Good music vs Bad music.

This discussion I have had so many any times it hurts. I was sitting down with an artist after a show and was talking about music. He compared his music with good music. So I was curious what was bad music?

Well he couldn’t describe that. Well Taylor Swift was not that good. I was asking what was not good with that. She is very successful and have many listener and probably the best team in the world of songwriters.

Yes but she was a sellout. I wonder how. I would guess that in her case she is very involved in all the decisions since she owns her own label. Of course she tries to fit in to the climate for the moment. I would she would need a good reason to make a jazz album and put the same PR money behind it as she does with her normal album. Still if she really wanted to do the jazz album she could but not put so much PR behind it.

In fact several of my friends in Nashville have worked with her and they tell the same story that she is fantastic person that cares about all details. When she won a CMT (Country Music Television) award. She called up the director and asked him to pick a time when she could come down and thank the people on the station. He answered; well the board is here on Tuesday. She replied, not just the board, I mean all people. Then she came on Tuesday and shake hands with all employees down to the janitor to thank them for her award. That is a dedicated artist not a sell out.

So after hearing this well, then the bad music was the music that was on the top lists not specially Taylor Swift. The argument was still that they didn’t do what they wanted.

I guess this is always like this. It’s a scapegoat. Sure you want the audience to listen to your songs. So you cherish the ones that really do that and if they are few, well then they have a good taste.

At the same time some genres is just rubbish. I would gladly walk up on the stage on the fusion jazz dude that harassed me playing for two hours during Midem. I would take the damn guitar and smash it to his head. It was that bad and no one can convince me that it is good. It’s not and it will never be. It’s like your childrens drawings, precious to you but not to someone else.

The guy did his show, and was kind of curios what kind of music that was better than most other music that sells. He was the worst. Not musically, but the label I put on these artist. He was mediocre. That is the worst. To be bad can be cool, to be super good is to prefer. Just being a mediocre of all, well you can just quit. It’s not the audience fault it’s you that sucks.