The more I hear people talk about music, the more I fear that people have missed the point of it.

UVM is an incredibly musical school. Our Spotify Wrappeds are posted like badges of honor, playlists are perfectly curated, concerts are everywhere and the role of DJ at a house party is a highly coveted position. 

This is actually one of the few things I love about this school. My music taste has significantly improved since arriving here, and I’ve been introduced to new musical opinions from those around me. 

I’ve formed genuine friendships over a shared love of music and bands that, growing up, I felt out of place for listening to. 

But at the same time, there exists this underlying, endless sense of competition at UVM. It makes me wonder if I’ve made my playlists diverse enough, or if I put the songs in just the right order and leaves me worried I’m not listening to niche enough artists.

Competition is not something that’s inherently bad, especially when it fuels discovery and exploration. But it is harmful when it discounts and demeans artists and their art.

So, let’s get personal.

Halsey has been my favorite artist for the last seven years. While I face significantly less criticism for liking her here — no doubt because a large portion of UVM and virtually everyone I socialize with are gay women — it’s still present. 

Now, this may be the most lukewarm take of all time, but I believe it’s still important to say: music, like any other form of art, is completely subjective. 

I can recognize that while there may be singers, songwriters and performers who are viewed by the general public to be objectively better than Halsey, to me it simply doesn’t matter. 

Music is inherently linked to your identity, according to an October 2020 Journal of Music and Science study. 

For me, Halsey’s songs were brief reprieves and a source of joy during a dark time. They made and continue to make me feel hopeful and understood. 

Junior Keagan Lafferty is the lead singer, booking agent, social media and financial manager of the band Cows On The Moon. 

“When I was six years old, I got an iPod Touch for my birthday, and my mom had pre-downloaded Taylor Swift onto it. And as soon as I heard that album — her debut album — I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” she said.

Lafferty believes UVM praises a certain kind of music over others. 

“I think people here are very into the vintage aesthetic, older music from before any of us were born. I’m into that too,” Lafferty said. 

Yet, with older music and the culture surrounding it here, it seems that the subjectivity of music and how deeply linked it can be to our identities can get overlooked by some individuals in favor of an aesthetic. 

“Sometimes there’s this feeling of, like, oh, ‘I’m into old music, I’m cool, and you’re into basic music,’ you know? Being a big Taylor Swift fan, I’ve definitely had people tell me that’s basic, that’s not niche enough to be cool,” said Lafferty. 

Going one step past the criticism of Swift is the dreaded “name five songs” person. We attend a school where older music is held in esteem, yet some people treat it as an exclusive club. 

“You know, it’s always like Nirvana or Pearl Jam shirts people are wearing, and they don’t really know [them]. But honestly, I think that whole idea of like, ‘oh, you’re being a poser’ is pretty dumb, because you don’t have to know every single thing about a band to have interest in them,” said Lafferty.

A sense of superiority, or gatekeeping, when it comes to music not only demeans artists, but also serves to act as a deterrent for people to listen to your “good music” or whatever that’s supposed to mean. 

Even if you truly believe that fans of “basic” artists should be listening to your music, don’t insult someone for listening to something that brings them joy.

That is the complete antithesis of what art and music are. Music is about bringing people together. One artist builds off of another, inspires someone else and so on and so on, and likely somewhere in that chain will be a band or singer you love, and one you hate. 

Turning music from a community and art form into an aesthetic or identity cheapens the very thing you claim to be worshiping. 

Just let someone say that their favorite artist is the best of all time, because to them, they are. Rather than treating art as if it’s something objective, engage in conversation. 

I promise you’ll have a much better time having a conversation about a shared joy in music than giving a lecture about why someone’s wrong for liking what they do.

For the record, I’ve listened to Nirvana since I was four. And if you think Kurt Cobain would think you’re cool for demeaning a successful female artist, or saying “name five songs,” you’re just an idiot. 

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