Music Snobs

boo boo · 07-23-2010, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblin Tears

Didn't you use the term ''Indie F@gs'' not too long ago? As if to dismiss an entire genre.

No, it's a derogatory term I use for indie snobs. There are also metal f@gs, punk f@gs, prog f@gs and so on. Granted I never say those words. but usually because I use in it's place other terms that are equally disparaging.

Dr_Rez · 07-23-2010, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

The kind of people salivate over blue note albums who wish the last 60 years of popular culture didn't exist.

Thankfully they tend to be stuck in high art shows and broadsheet newspapers rather than places like this forum.

While alot of that stuff really is dreadful to listen to those musicians can play circles around most others.

boo boo · 07-28-2010, 07:50 PM

Calling Jazz music dreadful isn't any less snobby that what you're accusing them of being, really.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 07-29-2010, 02:43 AM

I think there's definitely a difference from a snob and a harsh elitist.

A snob is somebody who gets in a mindset that nothing outside of the rules they've made for themselves is viable, and therefore immediately dismisses it. Snob means you do not open your mind, and assume you're right before you even fairly analyze anything, not listening to anybody else's input.

A harsh elitist, is somebody who will try something different, but try it with the most of scrutiny. Often people commonly labeled as snobs, actually are more musically open minded, and simply appear as snobs because they tend to take out their frustrations at people who only give mainstream American/Western TV/Radio music a chance.

I've grilled people on forums consistently over music tastes, even to the point where people tend to look down on me, or label me a snob. However, I've never felt it was unnecessary, because, I'm not a snob.

I'm a harsh elitist. My goal is never to dismiss anybody's opinions, but to open close minded/afraid people to the world of music that's out there. If I'm to attack Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, it's only with the knowledge that they've been given an unfair advantage by the commercial world, and pisses on the efforts of frankly harder working musicians, who retain their artistic freedoms, creative edge, and get little to no attention because some bureaucrat snob himself doesn't think they're marketable.

I think there is no problem at all trying to express your frustrations with these types of music, as long as you provide a viable alternative. It's more breaking the bubble of naivety to me than thinking you're superior to anyone else.

As I say to anybody, "It's ok if you like so, and so. But, there's a broader world of musicians out there who are trying different things that deserve just a little of your attention as well."

To me, I think that's justification enough to be arrogant.

dankrsta · 07-29-2010, 04:29 AM

^^Very well said. I agree completely.

Schizotypic · 08-04-2010, 01:52 PM

@Anteater: Reading your post, you sound more like a musichead then a music snob.

@Skaligojurah: Please don't take offense to this, I'm clearly taking only aspects of what you said out of context. I'm using your words to make a point and I don't feel your statement was indicative of the type of person I'm going on to describe.

A snob is someone who believes someone is inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons. So it seems to me, anybody who gives music advice to someone based on the "fact" that the music they listen to pisses on the music of frankly harder working (better) musicians, is to take a stance of arrogance.

Feeling entitled to giving musical advice, or grilling people, in and of itself is snobby. Let alone the reason for it being that everyone who doesn't listen to anybody but Brittney spears is either close-minded or afraid (stupid or ignorant). And also what a bold comment that it's all right to express unwanted advise if you give an "acceptable" other artist to branch off to. You almost put yourself in a parental roll to those people, "No it's not okay to do this bobby, but you can do this instead". It's clearly implying I'm right and you're wrong.

My point being this; there are multiple examples in this, and a good majority of MB's comments, of arrogance. I see it all the time, signs that someone has at least a part of them that believes in some way to be superior. I think with such people, if I pushed it far enough, I would get into actual justification for "why they deserve to be arrogant". It's a pretty human thing to feel, and is pretty widespread, but all though I agree you'd have to be a rock to be unbiased, I don't think one would have to be a rock to not be an arrogant dick sometimes. Honestly why even pretend that's the case.

Dayvan Cowboy · 08-04-2010, 03:25 PM

Ha, I was a music snob to some jerk (about my age) on Omegle (a website). it was pretty funny, too. here's the story:

I was going onto Omegle to troll on people for fun, and I kinda got sick of of it because half of the people there are trolls, so I just wanted to talk to somebody. as soon as I connected, he/she greeted me and asked me what kind of music I listen to and what's my favorite band. I replied with my favorite genres and bands and I asked her (i'm guessing it's a she) what her favorite genres and bands are and she replied "oh, this obscure experimental band called My Chemical Romance. You've probably never heard of them."

I laughed so hard at that post that i just had to ask "are you a troll?" and she replied "no, i swear. I didn't make that band up. they have a wikipedia article, if you still don't believe me." and then i told her that My Chemical Romance is mainstream and I've heard of them and pretty much everybody else has and they're not experimental, she/it had a HUGE freakout. she kept on saying that I was a huge hipster and that I made Boards of Canada and NEU! up. she also went into a flurry of profanity saying that she looked up Boards of Canada on youtube and said that they were boring and new age crap for hippies and then she looked up my favorite NEU! song and said that I was a classic rock dinosaur and needed to listen to more modern music Ect.

a few minutes later, in a flurry of profanity and hipster-related insults, I realized that this wasn't how a troll would normally react, and that she/it was serious about it. I told her to tell me her favorite songs and she came up with some BrokeNCYDE, some Fall Out Boy, some other band I really don't care about and another band I couldn't be bothered to listen to and enjoy. I looked the songs up anyways (just in case if they were actually good) and she goes on about how experimental those bands are while i'm looking them up. I listened to the songs, and... they showed no signs of experimentalism, no signs of rhythmic play, no signs of anything considered experimental and i replied: "son (or daughter), this is music for the radios, not for claims of experimentalism and innovation."

She/it got so mad that she started saying that I have no taste in music and I deserve to die, and that I was boring and stuff. I linked her to the Urban Dictionary definition of annoying, and she got REAL butthurt and started saying stuff like "GO AWAY, YOU PRETENTIOUS F@G", "YOU SUCK, YOU DINOSAUR!", "GO LISTEN TO WHATEVER POP CRAP YOU LISTEN TO!", and "I'M REPORTING YOU TO OMEGLE"

well, she reported me to omegle, and nothing happened. but was it ever fun. i wish I saved the chat log though

.

TL;DR version:
some people are truly ridiculous, so it's alright to be a music snob to them.

Schizotypic · 08-04-2010, 04:54 PM

^That sounds more like just stating your opinion to me. It's not like you insulted her, you were just like "um.. I don't hear any experimental stuff in this music and a lot of it I heard on the radio." What the hell is snobbish about that?

Hilarious story though, that girl put way to much importance on what she listens to. On MB she'd probably get banned more times then Coryallen.

boo boo · 08-05-2010, 06:23 AM

Boo Boo's Field Guide to Genre Snobs:

The Alt Rock Snob

Mostly extinct and replaced by their far more loathsome Indie Snob offspring. They often like to overstress how they listen to the "real" alternative rock, you see if it's well produced and listenable, it's not "real" alternative rock. They listen to Guided by Voices, that's how much they don't give a f*ck about the actual quality of the music.

The Avant Garde Snob

Most likely to be a pretentious douche when debating any topic in existence. The more accessible (or listenable) it is, the less credible it is. Identified most easily by their old German guy avatars.

The Blues Snob

Rates people's music by how old, black and poor they are. They bitch about how music must be segregated (so they can ignore anything white people make with ease) and how everything took from the blues, see they have a real problem with taking other people's ideas when you're NOT old, black and poor. Blues artists stole sh*t all the time but they're old, black and poor so it's ok.

The Brit Snob

They don't necessarily have to be british. But they do rate music quality based on it's proximity to Manchester. They tend to hate anything with a hint of bombast to it or doesn't have a thick british accent (with a lot of british slang) and they don't care how goddamn derivative it is (as most brit pop was) as long as you say bugger a lot. Have yet to realise how mediocre The Fall is and THAT is why other people don't really care about them.

The Classical Snob

Mostly pretentious old guys who can very easily write off the last last 80 years of music history. Can be identified by how old and decrepid they are. They want to be euthanized anyway so if you end up killing one in a fit of rage don't feel too bad about it

The Classic Rock Snob

Your dad.

The Country Snob

Pretty much synonymous with old southern person, makes up a good portion of the FoxNews audience. LET FREEDOM RIIIIIIIIIING!!!

The Electronic Snob

Most likely to go into pseudo intellectual rants about meta physics that make no real sense to you unless you're tripping balls. Rarely seen without headphones. Probably vegan.

The Emo Snob

Oh I'm sorry. The ones who like "real" Emo, which is even worse than fake emo so ignore their recommendations. Most of their record collections consists of bootlegs and demos because their favorite bands were way too sh*tty to get any kind of record deal.

The Folk Snob

Like punk snobs in that it's really more about politics than actual music for them. They at least have a more realistic idea of what selling out is because if you're on any kind of label that's selling out. More into activism than others and most likely to write a sh*tty song about their carbon footprint.

The Garage Snob

Never gets bored of bands doing the same exact sh*t for over 40 years.

The Goth Snob

What hasn't been said about them already? They hate happy music and happy people. That's about as in depth as I need to get really.

The Grunge Snob

They don't really exist, 11 year olds aren't that snobbish.

The Hardcore Snob

They're more like fascists than snobs actually. No other music genre places so much of a requirement for it's fans to be raging self righteous douchebags. Like their punk ancestors they don't really care about the music itself but unlike the old punk fans they refuse to listen to anything on a major label. The original message of hardcore was "f*ck music, lets just make unbearable noise, punch people, get wasted and get laid" but then came straight edge which rewrote it to be "f*ck music lets just make unbearable noise and punch people".

The Hip Hop Snob

If you like gangster rap, you probably don't belong in this category. They're pretty much the jazz snobs of today, afro centrist to the extreme. They still bitch about white musicians being influenced by black artists and they call rock music "stealing" and when considering that rap is a genre that puts so much emphasis on sampling that's pretty goddamn hypocritical isn't it?

The Jam Band Snob

Synonymous with Hippies.

The Indie Snob

The most prevalent species of snob among today's youth culture, Indie snobs have a bible and it's called Pitchfork. They change their opinions more rapidly than others because they're just following what they consider the latest trends. A lot of them "grow out of" bands when they realise they're actually good (good music is very unhip) and they move on. There are many sub categories of indie snobs but a common trait many of them share is a passionate dislike for anything with a hint of excitement. They can respect other genres of music but only when "kraut" or "post" is in the title. And they deny that Indie is a genre but most of what they listen to sounds the same (as they often cling to one particular type) so it doesn't really matter, they just like pretending to have diverse taste when they don't.

The Jazz Snob

A close relative to classical and blues snobs, like classical snobs they get off on music that makes them feel sophisticated and like blues snobs they are either racist old black people or white people who wish they were racist old black people. On one hand they champion Jazz because of how expressive it is but on the other they despise musicians that express themselves in any other way, they are anal about the "rules" of Jazz and they hate fusion because like any kind of purist they believe genres must remain segregated.

The Metal Snob

Often the stupidest species of genre snob. They are extremely sexist, probably because they are ungroomed World of Warcraft nerds who can't get laid so they have to channel their anger and fustration somehow, often very clueless about politics. There are various sub-species of metal snob, some are basically just hardcore kids with long hair, others are like classical snobs and rate music by how technical it is. But all metal snobs hate anything they deem "unmetal" which often includes electronic instruments and black people.

The Pop Snob

Rob Sheffield.

The Post Punk Snob

What happens when a punk decides to be the very kind of art snob that punks were supposedly railing against in the first place.

The Prog Snob

They tend to be more reclusive than other snobs at least on the internet because they're predominately middle aged men who don't really know how to use computers. They are more kin to classical snobs than other rock music fans, but nowhere near as intelligent. They're actually not as anal about technical skill as metal snobs but they do easily dismiss most other genres for being too simple and accessible to "unsophisticated" music goers. They don't really understand what the word "progressive" actually means because they often apply the word to 80s neo prog bands who made a career out of copying Genesis and Pink Floyd to an exact science. They apply rules to a genre that never intended on having any. They often believe that if a band is influenced by something that actually came out in the last 30 years they can't be prog. Ozric Tentacles have dub and electronic influences so nope not prog. Kinda ironic for a genre that was always about integrating every kind of genre there is, eh?

The Punk Snob

For a genre that hasn't really produced anything in the past 20 years that should be taken seriously, punk snobs are still quite abundant. They place no real importance on the music itself, it's a cult of personality. They pick the bands they like based on their political beliefs and status. They often completely dismiss bands regardless of their quality (rarely even bothering to talk about their actual music) because it's just so cool to knock on mainstream bands, what's more important to them is the image a band has, their politics and how they "speak for the working class", weither or not said punk snob OR punk band is actually part of the working class is totally irrelevant. They say punk is more authentic than other genres but it's not really. Some of the biggest punk bands based their entire image on lies and hypocrisy, being just as upper class and "elite" as the classic rock bands they snub so arrogantly.

Rock N Roll/R&B Snob

Jedey.

Ska Snob

Do they exist? Well I've never seen one in person or on the internet. I assume they are too busy getting laid.

**Janszoon** · 08-05-2010, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boo boo

The Post Punk Snob

What happens when a punk decides to be the very kind of art snob that punks were railing against in the first place.

Punks were railing against art snobs? When? If anything I'd say a lot of the early NYC punk scene was pretty closely tied in with the art scene.

07-29-2010, 04:29 AM	#65 (permalink)
dankrsta ... Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,776	^^Very well said. I agree completely. __________________ Last.fm

07-29-2010, 02:43 AM	#64 (permalink)
Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra \/ GOD Join Date: May 2010 Location: Nowhere... Posts: 2,179	I think there's definitely a difference from a snob and a harsh elitist. A snob is somebody who gets in a mindset that nothing outside of the rules they've made for themselves is viable, and therefore immediately dismisses it. Snob means you do not open your mind, and assume you're right before you even fairly analyze anything, not listening to anybody else's input. A harsh elitist, is somebody who will try something different, but try it with the most of scrutiny. Often people commonly labeled as snobs, actually are more musically open minded, and simply appear as snobs because they tend to take out their frustrations at people who only give mainstream American/Western TV/Radio music a chance. I've grilled people on forums consistently over music tastes, even to the point where people tend to look down on me, or label me a snob. However, I've never felt it was unnecessary, because, I'm not a snob. I'm a harsh elitist. My goal is never to dismiss anybody's opinions, but to open close minded/afraid people to the world of music that's out there. If I'm to attack Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, it's only with the knowledge that they've been given an unfair advantage by the commercial world, and pisses on the efforts of frankly harder working musicians, who retain their artistic freedoms, creative edge, and get little to no attention because some bureaucrat snob himself doesn't think they're marketable. I think there is no problem at all trying to express your frustrations with these types of music, as long as you provide a viable alternative. It's more breaking the bubble of naivety to me than thinking you're superior to anyone else. As I say to anybody, "It's ok if you like so, and so. But, there's a broader world of musicians out there who are trying different things that deserve just a little of your attention as well." To me, I think that's justification enough to be arrogant.

08-04-2010, 01:52 PM	#66 (permalink)
Schizotypic Souls of Sound Sailors Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Mojave Posts: 759	@Anteater: Reading your post, you sound more like a musichead then a music snob. @Skaligojurah: Please don't take offense to this, I'm clearly taking only aspects of what you said out of context. I'm using your words to make a point and I don't feel your statement was indicative of the type of person I'm going on to describe. A snob is someone who believes someone is inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons. So it seems to me, anybody who gives music advice to someone based on the "fact" that the music they listen to pisses on the music of frankly harder working (better) musicians, is to take a stance of arrogance. Feeling entitled to giving musical advice, or grilling people, in and of itself is snobby. Let alone the reason for it being that everyone who doesn't listen to anybody but Brittney spears is either close-minded or afraid (stupid or ignorant). And also what a bold comment that it's all right to express unwanted advise if you give an "acceptable" other artist to branch off to. You almost put yourself in a parental roll to those people, "No it's not okay to do this bobby, but you can do this instead". It's clearly implying I'm right and you're wrong. My point being this; there are multiple examples in this, and a good majority of MB's comments, of arrogance. I see it all the time, signs that someone has at least a part of them that believes in some way to be superior. I think with such people, if I pushed it far enough, I would get into actual justification for "why they deserve to be arrogant". It's a pretty human thing to feel, and is pretty widespread, but all though I agree you'd have to be a rock to be unbiased, I don't think one would have to be a rock to not be an arrogant dick sometimes. Honestly why even pretend that's the case.

08-04-2010, 03:25 PM	#67 (permalink)
Dayvan Cowboy Basscadet Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Antarctica Posts: 1,258	Ha, I was a music snob to some jerk (about my age) on Omegle (a website). it was pretty funny, too. here's the story: I was going onto Omegle to troll on people for fun, and I kinda got sick of of it because half of the people there are trolls, so I just wanted to talk to somebody. as soon as I connected, he/she greeted me and asked me what kind of music I listen to and what's my favorite band. I replied with my favorite genres and bands and I asked her (i'm guessing it's a she) what her favorite genres and bands are and she replied "oh, this obscure experimental band called My Chemical Romance. You've probably never heard of them." I laughed so hard at that post that i just had to ask "are you a troll?" and she replied "no, i swear. I didn't make that band up. they have a wikipedia article, if you still don't believe me." and then i told her that My Chemical Romance is mainstream and I've heard of them and pretty much everybody else has and they're not experimental, she/it had a HUGE freakout. she kept on saying that I was a huge hipster and that I made Boards of Canada and NEU! up. she also went into a flurry of profanity saying that she looked up Boards of Canada on youtube and said that they were boring and new age crap for hippies and then she looked up my favorite NEU! song and said that I was a classic rock dinosaur and needed to listen to more modern music Ect. a few minutes later, in a flurry of profanity and hipster-related insults, I realized that this wasn't how a troll would normally react, and that she/it was serious about it. I told her to tell me her favorite songs and she came up with some BrokeNCYDE, some Fall Out Boy, some other band I really don't care about and another band I couldn't be bothered to listen to and enjoy. I looked the songs up anyways (just in case if they were actually good) and she goes on about how experimental those bands are while i'm looking them up. I listened to the songs, and... they showed no signs of experimentalism, no signs of rhythmic play, no signs of anything considered experimental and i replied: "son (or daughter), this is music for the radios, not for claims of experimentalism and innovation." She/it got so mad that she started saying that I have no taste in music and I deserve to die, and that I was boring and stuff. I linked her to the Urban Dictionary definition of annoying, and she got REAL butthurt and started saying stuff like "GO AWAY, YOU PRETENTIOUS F@G", "YOU SUCK, YOU DINOSAUR!", "GO LISTEN TO WHATEVER POP CRAP YOU LISTEN TO!", and "I'M REPORTING YOU TO OMEGLE" well, she reported me to omegle, and nothing happened. but was it ever fun. i wish I saved the chat log though . TL;DR version: some people are truly ridiculous, so it's alright to be a music snob to them.

08-04-2010, 04:54 PM	#68 (permalink)
Schizotypic Souls of Sound Sailors Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Mojave Posts: 759	^That sounds more like just stating your opinion to me. It's not like you insulted her, you were just like "um.. I don't hear any experimental stuff in this music and a lot of it I heard on the radio." What the hell is snobbish about that? Hilarious story though, that girl put way to much importance on what she listens to. On MB she'd probably get banned more times then Coryallen.