0. What is/are your favorite genre(s)?
Ambient, drone, dub techno (you know what I mean, nun of the wubbin); anything textural, captivating, atmospheric.
1a. What do you consider good music, either in general or in concrete examples?
It's entirely subjective, but for me personally, it's anything that conveys a mood or atmosphere that is unique and vivid. Something that offers an escape from the everyday things around us. Was not carelessly made, and was made with the intent of being creative and inspiring rather than to make profit or to be popular or generic.
1b. How about bad music?
Music that tries too hard to be music that's already been recognized as popular and top of the list. So much I hear these days that's "new" music just sounds like the same old stuff I could have heard a decade ago, the same formula for the bands (sometimes this is good, in this particular case no, because it's just playing the exact same thing over again with maybe one different arrangement and different lyrics), lyrics that are carelessly written (gah especially when a naive crowd listens and feels INSPIRED by them and makes it into a fukken facebook status "~~ur love is like a candy and my tongue is like us bein 2gether ahaha (idk but it's that type of thing))
2. Are you biased against some genres because of the fans they tend to attract?
I try not to be. Sometimes I plain old don't like how it sounds, but it's also hard these days when OTHER people judge on a fanbase and see you listening to a certain type of music, it's hard to be on the fence.
3a. Do you make assumptions about fans of particular genres?
Sometime's it's pretty damn obvious but yes I tend to do this. Obviously to the individual it will be different than trying to generalize, so to each their own. But when I see someone with hipster glasses and a backwards hat and a popped collar shirt and ripped jeans with "I <3 dubstep" branded on their sleeve or something its hard to not make a judgement.
3b. What are some of the stereotypes you are familiar with?
(not that I personally point these out but just ones I recognize as stereotypes): ganstas are black or if they are white, they want to be black; country fans are rednecks; dubstep fans are guidos and douchebags that drink a lot; classical music fans smell like old books and like to sip expensive liquors; techno fans do drugs; yeah idk, there's a lot.
3c. What stereotypes exist about fans of your preferred genre?
I'm not really sure about ambient fans. I guess people might think they're some sort of space hippies. Or maybe that they're always introverts that think too much or are depressed.
4. What role does a band/artist/genre's popularity play in your like or dislike for them/hir/it?
5. Do you think you have good taste in music?
I really like what I like, and I enjoy music that deserves to be liked. So I guess yeah.
6. How objective do you think you are when you judge music?
Not very much at all. The subtleties in each individual song set them apart.
7. Do you judge artists/bands on their entire body of work, or on a song-by-song basis?
FIRSTLY on a song-by-song basis. Sometimes after I've heard enough of the individual songs I can judge the entire body of work based on that, but I don't make a judgement unless I'm pretty confident of how their whole portfolio of sounds is.
8. Do you consider your choice of music part of your identity, image or public persona?
Somewhat. I'm pretty modest in the way I present myself, quite neutral, but I probably have some sort of creative-type person vibe. It's not a huge part of it that I'm aware of though.
9. Have you ever made choices in music based on what your peers might think of you? (For example, do you avoid a certain genre because your friends think it is without merit? Do you listen to genres you don't particularly like because your friends like them?, etc.)
Never. I've been introduced to good music by friends but never would I force myself to like something.
10a. How do you feel/react when someone states an opinion contrary to yours regarding music in general?
I feel indifferent. Clearly what I like is working for me, because it makes me feel good. It doesn't have to be what makes them feel good. It's subjective. They're pretty thick if they think what they like is the ONLY good music for EVERYone. So I pity them, too.
10b. What about particular songs/artists/genres?
See above.
11. Do you have formal musical training? (Such as receiving singing lessons, playing an instrument, etc.)
Nope.
12. Who influences your choice of music most? How do you find new music? Through which channels? Through advertising/word of mouth/YouTube/reviews/other?
I influence my choice of music the most. Sometimes I'll see what artists I already like are listening to themselves, last.fm is a great tool, as well as just researching genres specific for something I'm in the mood for.
13a. Have your tastes or preferences changed over time?
Yes. It's been a subtle maturation but it has changed pretty dramatically comparing the then-and-now.
13c. If yes, in what way?
I think it's the same thing with flavours that one may have hated as a kid but grew to like them when they grew older, just an expanded palette that let me enjoy more of what was around me. And, with the same analogy, some flavours I used to enjoy are far too sweet or sour for my liking now.
14. Anything you'd like to add on this subject? Any other questions you wish I'd posed?
Music is good stuff. Don't go around pretending you're the s
hit just because you like a certain genre of music
then you're just a douche. And chicks may dig you, but they're custy chicks, so you can have them ALL.