For some odd reason, one’s music taste has become something of an accessory, or maybe a fashion statement to some people. It’s cool to like band X, but band Y is bad and you should feel bad for liking them. Why is this? Why do some feel the need to turn music, a form of art and entertainment, into something material?

As an example, I was at a friend’s house a few weeks ago, and his sister and her friend were over. Her friend was talking about music with us, and was very concerned with what kind of music is acceptable, and what is not. While the sister was getting ready for leaving the house, she was listening to some radio rap, and her friend was complaining about how much she hated that kind of music, and so on. Then the two were looking at some guy’s profile on facebook, and talking about how attractive he was and that he listened to their favorite metal band. I asked the friend, “If he listened to rap, would you still like him?”. The response was “Probably not”.

She decided whether or not this he was attractive by his MUSICAL PREFERENCE. That’s just wrong. Imagine getting to know someone who’s really cool and friendly, and when you finally ask them what music they listen to, and they say “Justin Bieber”. Would you actually tell them you’re not interested in knowing them anymore? Of course not.

There will always be joking about certain bands, obviously. I’ve been known for making playlists on people’s open spotify accounts with the entire discography of Nickelback and Creed and “Fireflies” repeated several hundred times. That’s a joke. I couldn’t care less about if you actually like those bands, I was just having fun.

However, if you act obnoxiously about this kind of thing, I will not hesitate to write you off on that account. If you viciously attack Justin Bieber without reason, that’s pretty pathetic and obnoxious. On the other hand, if you constantly defend Bieber by attacking others, it’s just as bad. It’s not a joke anymore.

Another way I see music being abused, is when someone claims that their taste is superior to someone else’s. Music is a complete matter of opinion. I like to offer my opinion in reviews to inform about albums, and to give the reader a little bit of what to expect. I don’t expect you to agree 100 percent, I just want you to take what I have to say, and then consider how you felt about the music, maybe you’d even like to let me know what you thought. I’d love that. Again, everyone has a taste, and it’s something that’s yours only. Nobody’s is superior or inferior, and it makes you an individual.

Obviously, these things aren’t a huge deal. There are more important matters in the world. However, if we can take a step towards not judging each other so much based on trivial things like music, I think that’s a step in the right direction.