Xenith

I know people tend to say that music is something that is entirely subjective, but I've always wondered how artists can be commonly grouped as "bad" or "good" artists and where the standards for doing so come from.

Do they come from the amount of listeners an artist has? Isn't the goal of a musician ultimately to get his vision and creations out to as many people as possible? That is also what a majority of crappy award shows are based on and what the general public tend to look at when evaluating music.

Then surely it must be based on technical skill? Normally if a person can play their instrument really well or can sing like no one can then they are good artists? Then I'm always baffled when people reject rappers like Nas and Common for artists like Wacka Flocka based on the fact that they are "too wordy" or are "dictionary rap" as to state that their superior lyricism is a vice?

So what I'm asking is that is there such a thing as a collective barometer for "good" and "bad" music and artists? If so then what is that barometer based on?