It’s ridiculous to pretend that there is such a thing as objectively good taste in music. Yet, this is often discussed. Music is subjective, and it’s shortsighted to label some as universally superior.
Twice, Rolling Stone has compiled a list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, in 2004 and in 2010. Out of 500 songs, 499 of them are sung in English. It’s a bit hard to believe that “La Bamba” is the greatest Spanish-language song of all time, let alone the best foreign-language song of all time. 40.8 percent of the list comes from the 1960s, while only 4.4 percent of the list comes from the 1990s, an era of obviously subpar musical talent.
Music is subjective. Rolling Stone magazine has a strong bias toward rock and roll. It must have been a hilarious coincidence when “Like a Rolling Stone” was chosen as their number-one song of all time.
Scientists who research music haven’t yet developed a clear picture of exactly what causes music to resonate with people. From preliminary research, we know the auditory system gathers sound and shoots it into the auditory cortex of the brain, where something mysterious and magical happens and you either enjoy it or don’t.
There are certain components of music that work for a large percentage of the human listener base. Axis of Awesome’s “The Four Chord Song” does an excellent job of explaining one of these, which is the chord progression I–V–vi–IV. The notes in this progression vary by key, but wherever it falls it just hits the good spot in the brain of a lot of people. There are various key signatures, harmonies, and note progressions that do this, and there are many that do the opposite.
However, a huge influencing factor of your musical preference is cultural. Apparently, babies develop the ability to follow the syntax of music within the first six months of life; they can understand the nuances of different note progressions. The music you are exposed to as a juvenile has a huge effect on what music you end up enjoying as an adult. Likewise, music is social. The music of your peers will have a different effect on you than the music of other social groups.
Every generation reaches a point where the music of their youth has given way to some raucous, obnoxious nonsense. Rock and roll was often hated by its listeners’ parents. Likewise, older generations say that the quality of music has decreased in the 2000s. It hasn’t—it’s changed to something not to their taste.
It would be heinous to suggest that it’s unnecessary to further research the subtleties of the mathematics of music and its interactions with the brain. This is necessary science. However, science should be used to lift people up, not put people down. It would be further heinous to suggest that the exploration of the outer reaches of what we know of music is fruitless. The more variety in our music, the more there is to love.The purpose of listening to music, and whether it resonates or not, varies from person to person. To tell someone that the music which resonates with them doesn’t meet some standard of quality is unnecessary cruelty. Your music may have better math or have a grander message about the nature of humanity, but that math or message could mean nothing to someone else.
If you enjoy a specific type of music, that’s amazing—keep at it. Share your music with others; perhaps they or you will find something you didn’t expect to enjoy. Keep an open mind, and let people like the music they like—it’s nobody’s place to scoff.