There is no need to be embarrassed by your taste in music

It's an internet cliche we've all seen:

Your favorite band sucks.

On the one hand it's often meant as a joke, exaggerated hipsterism, but then when you start reading the comments on music blogs and sites like Stereogum, you realize that a lot of people have lost sight of the fact that taste in music, as in all other art forms, is just that: a matter of taste.

There are no objective criteria to be used in judging art, no matter what academics (or internet trolls) may say. Sure, you can evaluate the technical skill involved in a piece of music, but even that has no direct relation to quality of art.

We've all heard the noisy, arrogant attitude: My favorite music is great, and everything else is crap. Whether they're hating on major label artists as sell-outs, emo singers as worthy of decapitation, country singers as uneducated hicks, rappers as unmusical gold-chasers, or anything else. It is absurd to lump all the practitioners of a given genre together, and certainly indicative of minimal exposure. Anyone who has listened with much depth in any genre knows that it's not all the same. The whole indie-vs-major thing is particularly ridiculous, since it requires the listener to know what label the music was released on before deciding on its quality.

On the opposite extreme, in the face of strident hipper-than-thou rhetoric, many people retreat into a blanket apology: I don't have very good taste in music. The big secret is this: there is no such thing as "good taste" in music. Each of us likes what we like for our own reasons. Maybe I like Hank Williams because my parents listened to him when I was a kid and it reminds me of happy times. And if Hank Sr. is considered cool by some kind of hipster consensus, fine, but my feeling is the same with Glen Campbell, who to my knowledge is not considered cool. Whatever. They both remind me of my childhood, just like the Monkees.

I recently watched a great documentary called Afro-punk, which shone light on a fascinating, little-known sub-sub-culture. One thing that was interesting about the film is that while it was in part about defying boundaries and rules in music (like the idea that punk is a white musical idiom), at several points in the film there were stereotypical dismissals of other genres, in particular the ridicule of the "twenty-minute drum solo" emblematic of 70s rock outside of punk. For one thing, I find no contradiction in my fondness for both progressive rock and punk. The drum solo was invented in jazz, allegedly by Gene Krupa, and since the 1930s there have been good ones and bad ones.

I've heard it said that while American radio stations are relatively narrow with their playlists, most Americans actually listen to more variety: if you look at their CD collections, you will find things from multiple genres, things that would never be heard on the same radio station. I don't know if that's true of most people – it's certainly true for me. You'd be hard pressed to find a genre I don't have. I don't say that to brag, but to make a point: quality is not dependent on genre.

There are a lot of other factors that are irrelevant to determining quality...

Like when it was made. Music from 2009 is no more or less valid than music from 1945, 1972, 1984, or even 1705.

Like where it was made. American music is neither intrinsically superior nor inferior to music from Ireland, France, Mexico, China, or Afghanistan.

Like how popular it is now or was at some time in the past. Other people's likes or dislikes, no matter their numbers, tell you nothing.

Like what language the singing is in. Admittedly, many people prefer music where they can understand the words, and that's fine, but I think it's quite possible to enjoy music without knowing what they're singing about. After all, there's a lot of music in English where I wish I didn't understand. And I also enjoy instrumental music where there's no singing at all, and all you have to do is think of the human voice as an instrument.

Like what kinds of instruments are used. Electric, acoustic, electronic – guitar, piano, lute, sitar, koto, accordion, banjo, harmonica, didgeridoo, laptop, kora, coffee cans full of paper clips...

Like what tradition (or combination or lack thereof) it comes from. Pure Delta Blues is not superior to pure Carnatic music or the electronic combination of East African griot music with Irish folk.

So what does quality depend on? Listen to music with as open a mind as you can – how does it make you feel? Does it touch you, either emotionally or intellectually?

If it touches you, it's good music, and you have nothing to be ashamed about. There is no need to be embarrassed by your taste in music. And there is no need to berate others for their taste.