Opinion: The tendency to take pride in our music taste or criticize others’ taste is not what music is about. Your ego should not be determining your favorite songs or those of anyone else
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One of the most common judgments about music taste is that someone who wears a band t-shirt but does not have every song memorized by heart is not a fan. This often falls on people who wear thrifted shirts, from stores or their dads, and like one or several songs but may not know the obscure songs at all. The standard for good music taste changes so much and seems impossible that most of us enjoy pointing out the ways we fall short.
The unofficial holiday of Spotify Wrapped encourages us to lean into this tendency and indulge in making a spectacle of others’ music tastes.
The music we listen to is a personal experience, even in our public playlists or our queues while taking on aux duty at a party. When listening to songs that touch on emotional experiences, I put my Spotify account on a private session. I also do this whenever I listen to music I qualify as a guilty pleasure.
Even when no one is watching, I remember the times people judged my music taste and I have since acted like a critic has access to my account.
I used to think I was alone in having pop or country songs among my guilty pleasures. However, it is common for people to think about pop as a guilt-ridden listening session, especially from female artists.
Basic pop songs or famous country ballads — which is anything by Carrie Underwood — can feel weird to listen to on your own. But, at a club or bar, everyone enjoys them. Guilty pleasures become acceptable if we are not alone in indulging them.
When pop becomes a majority of your music taste, judgments focus on how basic your listening is. Rather than niche artists or forgotten “oldies,” you chose to like what everyone knows which is therefore deemed less meaningful.
Lyric Rosa-O’Hayer, a student at the University of Oregon, said that music taste, and others’ perceptions of it, can be used to categorize people, whether they have good or trustworthy taste or someone who will never be relied on for a hangout playlist. Whatever songs are part of your morning routine or long drive soundtrack, they add up and represent you to others.
“Music is so personal,” Rosa said. “It gives people an idea of your feelings and how you think.”
Because our music taste can tell others so much about us, it makes sense that judgments or criticisms about it impact us. Rosa said that once in high school, she played music she liked for a friend who criticized it. The moment weighs on her sometimes when people ask her to put on songs.
“I have felt ashamed of my taste in music,” Rosa said.
Personal experiences and feelings are key factors in developing music taste. People’s comments about what songs or playlists you love can feel like judgments about you as taste can be meaningful and reflective of who you are.
The pride people take in their taste toes the line between celebrating what music can do and shaming those who experience it differently. Egos need to sit on the sidelines when they come across what others like, no matter how much Spotify Wrapped encourages us to look down on one another’s top artists.