Fanboyism
 

This thread is for the discussion of fanboyism. Do you like it / dislike it, do you think it is useful, relates to music mainly or just as much to image / being hip? Do you consider yourself a fanboy? Maybe you don't even want to call it fanboyism and prefer something else, give an alternative. Is there any point in saying someone is the best group / singer, or is it better just to enjoy listening to lots of different people than listening more in depth to just a few? Maybe it might narrow the musical focus of people, that could be seen as good or bad. Do people over-identify with musicians, people who they rarely actually know in person but only through some music they have done. Do people take musical criticism of their heroes too personally and does the internet with the small fan groups it fosters and brings together make it even stronger? Can it even adversely affect the music as artists may just keep in the style their fans are used to and whatever image relates to that?

Okay there are loads of questions in there but I'm only going to answer a few right now then come back and answer more later.

I feel like it's fine to say you have a favorite band. The decision to say that or make that claim doesn't mean that you are limited to only listening to that one genre just because you have a favorite band.

I don't like when I ask someone what's their favorite band/artist and they go off on a tangent saying "oh I listen to so many bands/artists and I can't pick just one because I listen to everything but country"

Man up and pick one! it's not a life or death choice. You can always change it later on when someone else asks you the same question.

There is nothing wrong with having a favorite band/artist at any given time.

Right now I would say my favorite artist is Wale. Will he stay that way forever, No but at the moment I enjoy listening to his songs and mixtapes.

Just because I have a favorite Artist does that mean I only listen to him and no other genres?

No.

I joke about fanaticism, but don't believe I can be said to fall under it in any way. When I was younger, the term definitely applied, and I find my behaviour rather embarrassing. I've grown out of it. I find it extremely irritating these days.

But you don't have to pick a favourite one. If some do that's their choice, but I don't think it is compulsory. It's like me trying to decide who was greater - Mozart or Beethoven. They are both great, but in different ways. How do you compare things which are completely different and in different styles too? Things can be just good in different ways. Music isn't a sport. Of course people at different times will listen to more of some kind of music than another, will have a particular enthusiasm at different times in their life. Really in popular music I like listening to a wide variety of different music. The amount of stuff available out there means I don't feel like just exploring a few in depth I'd rather look at a wide variety of different musicians.

Anyway my main point was not simply about picking out a favourite, people have always done that. I mean when it goes beyond that into a kind of defending of an artist beyond their music almost. I can't be bothered promoting people and saying this artist is the best and if you don't like it we have problems. People will listen to what they want and may dislike some of what I like, it doesn't give me insecurity issues though I'm confident in what I like lol.

I think it is very easy when there is so much music out there to jump on board popular and hip groups of the time. It can take alot of time and effort to look through other stuff that isn't so well known and I understand many won't have the time. But to idly say someone is the greatest ever at whatever, or totally original or most influential without having heard many other things seems presumptious at best. Just leave it at saying that someone is your present favourite, that you like their style, that others may not like that style as much and so be more critical. The main thing is I think to give a style a chance, to find what you like in it, than to say it is all crap or all incredible. Otherwise it can just seem too over the top and not relating completely to the music.

i'm mostly a comics fanboy

DC only

i go gaga over Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, Doom Patrol and the Justice League of America

I go gaga over Gaga. Lady Gaga that is. I am a fangirl of her. Hence, I have my own website dedicated to her: www.gagasgottalent.weebly.com

There is a difference between picking a favorite and trying to decide which is greater between two artists. When you pick your favorite, it's just a personal preference and you can like the two artists.

I agree with you but the whole fanboyism ties in with being elitist and looking down on others for liking the music that they like. I agree with you 100% that people will listen to whatever they want and may dislike some material that is deemed music of higher quality.

Some people are a bit too close minded when it comes to certain genres so they aren't going to be like most of us on MB that gives random genres a chance even if we don't like some of the artists we have heard.

ooo I see you have updated it :D

yeah four more days til her concert on HBO

I think people overly identify with a band, when there is a name you call the fans. For instance, Jimmy Buffett - Parrotheads, Grateful Dead - Deadheads, and the always putrid Insane Clown Posse - Juggalos.

As far as fanboyism goes, I've noticed that when someone is a fanboy of an artist, they start to break down their favorite generation of that band. For instance, I used to be a major fanboy of Pink Floyd, but mostly just their pre-Wall stuff, when they were more Psychedelic. Currently, I'd consider myself a fanboy of the original Alice Cooper Band, from 1969-1974. I don't know, I've noticed it with other people too, but perhaps the two aren't related.

^ That`s an interesting surprise, Vanilla ! :clap: I liked the quote of the week from Lady G.

I don`t think there`s anything wrong with having, or naming, a favourite artist.
Although it`s true, as starrynight suggests, that music is not a competion, choosing a favourite among dissimilar artists isn`t particularly difficult. I just ask myself, "Whose music do I listen to most often ?" - and that`s my favourite, even if, as dj says, the answer might change at a later date.

^ This is so true for me too ! I used to worship Ray Davies and all his works, but I have thankfully grown out of that kind of devotion.

These days, the only time I don`t care for excessive loyalty is when people let it override their usual critical faculties. For instance, I`ve heard people praising what I regard as really substandard material by VU, The Beatles, Dylan and The Dead and I have wondered, " If this wasn`t by somebody famous, I bet you`d be calling it rubbish."
Which is not to say that I, like most of us, am not guilty of making that same mistake once in a while. :)

I'm not a fanboy of anyone. My friend AJ is almost the complete opposite. At one point he loved Disturbed, and then he loved Taking Back Sunday, and then he loved Blink 182, and then he loved Red Hot Chili Peppers, and right now he loves John Mayer. And I mean he'll practice their songs, get all of their albums, post stuff on Facebook about them, etc. He'll listen to barely anyone else. It's foreign to me.

I was actually thinking earlier that the inverse of adoration was hate of musicians and now someone has started a thread on that. I don't really see the point hating someone you don't know either. But I guess I would have to start another thread on that, though I don't like to constrict my thoughts and I feel it is on a related theme.

Another thing I don't get with adoration is when people waiting for a new album from someone say it will be the best album of the year or one of the best at least before they have even heard it. And then when they do hear it they would have to say that it was at least ok even if they were a bit disappointed. I suppose they would look at it from the positive angle of what they like on it, rather than a negative one. Glass half full rather than half empty. Of course in itself that can be a valid way of looking at something, but I wonder if fandom aspect can make it hard for some to really turn against an album much.

That is very much how I define favourite as well. It's just getting into the habit of listening to someone and that being in your comfort zone for a period. It might be for a few days or longer. That doesn't mean you ignore many other artists just that for a while you are tuned into a particular type of music. So that isn't really the same as fanboyism (or fangirlism) which is more a group thing as well, with people reinforcing each other's views.

I consider myself a Nas fanboy, simply because he's the best rapper ever.

Fanboys do annoy me when they continuously post stuff on facebook a little bit. Then again, I do the same with 90s east coast rap so they probably get annoyed by me. I think a lot of fanboys and fangirls do it more for the image of things. Like I think it's cool to like Lil Wayne and that definitely is a major reason a lot of people like him.

I'm the same way with DOOM. I can't get myself to put anyone on his level because he strikes my chord more than any other rapper out right now. But from my experience with you on this website (reading what you've posted and such) you aren't a "fanboy" compared to loads of other people out there.


I tend to develop a minor obsession with anyone that really catches my ear for a month or two. I am always favoring one group over another at particular points during each year. My music taste is changing a lot as well so I don't tend to get sucked into a one-track mindset music wise. Although, between seven and four years ago I was TOTALLY obsessed with metal. I frequently said "if you don't listen to metal you're dumb, you don't understand why the music is good." So glad that my mind opened up throughout high school.

Ramones and Kraftwerk fanboy here......

Been accused of being a fanboy of Hendrix on here a time or two. Which couldnt be farther from the truth cause anyone with any sense at all already knows he is the best there ever was or will be so...
As far as liking him just cause I think its cool..lol. Thats funny cause these days your not cool unless you like someone like....Katy Perry? **** i dont know but I do know(at least where I live) that its not cool to like Hendrix. Its not just a phase either...I go through stages where I may listen to other artists or groups more. But on any given day if asked who my fav is or my opinion who the best of all time is. You will get the same answer...so if that makes me a fanboy oh well. I can live with that.

^ No, boozinbloozin, it sounds to me like you have a mature,considered preference.
When I was a kid, I ate my cereal out of a Beatles bowl and drank my hot chocolate out of a Beatles mug - so unless you`re drinking cocoa out of a Hendrix mug, you`re not a fanboy yet.

Where do I get those at? lol

You can paint your own Hendrix mug. You just need smaller brushes than this guy. :)

Thats pretty good...I doubt my mug would turn out anywhere close to looking like hendrix though.

Odd Future has the most annoying and insufferable fanboys I have ever come across.

Judging by my name I'm sure you could make a Radiohead argument for me...

Fanboys are useless, unless its for you. Fanboys should be perished and banished from the world of existence. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and should have more than one. If you like something, do not dislike others, but instead, look at it constructively. That's what I think.

^^hard for me, a DC fanboy here

most Marvel comics are crap

:rolleyes:

It actually helps out the other fanboys.