And it's still governed by the same set of rules.
Music snobbery, err, excuse me, "musicology", is all about one-upmanship.
And the rules are quite simple:
When discussing the next big thing, always go for the cutting edge, which in plain English means whatever band or artist is the least likely to have been heard of. When they say Death Cab For Cutie, be ready to counter with the Secret Machines.
When busted with a ticket for that big U2 or Coldplay show at the Microsoft Arena, let them know that you are only there for the opening act.
"I haven't cared about U2 since Joshua Tree; I'm just here to see the Arcade Fire."
And pick your guilty pleasures carefully.
Where having an album by the Raspberries in your collection may get you a pass ("Eric Carmen was a Power Pop God before he sold out"), having one by say, the Little River Band, will not.
But where the real art of music snobbery has begun to lose its way in recent years is in the single most cardinal rule.
Know your history.
For the true, unrepentant music snob, the ability to counter one man's Al Green with your own Otis Redding is absolutely crucial.
At least it once was.
Somewhere around the time of Nirvana's Nevermind album and the whole Seattle Sub Pop Records thing, all of that changed.
When I worked in music business in L.A. in the early nineties, in an office at a record company with a bunch of twenty something hipsters, I just could never figure them out.
On the one hand, Monday mornings were always this constant battle of one-upmanship.
In an era where "indie cred" was the hipster holy grail, these guys would gather around to swap their stories of who saw the most obscure band over the weekend.
The thing that always got me were the names of the bands.
At one point it even seemed everybody had a Jesus complex. There was the Jesus Lizard, the Jesus and Mary Chain, MC 900 Foot Jesus...
Yet, not a one of them could be engaged in a conversation about music dating back further than like 1990.
It was as though time had frozen with Nevermind.
And that was about the time I got off the bus for good and permanently hung up my hat as a card-carrying music snob.
The "musicologist" in me however, remains alive and quite well thank you.
So point that Sting album somewhere else okay?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Trinket
Great piece!
2 - Triniman
Excellet post! And one many of us can relate to!
I'm not sure what exactly qualifies someone to be a musicologist - I know a guy in radio who is one due to his career - but we all know peole like that.
The funny thing is, to some people, I am the office musicologist. Outside the office, compared to some of my friends, I am the grasshopper or the guy with weird taste - some good, some bad.
3 - Steve
Yeah, I tend to view music as a subjective thing, you can argue about musicianship certainly, but whether you like a tune or not depends on what instruments you prefer to listen to, whether you're a 'lyrics' person or a 'music' person, what music was behind your upbringing, what kind of vocals you like, etc.
Anyone who thinks that there is objectivity to all that is kidding themselves, it's all simply a question of taste, assuming the instruments are being played properly of course lol (i.e. not 'out of tune').
4 - rodJoh.
I dont think anyone should feel they have the right to judge someone else's taste in music. That's a very personal thing and it would be boring and outrageous to asume everyone listens to the same bands.
5 - Elias Sosa
If you could recite "the entire liner notes of Dylan's Blood On The Tracks", you had way too much time on your hands. Meanwhile, more ambitous people such as Jeff Lynne, were putting out classic albums.
6 - JP
I'm an aging snob, but a snob no less. I have picked up Dylan and some other "critics' choices" because they were critic-recommended (shameless plug for Allmusic.com here) - but I got into Costello through a friend and have been hooked since; at the same time, I also enjoy some critcs' pariahs such as Jeff Lynne and Sting. I am a conundrum, I must admit.
7 - musicishappiness
It doesn't matter to me who likes/loves what music, band or artist. Life is hard and oft-times cruel, music is here to make life easier and happier. So if you like rap and it makes you happy, I am never going to say you are wrong. If you like rock and it makes you happy, I am never going to say you are wrong. etc etc. Me I only care about the talent. If you can't sing and I feel happier, I am not going to listen.
8 - Sean
If you guys don't know who Marah is, than you are all losers who need to go back to your ELP records
9 - Tan The Man
What's wrong with Journey or ELO?
10 - Guppusmaximus
See that's the problem here... You guys can mention all the Dylan and Costello albums you want and it still won't hold a flame to Coroner's "No More Color"....LOL. Great Piece, but I do believe alot of people pull up that "subjectivity" crap about music way too often to excuse the sh*t that has become popular nowadays. There is GOOD music in every genre and then there are bands that need to pack it in. Wether or not you can hear the difference isn't my problem....
F*cking R*ck ON!!!
11 - thrasher
Glen-so are you suggesting that being a music snob is something to be ashamed of? Gee, I thought it was a badge of honor. Like I get off the couch & out of the house & go to a concert instead of sitting at home and watching American Idolism?
Live music really is better!
12 - Sister Ray
There are a few of us brave souls keeping music snobbery alive and well.
13 - clay lover
Clay rules. That's all I have to say.
14 - Barry Stoller
"... a great, groundbreaking album like Pet Sounds or A Kind of Blue does."
For a 'music snob,' your tastes are about as 'radical' and 'elitist' as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
15 - Joey
Wow, Just about (if not all) every artist you mentioned is like top 40, pop, bubble gum, aqua net crappola. Don't you listen to anything good?
Do you subscribe to billboard or something? I know, you're an avid Rolling Stone reader!
That's really kind of funny, if you think about it.
"went down to the beach today, heard top 40 playing simultaneously from 120 different sta---tions"
Lame, trite... what else can I call your piece without getting [deleted].
16 - Vern Halen
The reason why you lost your taste for music snobbery is this: Nirvana confused everyone with Nevermind - did they have street cred or not? Afte that, music snobbery become easy - drop a whole bunch of names no one ever heard of, and you'll be safe. And 90% of them will be crap, too.
The so called modern music snob just looks for something weird & unknown & not on major label, and claims it for his or her own cause celebre (sorry, my French is bad here). They have no history, and they can't carry their end of a discussion. They're heard plenty of music, but didn't listen to most of it.
Rant. Thank you.
17 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
As you alluded: I don't have a big problem with music snobs unless they don't have a sense of history. I'll never forget the time I was in the backroom of a record store I managed and music snob employee #9, trying to help a customer, came back in a dither, asking "Gordon, have you ever heard of, um, Dixieee...land Jazzzzz?" Ah, it was so cute.
And don't get me going on the job applicants who are "really into jazz, too" who never heard of Miles Davis. Next!
18 - degüello
Thanks for the enjoyable read.
You left out the second part of that classic David Lee Roth quote:
"The reason rock critics like Elvis Costello more than Van Halen is because rock critics look like Elvis Costello and want to party like Van Halen."
19 - Baronius
Nice article, for Blogcritics. I've read better on woundedleopard.com though. You can't find the site using most search engines, especially if you're using Internet Explorer. Or an Apple. I use a unix-based Necropolix4.5 (much more secure than anything you're using, I'm sure).
20 - Michael J. West
There is GOOD music in every genre
Guppus, you would do a whole lot better with that argument if the bands you mentioned along with it weren't ALL heavy metal.
21 - Michael J. West
Sorry, I got distracted. As for you, Glen -- AMEN!
Of course, there are still those of us music snobs that keep hope alive for knowing your music history. We're the ones who elevated Gram Parsons to sainthood, consider Burt Bacharach an elder statesman, and whip out the names of CAN and THE RESIDENTS to win "how cool and obscure are you." So don't mourn the death of the music snob just yet...
22 - Mat Brewster
Good article. I've become so tired of the oneupmonship of these things.
You know more obscure bands than me? Fantastic. Why don't you share them? Well, if they're any good. Life is too tiring already to have to spend my life trying to be more hip than the next guy.
Some obscure stuff is crap. Some really popular stuff is flippin' great.
23 - Glen Boyd
I'm not really sure what I am supposed to make of Mr. Baronius comments?
If I didn't know better, I'd swear that was a rather back handed compliment.
You've read better? On some website that I can't even access without using a Unix browser?
Maybe next time I'll write something about computer snobs...LOL
24 - nugget
I don't get how anyone who doesn't listen to music written before the 1900s can even consider himself a music "snob."
I am fifty times the snob you are. You are a snob poser. I actually care about all music ever written or performed. that includes passionate works by palestrina, a Handel Mass, Gesualdo, Bach, and millions of other great composers. You only care about amplified or recorded music.
NEWS FLASH. Rock and roll does not = all music ever.
25 - Sister Ray
Ha ha, Baronius :->