No one agrees exactly, about how music should make one feel. Some use music to kill time while they travel to work, others base their morals and values on it. Some follow a musical icon like they were a spiritual leader, while others never even know who they are listening to. There are two types of music listeners, those who listen for entertainment, and those who listen for enlightenment. It seems odd that people could like one thing for two such different reasons.
Probably the most common type of music listener is the one who wants to forget about what they are doing. They want the cares of the real world to be washed away by soft, melodic songs about kittens and rainbows and how great it is to be alive. The more unrealistic the better. Of course, they know things arent always so wonderful in the real world, but they would just rather just not think about unpleasant things. This type is usually characterized by easy listening, teckno classical, country, and pop music.
The, not as common, second type listens to music that teaches. This type often finds meaning in more controversial music like rap, rock, punk rock, and alternative. They often believe that good music is objective, not for each person to decide, but for the musically elite to discover and dictate. One cannot just listen to something and decide if its good, they must know the genre, analyze the history of the band and its influences, compare it to similar music, and basically answer every question except: did you like it?
I dont know which is better of the two. The first type of person lives a less stressful life, but only because they dont want reality. The second type sees what is going on and changes things, but will never know the peace of losing themselves in a beautiful song. Although these are two very different types of people, they both enjoy the simple act of listening to music.
Although some claim certain genres arent actually music because they are so different, we all recognize a few musical elements in even the most questionable of genres. Those who think music must have precedent, must envy these new musicians for being able to experience music in a different way. In fact, I think this is the main reason why people conflict about certain genres being more or less legitimate than others, because they are jealous that they cannot enjoy the music in question too.
