As one of the few people who still avidly buys CDs, music has been one of the largest influences on me. Music is present in everything i do. For this reason, music has always been a factor when checking the 'Yes' or 'No' box for a person.
I have always thought my music taste is supreme to others, with the well rounded taste my parents provided me with as a child. There was no shortage of ABBA, Led Zeppelin, or The Who. When i was old enough i started to create my own taste in music, heavily influenced by the television station Much Music. Every day i would watch the programs on Much Music from the time i got home from school until i went to bed. I was obsessed. When the internet and MP3's were introduced to me, it was taken to a new level. No longer did i need to listen to one CD of one artist at a time on my Walkmen. I could now listen to my ever growing eclectic mix.
Music in this day and age is different than ever before. Some artists release their music solely on the internet. Some even release their music for free. With the emergence of YouTube music stars like Justin Bieber, there are no boundaries for the release of music. Over night, a new musician with a new sound can go viral. This means there are so many new types of music emerging.
Recently my music tastes have begun to change. I am more open minded to the trendy radio hits. Specifically, i have started listening to one artist i swore i would never listen to. A musician i have found obnoxious, and have heavily judged people for listening to. I have started listening to……TAYLOR SWIFT.
Truthfully, this is the first time i have admitted to it. If all my long term Taylor Swift loving friends are reading this right now, they are definitely going to have some choice words. Beginning with "I told you so!!" Anytime Taylor Swift came on the radio in the past i have changed the channel immediately. I have mocked her whinny teenage love story songs. I have made fun of her cheesy dancing on various awards shows with the rest of the world. My excuse for Taylor Swifts dismissal in the past was that she was a country (the one and only musical area I am not inclined to listen to). With her new emergence as a pop music star, dropping the country act entirely, i have been sucked in to the Taylor Swift hype.
Admittedly having just bought (and loved) Taylor Swifts new album 1989 yesterday, i have begun to rethink my stance on judging people by the music they listen to. If my former self from 2013 were to meet my current self, i definitely would not have passed the friendship test. I would have been exiled to the land of Generic Music Taste. Maybe the residents in the land of Generic Music Taste think that my taste in music is horrible and cliche. They could be judging me just as well. For this reason, i think i will ditch my music judging tendencies, and keep an open mind to what the future of music has in store.
