Music Snobbary

I love music. Let me rephrase that, I love good music.

I have been called a music snob, I've been called a hipster (albeit by my self), I have also been called a music guru, and told I have a good taste in music. Music is important to me, and I take it very seriously.

They say that smell is the sense most strongly tied to a person's memory. For me music very strongly tied to my memories. Listening to certain music can bring back strong memories of experiences or certain times in my life. When I listen to the album About Today by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti I am instantly reminded of driving around Atlanta at night during the fall. When I listen to Minus the Bear I feel like I'm back on the beach. Some music reminds me of high school, some of college. Music I listened to during good times and music I listened to during low times. The song Monsters by Band of Horses will forever be my favorite song because of the close emotional bond I felt to it. The song basically talks about how we have problems, and there are always going to be awful people, and how we try to hide from them. There is a line in the song that says, "Though, to say we've got much hope; if I am lost its only for a little while" its so optimistic in the face of people constantly trying to bring us down. It also helps that its a beautiful song too. I still tear up sometimes when I listen to it.

The point is that music moves us. We relate to lyrics, rhythm and melody. We can connect to artists and feel a kinship to them, all based on their music. These bands become extensions to ourselves, and can be how we express ourselves. We feel loyalty to our bands, and defend them. And if you have ever been told you are a music snob, or even had a favorite indie band, you might have experienced the agony of what its like when your band betrays you...by going mainstream.

It sounds silly, but if you are a music fan it can kind of feel like a betrayal when your band finds mainstream success. I have been chastised for feeling this way numerous times. Why does it bother us so much to hear our beloved band on the radio? I can't speak for everyone but for me its because of a couple of reasons.

1. It changes the band. There have been several indie artists whose music became much more accessible and less adventurous.
2. The band doesn't mean as much to the new found "fans." Your favorite band is like you childhood best friend who just ping-pong table and suddenly has a new found popularity. These new fans are quick to drop your band just as your best friend's popularity is sure to wane when someone in the neighborhood gets a pool table.

I'm not saying that just because you hear your favorite band's song on the radio that they've completely gone "mainstream" just look at Modest Mouse and Radiohead they have each had major hits and it hasn't changed their music.

I turn on the radio today and at any moment can hear bands that I like, that started out as Indie bands, and I start to worry. What if my worry is all in vain? What if the music industry is finally starting to have higher standards. I mean after all, Arcade Fire won a Grammy and Bon Iver was nominated. Maybe we have Internet Radio services to thank for this shift in demand for better music, now that broadcast radio stations are no longer our only source for new music.

No matter what your opinion on music is, I think we can all agree that we are glad Nickelback's popularity is dropping.