Music appreciation can lead to elitism
Musical elitism is a vice beyond rehabilitation for some. Groups of friends usually have at least one person who pushes his or her music like a car salesman, but not all music enthusiasts are as extreme as Jack Black in “High Fidelity.”
“I love obsessing over records,” Lane Community College student Jazpur Leigh said. “But I think snobbiness is wrong because no one can define quality without injecting their own opinion.”
Many of these music fanatics can be found in record stores.
“There are times when I’d absolutely love to crucify them,” House of Records employee Garrett Brown said of music elitists. “But it’s just a matter of taste. There’s probably a lot of crap I like.”
In an era of pop culture, some argue that popular trends sometimes need criticism and that tolerance is an important aspect of music appreciation.
“I’m an elitist, but I’m not a snob,” Face the Music employee Meghan Leighton said. “I’m not going to be rude if I think their taste is bad. I’m a person before I’m a music lover.”
Some music elitists firmly believe in a musical hierarchy.
“(Elitism) definitely does have its place,” Brown said. “Just like bad music has its place.”

— Damien Sherwood