I try to digest music the way I imagine the artist would hope the listener would. If it's a particularly emotional or personal album I'll listen to it alone and I'll try to put myself in the headspace the album seems to be trying to convey, aiming for maximum impact, but I don't think approach #1 is an entirely poor approach. A lot of music, if not most music, is made in a competitive mindset, a lot of music is designed as a product with a standard in mind. The message is still there, but if the artist wishes to convey that message most effectively to as many people as possible they must be aware of existing standards and aim for reaching them. Quality playing, quality production (and suitable production), and quality writing. If there are standards that artists aim for when writing music, I think it's fair for fans to let the artist know how closely they are reaching those standards. That's why artists often ask for feedback on more than emotional impact. It's competition and the never ending strive for skill and quality that has produced the legends in music, the Duke Ellingtons and Willie Dixons and Jimi Hendrixs and The Whos and Queens. The emotion is still very much there, but competition often fuels passion, critics keep the game heated, and heat keeps the emotion brewing.
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