Key

I put music as an interest. I record music on the piano all the time, and I find a lot of enjoyment out of it. I wouldn't want to find a career out of it, but I do find it to be an interest of mine if it were something I could go to school for, etc.

misspoptart

So I guess the question for ki, wiggums, and Norg would be whether or not you think your interest in music is more qualified than the next person, and does the fact that everyone lists music as an interest make your experience with it seem less special?

Key

Music is a universal thing, so for me, I don't find any restraints or anything lacking when I see music as an interest. It's music, it comes with mixed opinions as does a lot of media, but I wouldn't let other people's music interests change the way I think of music. Music has a special meaning to me, as it does with everyone, so people's reasons for having music as an interest is probably far off from my own reasons, and vice versa.

misspoptart

Yeah, I agree with you.

But I can't help wonder about Urban's previous point that "you'd might as well list breathing" -- because to me, my "interest" in music goes well beyond an involuntarily bodily function.

Just as if I were listing "oil painting" or "the zodiac" as an interest, I would want people to realize that "music" to me is something studied, read about, and spent time with, beyond casual listening. The way music is marketed now, it's hard to imagine there are that many people treating the topic as seriously as we on MB do.

Key

Well, a lot of that does stem from music forums and the internet in general. I find that when people have a chance to express their interests, it allows them to find something more with it and expand their horizons. The same could be said for art, and dancing, etc. It's always helpful to converse with people who share the same interests as you, because it allows for those people to learn more about what they've already found to love.

Trollheart

Okay, first of all, you all know I'm old. No, really, I mean like HALF A CENTURY old! I've been around a lot of music.

In school/early work around the ages of say from 17-25 I pretty much linked everything I did to music. I was (and am) a nerd: I didn't go to discos (probably cos I was ugly/nerdy/sobre and hated pop music) but I did spend my time making elaborate compilaton tapes (ask yer da), buying the best stereo equipment I could afford, at the time, buying bagfuls of records at the weekend in town, amassing a large collection. I did a three-hour weekly stint on the local community radio, then when the internet arrived I downloaded all the free music I could and then later latched onto music forums.

I started my own website and part of it was music-based. I even interviewed Judie Tzuke (who?) for the site. I went to plenty of gigs when younger (not so much now) and I was all into the heavy metal image at the time. I watched gigs on telly, watched "The old grey whistle test", "The Tube" etc, and when recordable CDs came out I started making compliations on those too. I tried to learn to play the synth --- failed; can play but really badly --- and wish I could play the guitar. I watch and listen to musicians and think how great it would be to be able to do that, though I know I never will. I just don't have the talent, nor the discipline to try to learn.

Pretty much everything I do is linked to or informed by music, so I think it would certainly go down as far more than an "interest" with me. It's part of my life, part of whom I am and if someone took music --- all music --- somehow away tomorrow, I truly don't know what I would do.

Perhaps something like that, a deep, ingrained, almost desperate love of and interest in music is more than just a casual interest. For instance, if you took someone who says they have an interest and asked them their favourite bands, and then to talk a little about those bands, if they couldn't then I would say it's more a "general interest" than a "genuine or deep interest", and I think the distinction is important, and should be noted. Is it important to you? Could you live without it? Is it something that fills every day, one way or the other, or just something else in your life that's there, you acknowledge but could easily go on without?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

misspoptart

In another life, TH, we would have been best friends.

^ This is the part where our lives intersect. Although, I was only about 11.

The topic of my next thread... j/k.

It never ceases to amaze me how often I asked my English students (when I was teaching) what kind of music they liked. 99% of the time, they could only mention two or three bands by name. I would blame it on technology and culture (primarily that Turks have a looooong history of music and it has been plagiarized again and again), but when I read posts like yours, I really think they just don't get it.

Vaydus

Sadly, I've been spending a considerable amount of time on dating sites :P

I can't help but chuckle a bit, because every single girl I've come across lists music as an interest. I think I'm becoming a music snob, or just a jerk, hehe.

wiggums

Well you joined the site, so that pretty much makes you both!

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Vaydus

Haha, I accept it! How do you guys and gals feel about people saying they love all types of music? Sometimes, to keep things simple I'll say that, even though I certainly don't mean it. But I do listen do a wild variety of music.