The sudden urge to blog. Why? Coz the radio is playing Better Man by Robbie William, but. In chinese version sang by a female. And after singing the chorus in chinese, she ends it "To be a better man." No kidding and no offence.

Moving on, sometimes this "I-listen-to-non-mainstream-music" vibe is really too much. I'm starting on this a bit, so bear with me.

Firstly, I feel the reason why pop exist is because there are people out there who can't fit into the other non-mainstream areas like rock, jazz, soul etc. And some of you might say mainstream singers sell themselves more than they sell their music like they don't write/compose their own songs. But wait, do you have to be a songwriter/composer to be a singer or vice versa? Simple enough, popularity causes them to be mainstream. However this may come from two sources; either through true talent or other factors like sex appeal.

Secondly, there are people who think that whoever listens to mainstream music are shallow and even posers. They only listen to it coz other people are doing the same, sort of a popularity thing and they want to be 'in' and not backdated. I think that's just a perspective of those listening to non-mainstream music. Yes, some mainstream artistes might be doing really tacky music which is irky. On the other hand, exclusive musical artistes might actually sound like alien language to those who listen to mainstream music.

I can't stress enough the fact that every individual is unique. If you can find a friend who likes the taste of your music, that doesn't mean every other living creature has to like the same. A person who listens to pop might comment on another who listens to goth as scary taste for music. However, we as consumers need to appreciate what's available to us instead of making disses that has no ending.

For myself, my taste in music changes as my age does. At 11, I was a big fan of pop princess Britney Spears. To proof so, I bought all her albums and I have more that 30 posters of her. Like oh my God, look at her now. When I was in my teens, R&B was the thing. I listened to Usher most. Now I listen to almost anything and everything. One day I can be listening to Hot Hot Heat, Omarion next and Lily Allen on another random day. I challenge my ears to listen to different genres. I used to despise rock-metal-hardcore(I can never get it right) acts, coz I judge them from the tempo of their music. But if you look closely to their lyrics, they can hold a lot of meaning to it. One example will be Unholy Confessions by Avenged Sevenfold. And I know, many pop song don't make much sense either like Fergalicious especially.

As such, I feel people who make music part of their life have to be flexible in the way they listen and comment. Listeners should also not be complacent and let others slash uninviting remarks at what you listen. Everyone is judgemental of everything, we can't deny that. But dig in deeper, you'll know better. Like Amy Winehouse; she looks like a wreck with weird tatoos but her voice's just like a classic black singer. Good music should be treated as a privilleage, not something in which is cool. Perhaps if we aren't that lazy afterall, we can seek further to good music instead of accepting those which are already available.

It's much better to listen to all kinds of music instead of just narrowing your mind to one, no? Sure, many mainstream music have cheesy lyrics but they did hit the charts like the ever mega-irritant Umbrella. But if you're likings are towards Bjork, then so be it. We can never blame preferences.

This post drained me. So tell me, what say you?

Labels: I swear I felt like a fool yesterday at the petrol kiosk.