When it's good, it's good...

2 people are standing next to each other at a concert at a music festival. They both are into the band, but for different reasons. They have an impression of who/what that band is based on their knowledge of the band and what context they heard the music in. They both have established a relationship with the band, and enjoy the music. Their reasons for enjoying the band are different because they were introduced to the music in different ways. They prefer different songs by the band, and maybe even dislike certain songs that the other person loves. There are many factors that go into why a person likes or dislikes a band, and that relationship is unique to the individual. However, one thing is common. They both enjoy the band.

Lets say one the first person, who is older, hears the band for the first time. The band has just come out with their debut album. Their music is part of an emerging underground scene, and they are like a breath of fresh air to the youth of America who has been yearning for something different, something to call their own. This person was the second to get the bands t-shirt at their high school. They followed the bands success through their first four albums. Each album that they came out with was a new experience, adding to the persons view, perception, idea, impression of the band. They had a couple of mainstream songs that made it on the radio. With the 5th and 6th album, they started to have more and more time between albums, and, according to the long time fan, the quality of the music had begun to diminish. "They just don't sound like they used to". This person see's the entire body of work in chronological order. When they hear a song, they immediately think of what album the song came from, and when the song came out.

Now the second person, younger, hears the music 20 years after the song came out. They first heard of the band in a movie soundtrack. There was also a day when the person heard another of the bands songs on the radio and asked, "who is this?". Their friend told them who it was, and the person said, "Oh, I didn't realize this was that band". They didn't see the band as the greatest band in the world, but when they were flipping through the radio stations and a song by the band was on, they would leave it on the station. A couple of years later, the person got a $50 itunes gift card, and they purchased a few select songs from their greatest hits album. When this person hears the band, the context that they put this music in relates to its value in the historical musical fabric of the time. Their body of work is seen as just that, a whole, a single body. It has lost it's chronological progression.

Back to the concert. The first person came to the music festival specifically to hear the band. They cheer the most for the more obscure songs, saying, "I can't believe they are playing this song". The second person checked out their set at the music festival because they saw they were in the line up, and nothing better was playing at the time. They cheered for the most popular songs because they recognized them. They both really enjoy the music and leave having had a fulfilling musical experience.

Here is the beautiful thing about music. When it's good, it's good, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.