Imagine the following scenario. Your crush approaches you while you’ve been minding your own business. With a glowing smile on their face they ask you what kind of music you’re listening to. You’re shocked that someone else could find interest in Merzbow. As you take out your headphones the tv static immediately begins to pour out. The room fills with squeals and a low drone. Your crush doesn’t even try to give Merzbow a fair shot. They immediately figure you’re some crazed lunatic and they withdraw from the area. Would this experience hurt you?
Externalizing
Of course, it would devastate me that my crush now thinks I’m the next Jeffrey Dahmer. I’d rather show someone an artist and have them vomit from the ears than have them be indifferent. Music should evoke passion. It should evoke motivation and purpose. Because of that, indifference is the worst reaction someone can give you. Indifference means your music taste is more boring than the first 30 minutes of a Bethesda game.
When you first set up your Myspace profile back in 2006, what was the first thing you focused on? It was the music of course! (I hope) If you didn’t have Sherwood somewhere in your Myspace playlist then I’m not sure if we can be friends. Our tastes concretizes what most of us are afraid to say or are unsure of how to verbalize. It does so with tone and melody by pure definition. Your recommendations provide a congruent, well-rounded image of yourself. Without the need for any sort of interaction between people.
Social Media
It’s a shame that the powerhouse social media websites don’t use music to its fullest potential nowadays. That’s most likely due to the myriad of issues that would arise because of copyright but I digress. Whether you like it or not music has been eschewed from the limelight of yesteryear. In its wake lies selfies, recycled memes, and the abomination that is TikTok.
The combination of music and social media is limited to Last.fm, Cymbal (rip), and Bandcamp. Having a complete profile on these websites can portray a lot about you. If you say you listen to Earth Crisis you might have something to do with the straight edge movement. If you say you listen to Deez Nuts you most likely don’t. If you say you listen to Phish you most likely enjoy massive festivals. If you say you listen to Burzum you most likely don’t. If you say you listen to Goldfinger you most likely know how to skateboard or at least played a Tony Hawk game. If you say you listen to Limp Bizkit you most likely still played Tony Hawk but had more holes in your drywall. You get the idea.
Music will always be there for you. When you’re trudging along at work, music is there. When you’re coasting down the highway with the windows down, music is there. When you’re walking alone with your hoodie up, music is there. Festivals that bring you together as friends and strangers, music is there. Music is the world’s common denominator. The universal comfort medicine that no one that I know of is allergic to.
Music can provide attraction to another person. It can also steer you away from them. A certain song can evoke certain memories. You might shy away from that song if those memories are still too raw to handle. Music taste is personal because it envelops many different facets of interpersonal relationships. If music somehow didn’t exist our lives would be much different. Is there even a medium that can compare to music? Nothing is as accessible in my mind. General art requires prior knowledge of history. Video games are too niche. Movies & TV might be the closest thing to bring people together. Without music though movies & tv wouldn’t be the same either.
Without music we simply wouldn’t be able to define who we are or who we are with.
