‘Everybody hears the same thing different ways’ - perfectly sums it all up. Glad to have stumbled across this piece, really thought provoking and you’ve inspired me for a future post. I think not invoking any emotion at all is probably the worst thing that music, or any other art form (and I’ll include wine in that because that’s my thing!) can do!
Honestly, I'd rather take the bricks thrown at me in print from people who dislike my music, than get nothing at all; because with crickets and indifference, you get no energy back from the things you put so much energy into. Throwing your music into an indifferent void will make you lose heart faster than getting yelled at.
The only complication to this is platform algorithms; who will use any negative feedback as an excuse to exile your work to the farthest margins of Pluto's orbit on their sites.
Then even the folks who might maybe like you won't ever hear you.
Ahh that’s an interesting angle. As an artist you need fan feedback to improve, even if it’s negative, but you get punished in social media for soliciting that feedback.
So the artists who take the approach that “you can’t tell me nothin, I’m already the shit” might get more algorithm love than the real ones who want to learn and improve their craft. That might explain all the insanely annoying chest-thumping artists the Instagram algorithm tries to shove down my throat.
I also think fans giving feedback should be smart enough to give the feedback they’re actually qualified for. They shouldn’t tell you the music is bad if they know nothing about making music - but they can say that they don’t like it, or don’t relate to it, which is the only kind of feedback most fans are qualified to give.
Yeah, maybe; but music is communication, as much as craft and self-expression. People who can't pluck a note can still feel when something is great, or when it ain't; based on how they received that communication. Having ears, a mind and a heart is all you need, so everyone is "qualified", in a way.
We can weigh their opinions ourselves upon how "qualified" they really are; but there's no way to discourage those opinions being given, however we feel about them. It'd be futile and counter-productive to try.
Anyway, having no opinions given at all is worse. It means you've communicated with no one; and that hurts in a way I struggle to even describe.
Thanks for that perspective. I haven never been on that side of things so haven’t experienced that. Maybe all we can do as fans is just act like human beings when judging music, and remembering it was made by other humans.
That's all any of us really want. It took me a while to learn to say, "This Is for somebody; but it ain't me." It's OK when I don't get who they're talking to; bc I'm not the recipient they intend their music for. A lot of people forget that idea; and that causes a lot of the anger and weirdness that swirls around popular criticism.
Yeah, totally agree. I've tried to help others by writing reviews. It's not in my makeup to trash the creativity of others based on my own personal experiences and preferences. If I really don't like something or even flat-out hate it, I almost always leave it alone. I want people to like the music, books, etc that I like because I get a charge out of a shared experience.
A shared experience of enjoying something is so much fun! I never understood the people who seem to get a bigger charge out of hating something together.
Re: reviews, I do the same thing. I need to know personally what I dislike, but I feel like the entire world doesn’t always need to know that. Or if I do feel compelled to share my dislike at least to do so with some explanation and respect.
Canadian here. I cringe when I hit the dislike button on YouTube music ( my player of choice). Especially on indie tracks. Don't want to offend the artist. At the same time, it assists the listener ( paid subscription ) in future YT Music recommendations. I've never participated in the vitriole on social media about songs - life's too short for that.
I know exactly what you mean! I feel the same about books, too. The ratings are there for a reason, but it's hard to just dump on something another person put so many hours into.
Totally agree about the social media "discourse" these days - it's just a bunch of people arguing to see who can argue the loudest. The subject doesn't even matter anymore, if it ever did.
‘Everybody hears the same thing different ways’ - perfectly sums it all up. Glad to have stumbled across this piece, really thought provoking and you’ve inspired me for a future post. I think not invoking any emotion at all is probably the worst thing that music, or any other art form (and I’ll include wine in that because that’s my thing!) can do!
Thanks Nathaniel! I’m looking forward to that post, let me know when it goes up!
Will make sure you’re the first to find out!
Honestly, I'd rather take the bricks thrown at me in print from people who dislike my music, than get nothing at all; because with crickets and indifference, you get no energy back from the things you put so much energy into. Throwing your music into an indifferent void will make you lose heart faster than getting yelled at.
The only complication to this is platform algorithms; who will use any negative feedback as an excuse to exile your work to the farthest margins of Pluto's orbit on their sites.
Then even the folks who might maybe like you won't ever hear you.
Ahh that’s an interesting angle. As an artist you need fan feedback to improve, even if it’s negative, but you get punished in social media for soliciting that feedback.
So the artists who take the approach that “you can’t tell me nothin, I’m already the shit” might get more algorithm love than the real ones who want to learn and improve their craft. That might explain all the insanely annoying chest-thumping artists the Instagram algorithm tries to shove down my throat.
I also think fans giving feedback should be smart enough to give the feedback they’re actually qualified for. They shouldn’t tell you the music is bad if they know nothing about making music - but they can say that they don’t like it, or don’t relate to it, which is the only kind of feedback most fans are qualified to give.
Yeah, maybe; but music is communication, as much as craft and self-expression. People who can't pluck a note can still feel when something is great, or when it ain't; based on how they received that communication. Having ears, a mind and a heart is all you need, so everyone is "qualified", in a way.
We can weigh their opinions ourselves upon how "qualified" they really are; but there's no way to discourage those opinions being given, however we feel about them. It'd be futile and counter-productive to try.
Anyway, having no opinions given at all is worse. It means you've communicated with no one; and that hurts in a way I struggle to even describe.
Thanks for that perspective. I haven never been on that side of things so haven’t experienced that. Maybe all we can do as fans is just act like human beings when judging music, and remembering it was made by other humans.
That's all any of us really want. It took me a while to learn to say, "This Is for somebody; but it ain't me." It's OK when I don't get who they're talking to; bc I'm not the recipient they intend their music for. A lot of people forget that idea; and that causes a lot of the anger and weirdness that swirls around popular criticism.
Yeah, totally agree. I've tried to help others by writing reviews. It's not in my makeup to trash the creativity of others based on my own personal experiences and preferences. If I really don't like something or even flat-out hate it, I almost always leave it alone. I want people to like the music, books, etc that I like because I get a charge out of a shared experience.
A shared experience of enjoying something is so much fun! I never understood the people who seem to get a bigger charge out of hating something together.
Re: reviews, I do the same thing. I need to know personally what I dislike, but I feel like the entire world doesn’t always need to know that. Or if I do feel compelled to share my dislike at least to do so with some explanation and respect.
Canadian here. I cringe when I hit the dislike button on YouTube music ( my player of choice). Especially on indie tracks. Don't want to offend the artist. At the same time, it assists the listener ( paid subscription ) in future YT Music recommendations. I've never participated in the vitriole on social media about songs - life's too short for that.
I know exactly what you mean! I feel the same about books, too. The ratings are there for a reason, but it's hard to just dump on something another person put so many hours into.
Totally agree about the social media "discourse" these days - it's just a bunch of people arguing to see who can argue the loudest. The subject doesn't even matter anymore, if it ever did.