Is some music better than other music?, A vexed question. Options

[wakibaki]

The question is exactly as posed in the thread title. Is some music better than other music?

For myself, I have long been convinced that some music is indeed better than other music. That all music can be ranked on a scale of 'goodness', given that no piece is necessarily of consistent quality from end-to-end.

For example, I might sing a song. I might sing it slightly out of tune in a particular passage. I might sing it again, without singing out of tune.

All other things being equal, I would rate the second rendition better than the first.

I think this applies across the board, that there is an intrinsic quality in music (or: are qualities) which make(s) it possible to say that one piece is better than another.

I know that not everybody agrees with this, some holding that there is no intrinsic quality in either piece, and that the differences are all to do with my perceptions, but I don't feel that this is adequate to explain the cultivation of musical expression and appreciation. I only got the perceptions by comparing good with worse.

Once, in the course of trying to teach a particularly obtuse guitar student, I was confronted with a somewhat existential position. 'You make a sound, I make a sound', I paraphrase his contribution, 'They're both sounds, there's nothing to make the sound you make any more valid than the sound I make.' He never did turn out much of a guitarist, but then maybe if I had been a better teacher I would have had a better answer than to burn him with a cigarette.

Despite that, I understand how some might find it offensive to be told that the music they like is intrinsically inferior to some other music. It could be seen as preferable to put it all down to personal preferences rather than risk confrontation.

I don't see anybody here backing away from a confrontation though. So, is some music better than other music?

[kornchild2002]

Is this asking about the actual quality of the reproduced audio or just an opinion of what one likes? Opinion based questions never have a definite "yes" or "no" answer simply because it all comes down to opinion. One person might hate a song, band, artist, or album while another person absolutely loves it. The quality of music is in the ear of the beholder and it is impossible to come up with a "yes" or "no" answer across the board. Some music might be better to you than others but that doesn't necessarily make it better as a whole, it just means that you like it in your own little world. Outside opinions on your musical tastes will definitely disagree with you. For example, one of my favorite bands is Korn. I know a bunch of people on here would call them tired hacks who haven't put out anything good since 1996. Does that mean their music is bad and worse than Dream Theater, Nevermore, or any other "underground" big metal band that fans often cling to and name drop (both are good bands too)? No. It just means that my opinion differs from others.

Either way, when it comes to opinions, you can never apply anything "across the board." Another example; one of my friends thinks that Katy Perry is a good singer in the studio or live. Live performances of hers makes me cringe as she cannot sing in tune. Her producers often rely on vocal tricks (layering, tuning, etc.) in the studio but it is difficult to pull that off live so her voice is completely different. I can listen to a live version of one of her songs where she sings it out of tune and listen to the studio version. I won't like either one. My friend can't hear a difference and doesn't really care so she likes the live out of tune versions of her songs just as much as the studio manipulated releases.