasonable cost, so itās really about your choice/personal taste and how you put things together, not actually finding or owning the stuff in the first place. This is a much healthier scenario for the punter (itās another story if you are considering the impact on the industry and artists when content is much cheaper/free).
I totally get what you mean. It seems to be a āthingā now for djs on internet mediums to wax lyrical about how they discovered a track or what it personally means to them. Definitely becomes tedious very quickly. I much prefer uninterrupted music and a tracklisting. However, there are moments when I can say to myself āyeah I get thatā. Fine line I guess.
I guess everyone has a different definition of snobbery but iāll always have more time for people who care and who are passionate than someone who knocked out some landfill in 5 minutes. In Croatia on holiday last week i couldnāt move for quiet bars playing shite house-lite pop with weak Carling stength vocals and itās the stuff you canāt easily zone out of. Around 90% of Ibiza now is dogshit tech house and 100% of the people into it are the worst people. But hey, the snobs are the bad guys, right?
Thatās not snobbery, imho, thatās just having good taste, usually honed from a lifetime of listening to a variety of genres.
Bloody kids these days shakes fist at cloud
THIS!!!
When youāre fifteen it makes a ton of sense-
For many of us, myself definitely included, my musical tastes were a HUGE part of forming an adult identity and realizing that there were other paths forward than being the best student or athlete. The further you get away from those adolescent years, the stranger it seems to hold on to that āI know about this and I wonāt tell youā mentality and at its most pronounced I think it evinces mental illness or at the very least an unhealthy alienation from other humans. Music is beautiful, doesnāt belong to any of us, and the best thing you can do if you love something is evangelize for it.
Also IN MY OPINION Luka Una is as overrated and self infatuated as they come
Fair play. your comment makes total sense and I appreciate your candour
I guess it depends on what you define as snobbery as opposed to personal taste, like everyone, i have my own views of what i think is good/great & what i think is shit/terrible.
I hope iām not a snob but i guess if i exchanged musical views with a Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Diplo. etc fan they may think iā m a snob, can be a thin line i suppose.
To me a snob is someone who is exclusive rather than inclusive, prejudiced & closed minded rather than open minded.
The whole point of getting older is growing & changing, I would have never have listened to things i love
now when i was a teen/early 20s, so if youāre a militant snob in your 30s/40s/50s itās pretty pathetic imo, you should realise by that age itās not life or death.