Personal music tastes

Tastes in music are indeed personal, highly individual and bound to a specific situation or context, a specific time period even. We are completely free in loving or hating music to whatever degree we like. Nobody else does that for us. The music you love is that which tickles your feelings, fulfils your needs, emphasizes exactly what is you. The music you hate burns your eardrums, associates you with negative memories, fills you with loathing (or worse, indifference).

But we change our music tastes: Sometimes songs are overplayed, or don’t fit the occasion. Even the best songs we can hate for this. In other instances the songs we hate become better with time, we get used to it. Some music we like only for a short while, and then forget about them. Other music we keep close to our hearts (and ears) for years on end.

We have gained the ability and technology to develop our individual music tastes even further. We have personal music players, which we can take anywhere and everywhere. There’s context-sensitive internet radio, which adapts the songs played to our previous choices.

Despite all this institutionalized individualism, how come we need to list music by popularity in music charts? Why is it we are opinionated about who is number one and who isn’t? Why do we need to join together in the thousands at grand open-air concerts and music fairs? Why do we care about what others think of our tastes? Do we have a strong need to share our music tastes with others? Are we so proud that others need to agree with our music tastes unequivocally? Are we really that insecure?

It is extremely rare to find people who feel about music exactly the same way all the time. I don’t buy people who tell me they share my taste in music. It’s a bit pretentious to think that you can generate a complete relationship out of thin air just by listing the genres you like in resumes or personal profiles. There may be overlap, there may even be recognition, but there will always be differences.

Music is a powerful instrument to understand ourselves, to understand our emotions, our moods and our feelings. It can energize or relax; motivate and intimidate. Music develops character. Nobody can tell you how to do so. Don’t let others tell you. Form your own taste.

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