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What does 'Music snob' actually mean?

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    dearmrmandearmrman Posts: 21,531
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    vdp2791 wrote: »
    They are the reason I limit my use of this forum, that's for sure.

    Why? if anything the music forum on DS is mostly chart/pop music for like minded people who have the same tastes.... most things a so called music snob would avoid.
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    Nicola32Nicola32 Posts: 5,153
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    Lexii-Mae wrote: »
    To me, it's somebody that thinks they are superior to others because of their musical tastes, somebody that makes nasty blanket statements about all fans of a particular type/piece of music.

    Having a different taste in music fine, to say you don't like a certain piece or genre of music is fine and to state why that music doesn't personally appeal to you, is fine but when you start saying things like "ugh it's just chav music for the lowest common denominator" "Music for the Tesco Mums" (I have no idea what the hell that means but I've seen it be said on here.) and when you start branding people as brainless sheep for liking a certain peice of music, then to me yes that does make you a music snob.

    I would never call all fans of a certain music genre anything and I would only ever call somebody a music snob for looking down on others.


    As you say, not liking a particular singer/band or their music is fine, not everyone in life likes the same things and it is perfectly fine for people to express their dislike of the music or the singer/band - BUT- when people insult the fans of someone/something they don't like and make derogatory comments about people simply because they like something they don't "music snob" is not a term I would use for them.

    I would just view them as immature and not very nice people tbh.
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    RocketpopRocketpop Posts: 1,350
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    Nicola32 wrote: »
    - BUT- when people insult the fans of someone/something they don't like and make derogatory comments about people simply because they like something they don't "music snob" is not a term I would use for them.

    I would just view them as not very nice people.

    In my experience that's something I tend to find pop fans do rival fans of different acts - leading to the rather hideous term 'stan wars'. People who think if their act charts higher than a rival act they themselves have somehow won and can then gloat.

    To use the ridiculous term 'real music fans' tend to have a broader and more varied palate - focusing more on the actually music rather than the other things that are important to pure pop fans (sales, image, brand, marketing).

    Personally I'd rather spend time talking with someone who has a passion for music as a whole - than someone who cares about what the current number one is.
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    JasonJason Posts: 76,557
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    Music snobbery annoys me. It limits your scope to discover new styles or interesting songs or albums. If you're going to confine yourself to what you consider to be "real" music, or your genre of choice to the detriment of everything else then you're really missing out.

    Zane Lowe once said "If it's good, I like it" and that's been my music mantra ever since :)
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    Glawster2002Glawster2002 Posts: 15,215
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    chrisqc wrote: »
    When people like an "Unknown " band and then that band hits the big time they stop liking them cause they have become popular

    That's usually because many bands change their sound considerably to achieve commercial success, alienating fans who liked their often original sound when they first started.
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    Heston VestonHeston Veston Posts: 6,496
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    More often than not is it used on here against someone for simply having a different taste in music.
    mialicious wrote: »
    Ive never been called one as far as i can recall but i would take it as a compliment:p
    Its like someone who eats nothing but McD's calling someone else a food snob.
    It is a term used by fans of manufactured pop when they can't think of a decent comeback to criticism of their favourite band\singer

    All of those.
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    calico_piecalico_pie Posts: 10,060
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    But what is great is totally subjective. If someone doesn't like pop music as a whole (unlikely if we go down the pop=popular i.e. chart music and we mean every single bit of it) and another person does then all that shows is they have different tastes. Who is to say which tastes are right or better?

    People are free to like and dislike what they want (and we all do) or praise or dismiss what they like. It's only their opinion and matters not a bit, so why be affected by it? The only snobbery is anyone thinking their opinion means anything beyond being their own personal taste.

    "xxxxx are the best band in the world and that's an absolute fact and here's the proof"

    vs

    "xxxxx are my favourite band in the world"

    It's taste. It means nothing.

    I'd agree its true - or at least mostly true.

    As the first example off the top of my head - Dark Side of the Moon is widely regarded as A Great Album. I've always thought it was a bit meh.

    But I wouldn't dismiss it as rubbish just because I don't like it.

    So I think there is some scope for a bit of objectivity.

    I'd agree that no-one has the right to say one taste is better than the other (within some reason!), which is precisely what makes a music snob IMO - when they dismiss someone's tastes more often than not, because its pop.

    I'm certainly no fan of One Direction, but a couple of their tunes have been pretty great pop songs IMO.

    Or something like Taylor Swift's new album - its an absolutely brilliant pop record.

    Any real fan of music should be able to appreciate good stuff of any genre.
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    calico_piecalico_pie Posts: 10,060
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    Music snobbery annoys me. It limits your scope to discover new styles or interesting songs or albums. If you're going to confine yourself to what you consider to be "real" music, or your genre of choice to the detriment of everything else then you're really missing out.

    Zane Lowe once said "If it's good, I like it" and that's been my music mantra ever since :)

    Agree completely with this.

    Reminded me of this Radio 1 ad which I loved.
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    SummerShudderSummerShudder Posts: 1,170
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    A music snob is somebody who is willing to listen to music that isn't being played on the radio 24 hours a day, unlike most people on this forum :D
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    TheTruth1983TheTruth1983 Posts: 13,462
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    I get called a music snob because I prefer to listen to independent music, mostly from my own locality but also further afield.
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    JasonJason Posts: 76,557
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    calico_pie wrote: »
    Agree completely with this.

    Reminded me of this Radio 1 ad which I loved.

    Thanks for that, i hadn't seen that before. Excellent stuff :)
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    Glawster2002Glawster2002 Posts: 15,215
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    calico_pie wrote: »
    I'd agree its true - or at least mostly true.

    As the first example off the top of my head - Dark Side of the Moon is widely regarded as A Great Album. I've always thought it was a bit meh.

    But I wouldn't dismiss it as rubbish just because I don't like it.

    So I think there is some scope for a bit of objectivity.

    I'd agree that no-one has the right to say one taste is better than the other (within some reason!), which is precisely what makes a music snob IMO - when they dismiss someone's tastes more often than not, because its pop.

    I'm certainly no fan of One Direction, but a couple of their tunes have been pretty great pop songs IMO.

    Or something like Taylor Swift's new album - its an absolutely brilliant pop record.

    Any real fan of music should be able to appreciate good stuff of any genre.

    However Dark Side Of The Moon is still regarded as a great album today, 40 years after it was first released. i wonder if Taylor Swift's new album will be held in the same regard in 40 years time. ;)

    I can appreciate music from any genre, it doesn't mean I have to like it, though. :D
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    qwerty_1234qwerty_1234 Posts: 950
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    Most of the definition of it is already here to be honest.

    I would say that pop music fans are actually worse than a lot of other genres, especially rock/indie which is where most people would consider musical snobbery to take place.

    I also think that closed-mindedness comes into being a music snob. I know a lot of people who are fans of indie/rock/metal who will openly admit to being a fan of the odd Taylor Swift or One Direction song. I also know a lot of pop music fans - ask them to give a Royal Blood song a chance and there is more chance of a pig flying.
    I know taste is subjective and you have a pretty good sense of knowing what you will and won't like, but I think the biggest form of snobbery is judging something before you've heard it.
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    LadyFluffLadyFluff Posts: 481
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    I've been accused of being a music snob. I don't particularly think I am, I just have different taste to a lot of other people. It's probably safe to say I can't stand chart music. I couldn't have said for sure a few months ago, because I avoided it, but now I work in an office where they have Capital Radio playing most of the time, and I've yet to hear anything on there I like. I don't berate the others for liking it though, it just has yet to play anything that holds any appeal to me. Heck, I stopped listening to Radio 2 a few years ago because it got too modern for me! (they now have all the old DJs from Radio 1 that I didn't want to listen to when I was the target audience for Radio 1!).
    Still love Bob Harris though, he's responsible for a lot of my music collection!

    I will willingly listen to pretty much any genre with an open mind, but I generally don't like very electronic-centric music, dance music, jazz, rap/hip-hop, contemporary R&B (I don't mind the blokes-playing-rock-music-Rhythm-and-Blues R&B, but not the modern pop music R&B) or opera. That's not to say I'll never liek anything from those types, but that'd be very much unusual. But I I generally do like folk, country, musical theatre, rock and metal, but not exclusively. I particularly like genre-defying bands like the Asylum Street Spankers (sadly now disbanded) and the Urban Voodoo Machine.

    In keeping with my general failure at being cool though, the first single I ever bought, a defining moment for most people's youth, failed to chart. Story of my life!
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    TheTruth1983TheTruth1983 Posts: 13,462
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    Most of the definition of it is already here to be honest.

    I would say that pop music fans are actually worse than a lot of other genres, especially rock/indie which is where most people would consider musical snobbery to take place.

    I also think that closed-mindedness comes into being a music snob. I know a lot of people who are fans of indie/rock/metal who will openly admit to being a fan of the odd Taylor Swift or One Direction song. I also know a lot of pop music fans - ask them to give a Royal Blood song a chance and there is more chance of a pig flying.
    I know taste is subjective and you have a pretty good sense of knowing what you will and won't like, but I think the biggest form of snobbery is judging something before you've heard it.

    That's me :D

    I have all her albums bar the latest one and make no apology for it :blush:
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    calico_piecalico_pie Posts: 10,060
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    LadyFluff wrote: »
    I've been accused of being a music snob. I don't particularly think I am, I just have different taste to a lot of other people. It's probably safe to say I can't stand chart music.

    But what do you mean by that? That you don't like music that gets in the charts?

    So anything from Ben Howard to the Killers to Ed Sheeran to Beyonce to One Direction?

    Nothing, zip, nada?

    I think that's it in a nutshell - being so dismissive of *chart music* when arguably a fair amount of decent stuff charts.
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    calico_piecalico_pie Posts: 10,060
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    However Dark Side Of The Moon is still regarded as a great album today, 40 years after it was first released. i wonder if Taylor Swift's new album will be held in the same regard in 40 years time. ;)

    I can appreciate music from any genre, it doesn't mean I have to like it, though. :D

    Maybe not, but it probably won't mean it magically stopped being a great pop album. The point is that, compared to most pop albums its probably better than most, and that an album shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because of the genre it is.

    And I think to a degree attitudes have changed - things were quite different back in the 70s. If DSOTM was released today who knows if it would be so highly regarded in 40 years time.
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    dearmrmandearmrman Posts: 21,531
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    calico_pie wrote: »
    But what do you mean by that? That you don't like music that gets in the charts?

    So anything from Ben Howard to the Killers to Ed Sheeran to Beyonce to One Direction?

    Nothing, zip, nada?

    I think that's it in a nutshell - being so dismissive of *chart music* when arguably a fair amount of decent stuff charts.

    I'm with LadyFluff on this one, after hearing what my daughter listens too I am so glad that I am dismissive of chart music :)
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    rfonzorfonzo Posts: 11,774
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    Maybe, it is people who listen to bands or artists that have produced music that have stood the test of time.
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    anthony davidanthony david Posts: 14,528
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    Musical snobbery is far worse amongst lovers of classical music than pop. Those who like avant-garde music think Tchaikovsky is moronic for example.
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    MaksonMakson Posts: 30,503
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    chrisqc wrote: »
    When people like an "Unknown " band and then that band hits the big time they stop liking them cause they have become popular

    Like many of the long time Kings Of Leon fans who jumped ship once Sex On Fire tore up the mainstream charts:D
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    barbelerbarbeler Posts: 23,827
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    Makson wrote: »
    Like many of the long time Kings Of Leon fans who jumped ship once Sex On Fire tore up the mainstream charts:D
    To be fair, that is one of the most annoying records of all time.
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    ohglobbitsohglobbits Posts: 4,482
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    Musical snobbery is far worse amongst lovers of classical music than pop. Those who like avant-garde music think Tchaikovsky is moronic for example.
    Atonal monstrosities by Schonberg or Honegger, no doubt.
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    anthony davidanthony david Posts: 14,528
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    ohglobbits wrote: »
    Atonal monstrosities by Schonberg or Honegger, no doubt.

    Not to mention 4 mins of silence which when someone spoofed it an idiotic judge awarded the "composer" damages.
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    Glawster2002Glawster2002 Posts: 15,215
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    calico_pie wrote: »
    But what do you mean by that? That you don't like music that gets in the charts?

    So anything from Ben Howard to the Killers to Ed Sheeran to Beyonce to One Direction?

    Nothing, zip, nada?

    I think that's it in a nutshell - being so dismissive of *chart music* when arguably a fair amount of decent stuff charts.

    I have Hot Fuss and Sam's Town by The Killers, but the other examples you have cited from a musical perspective leave me 100% cold. To me they are dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.

    That isn't music 'snobery', that is simply my taste in music, I have no issue at all with the fact other people like them.
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