By Rachel Toalson, Assistant Web Editor
Music is a powerful thing. It is a force that drives us, that motivates us, that encourages and relates to us. It allows us to find a connection with the artist and with others. Music manages to break through the noise of everyday life and help us find an escape and through that, we find clarity.
With each unique individual person, in turn they have a unique taste in music. No one’s taste is the same and no one has the same opinion on it because music is such a versatile thing. It is open for interpretation and opens doors for conversation.
Everyone experiences it differently. I can take one message away from a song and someone else can take something completely different away from the same piece of music. That’s what is so beautiful about it. It’s not the same to anyone.
Because everyone has a different preference, that opens us all up to being judged for those preferences. Just because you may not share the same taste in music as someone else, does not mean that is a bad thing. I think we oftentimes forget that the more we listen to our own music and the more we are exposed to others’.
How many times have you shared that you are a fan of a certain musician or type of music and someone replied with, “Really? You like them? Why?” or “Ew, they are the worst.”
I have experienced this and, I will not lie, I am guilty of doing this as well. As I am sure the same can be said for a lot of people. We have all been judged for our taste in music and I’m almost certain we have all judged others for theirs in one way or another.
There are many different variations of judging someone’s music.
There is the obvious, which is when you learn someone is a fan of a certain song, artist or genre and you straight up judge them for it. Because either you don’t like said artist or you don’t think they should because quote-on-quote, “they’re horrible and untalented.”
Another example of judging someone’s taste in music is when you see someone and assume they listen to a type of music based on how they look or behave or present themselves and vice versa,when you find out someone listens to an artists that “doesn’t match their personality.”
It is human nature that we all have opinions and it is human nature that we want to share these opinions.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone has the right to share that opinion, but when you insult someone’s taste in music you essentially insult them. Because music is a reflection of who that person is. What they’ve been through, what they’re going through, what they hope for and dream of and all of the cliché things that can be said about music. And when
we insult someone’s taste, we are insulting more than just music.
No one knows what other people have gone through, why they like a certain artist or why they relate to it. The appeals to music are endless.
Therefore, we have no right to judge their taste in music.
There is a difference between sharing your opinion and being judgmental. That being said, I am not saying that no one should ever share their opinion; but when you do share your opinion, don’t make others feel less about themselves.
We should appreciate and respect other’s taste in music because you can learn a lot about a person based on what they listen to.
Rachel Toalson is a sophomore journalism major from Sugar Land. She is the Assistant Web Editor for the Lariat.
