All Music Is Good

Musical style is subjective. It is also the subject of this blog post. When you hear people talk about their favorite music, it is almost always “I like everything…except…” and then goes into a long list. I laugh because most people do not think about music very much at all and when they do they just remember some good times or bad times with different styles and carry those style judgments with them for decades. They do not know the difference between trap and house, rap or spoken word, rock or metal. So it is while I was laying on beaches this past week that I thought that maybe every style of music is good - for the people that love it.Or is all music bad?Now, I do not like certain artists and their original music. I understand from being a songwriter that music reflects who you are so it is hard to say. I do not like some music because I realize I am rejecting someone too, really, I am. So, original music that is close to what I like but I do not like it is from people that I also feel I may not get along with in real life. My sons and I talk about this a lot as a way to listen cross-culturally. But even that has exceptions, as shown this week in St. John, USVI.While on vacation, I saw some guys playing music that I don’t prefer. It is older and stylistically jazz and mid-century pop music from 75 yers ago and I was not a fan of the songs. But the guys playing it were so cool - I like them - so maybe I liked their music too. Because it is not their original music, it did not apply to the previous paragraph, per se, but they like this music and I started to as well, just to see the joy of what they like to play. It was good to be there.I thought on the way home on the plane, with the plethora of movie selections and artistic decisions we make every day, that once again I don’t have to like every style (like showtunes) or artist (like Phish) and maybe the writers and I would not like hanging out in real life, but after all is said and done….all music is (probably) good.#kensteorts