what is the difference between good and bad music

it would seem that good music is anything i like and bad music is anything i don't like.

what if i change my mind ? the music hasn't changed only my attitude towards it.

it would seem that, intrinsically, there is no good or bad music, because one man's preference may be distasteful to another.

one could generalize to art, movies, books, wine, food--the aesthetic arts.

if there are no standards than one should be tolerant to all music and respectful of others opinions even if personally disliking the selections of others.

hi bartokfan:

one does not know anything. one hears music and experiences it as good or bad. knowledge has nothing to do with it.

the assessment of genius is slo subjective. there are no standards of quality only opinion.

if a standard is devised, another standard will compete with it and there will always bedisagreement among serious listeners as to what good and bad is.

i believe the question of quality applies to evrything--art, wine, food, books, movies etc.

its all subjective if you like it its good, if you don't its bad.

it's a philosophical argument with no conclusion.

knowledge is based upon deduction from principles, axioms and definitions, it follows from a premise.

with respect to music, there are no premises as there are in mathematics, only opinions.

bartokfan, don't confuse an investment with quality. the fact that an object will sell for a large sum of money is no indication of its quality.

there is no logical relationship between price and quality. isn't that what most of us believe with respect to audio components ?? it's no different in art, or any other commercial endeavor.

how about the price of a stock. are expensive stocks "better" companies than "cheap" stocks, from the standpoint of any financial criteria ?

don't confuse popularity with quality. the fact that a lot of people eat at a restaurant or go to a movie or nominate it for an award does not indicate quality or lack thereof. you are doing an excellent job of making my case. it is subjective and people do disagree. those who don't like the music of a popular artist obviously disagree with those buy the recordings.

again, logic wins.

hi newbee. you question the relevance of raising the question in the first place, yet you don't question the relevance of asking the question, what is the difference between good sound and bad sound.

i detect inconsistency.

in essence asking any question about quality of anything is philosophical.

the purpose of raising philosophical questions is to exercise our brain cells, exchange ideas, create a dialogue and have fun.

hi redkiwi:

one person's emotional communication may be another's non communication.

if you and i listen to the same music, you may react emotionally and i may not. is the music bad or good ? or you may react emotionally to music one time and not another time.

your reaction emotionally is more a matter of your emotional state than the music you are listening to.

if your are not receptive to the music then there may not be an emotional reaction to any music.

again, do you like the music is more important than do you react to it.

i may react emotioanlly to a piece of music but still not like it for other reasons that have nothing to do with emotions.

i respect your perspective, but have yet to be convinced that quality of music, unfortunately is at the whim of the listener.

if you want to point to the intrinsiic qualities of music that signify quality it is necessary to point out what they are.

if instead you want to refer to a reaction to the music, there are many reactions that can be viewed as favorable to the listenet besides an emotional response.

hi evita, do i sound like a philosopher.

i have taught before. my background is psychology, economics and mathematics.

i have become more analytical, relying on logic as i passed my 60th birthday.

i am now 64.

i like discussions, it stimulates my brain and keeps me young.

a person has a right to like or dislike the music of any composer without being judged for that preference.

it is childish to "penalize" someone for not liking the music of a composer.

i can't think of any rational reason for people being so intolerant.

this attitude is just the opposite of audiogon forum which is accepting of diverse points of a view and stimulating discussions.

thank you gentlemen, for helping to keep my brain cells from atrophying.

hi redkiwi:

you are helping to make my point. it's all subjective, and opinion.

good and bad anything is purely a matter of opinion because there is absolute standard.

there is knowledge, opinion and facts.

when we experience something we cannot know it.

if music can be judged good and bad by different people and good and bad by the same person, music is neither intrinsically good or intrinsically bad. it is only a label given to it as a result of experience.

there are different "types" of music , just as there are different composers. the types of music are different. better or worse is purely subjective.

this also applies to all other art forms.