What are your music standards?
 

Well, your choices leave no option but to not vote, I don't fall on those categories. I don't stick with one kind of music or music from one country or region. I love to listen to music from Japan, France, Italy, Mexico, US, UK, sometimes Russia, Spain, South America and all the places I can. Doing this, I have discovered so many artists, even from places where the common mainstream music sucks, that are brilliant. Don't close yourself to only japanese, try music from all over the world and you'll eventually be rewarded.

Btw..welcome to the forum, hun ^__~
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I like what XFER1 said. There is other music besides japanese and english language music :yes

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I listen to what I like...but what I love gets a lot more listens than what I like. In jpop I adore Ayu, Hikki, and Eiko Shimamiya. Eveyone else gets occasional listens
Same with my fav jrock bands which come after the three girls I mentioned

My fav western (english) music is a different world. But I have adored artists there. Because not all of those artists are how u describe them and many are very artistsic. It depends on where your looking

Anyway I also listen to a few artists just a bit from places like France and others.

But what u say about japanese music will always completely elude me because a lot of generic (and not good at being generic like some can be) artists exist that I can't listen to. Actually some of the ways u describe english music I could describe as japanese music
But all music no matter what language or country has these artists imo. Some I like; some I don't

But I do understand some people favor one particular area of music

My fav artists are japanese but I definitely wouldn't call half of jpop amazing. But the part of it that is, the ayu and hikki part make it well worthwhile. And the other artists I enjoy make me a fan of it.

That's just me. U and I, and probably everyone else think differently. As long as u aknowledge that not all of english (western or american/british I think may be a better way to describe it) music is the way u described, then I'm okay and quite intrigued by your views and anyone elses. :yes

But I can't vote. No option for me. I can't cut myself off from any music. Its all music. If I love it, I love it, whether its german, italian, korean whatever lol

Sn: oh but why do u ask if western artists can make their own music. As opposed to japanese artists
Some do, some don't. Not everyones Utada Hikaru lol

Okay. So...the problem with this is, that these industries, I'm just gonna use Japanese vs American, are really, the same.

I think the biggest difference between styles, as far as mainstream music, is that hip hop has very nearly completely immersed itself, into every aspect of pop music in the US, where as in Japan, pop, in it's purest form, is what is more popular.

So you have to understand, why the songs in the US sound the way they do.

Secondly, I think you have to understand that, music is different for everyone, and everyone looks for different things in their music. You have to get away from this idea of "quality", and I know, god I know, it's NOT easy.

But, the best thing to do, is to try and look at all music and all artists, from different perspectives, and see their pros and cons.

You also have to realize the truth in, why you actually like a particular type of music, and why you don't like others.

Honestly, all of these things, take a little bit of "growing up" on your part. They happen with time. Not overnight.

For me, I think, I like all different types of music, possibly, every type. I like those American songs with catchy beats, and repetitiveness, because, I like to dance, and I like to be sexy, and these songs, are great to dance and be sexy to lol


In terms of particular artists and "quality" let me give you my biggest example. Koda Kumi. I LOVE Koda, beyond words. She is one of my favorite artists, and one of my favorite people, in the whole world.

Her music? It's not ground breaking lol It's not extremely personal a lot of the time, it's not written by her, sometimes the compositions aren't the best either. She doesn't always write all her lyrics, and a lot of them certainly aren't "true" or "sincere".

But I love her music. I love the sound she produces, a mixture between hip hop, R&B, and pop. I love that her music is GREAT for dancing. I love that I'm never ever sad when listening to her music, and that her songs, not only make me feel happy, but they also make me feel empowered and sexy. I love her vocals, which are nearly flawless, even though her voice is "unique".

None of these things, have to do with, the actual way in which the music is made. The song could be totally repetitive, and unoriginal, and mainstream, and not unique, but I've found that, that isn't the most important thing sometimes.

And while those things are wonderful, and can produce AMAZING results...they aren't everything, and honestly, there are some artists who produce such amazing, original, pieces of art with their music, and I just don't like it at all.

I don't want to listen to GREAT music that I don't like. I want to listen to music that I like, good or "bad".

Another thing I realised today, is that, it's not really so bad when an artist repeats a certain type of sound for a song. For people who love that kind of song, hey, they just got another song they can love too.


You seem kind of "new" to all this, so let me just say that, there are as many overproduced, talentless, unoriginal people in the Japanese industry, as there are in others. There is as much SEX in the Japanese industry, as there is in others. It's just more camouflaged, and actually, imo, more disgusting, but that's just me.



To answer your question, I can't cut myself off from any "type" of music, and certainly not any music from any particular country because, it's all music, and it's all the same.

I don't think Japanese music is the best type of music either. I certainly love it more, but that doesn't make it better.


so anyway...sorry for long post lol

@strawberi: lol we always write a lot XD

@emiko: lol I can't help it :laugh and I guess neither can you

And u summed up my feelings for kuu and artists like her. I like her mostly for fun. And I never see a problem with that.
When I'm at my homecoming dance or my friends party I do not need emotional experiences lol.

This is why kuu stays as a fav jpop artists of sorts. She's essential. And not just necessarily her. Others too.
Lol now I'm going ot

But yeah I agree also with emikos (very long) statement.


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I just say its true about music. Even japan has those artists u describe. Many places do

^Oh I totally cant lol

Exactly. Koda is just pure fun and thats why I love her~ Man you and pommy, you guys are so quotable lol

I was introduced to ayu and I honestly did not know it was possible for me to love music so much. I didn't know that music could make me FEEL different emotions. I always thought music was just there.. I never got a feeling from American music that the people singing the song actually sung it with their feelings, and it never made me feel good or bring me to tears or make me want to dance. If anything, it made me cringe because of the horrible lyrics in most music I would hear on the radio.. then I went off and would try to discover some unpopular artists to see if they were any better and they really weren't much better. I just remember before I got into Asian music, I tried so hard to find American music that I liked.. but I couldn't. The lyrics always bugged me so much. I don't have this issue with Asian music because honestly I find the lyrics to be 100x better and even if there are some I don't like too much from reading the translations, I can just ignore them since I can't understand what they're saying anyway when I listen to the song. Also the songs themselves.. the arrangements/compositions are just so much better than what I would ever hear in American songs. I just think now that Asian music is of a much higher quality, and I prefer it to American music. After seeing how good music could be, why would I want to settle for less?

I like how people treat American music like it's so inferior to Japanese music, learn to listen to songs. You're either a) super biased, or b) listening to bad songs and stereo-typing everything.

I listen to everything so I don't know. I used to be like "if it's not japanese, I won't listen to it!" Back when I didn't care that much for music in general, and when I'd just discovered Ayumi.

I "english music" bores you, you didn't dig deep enough, that's my opinion on that. I used to say that music from my home country (Denmark) was really boring and unappealing, but then I discovered that there was so much more lying underneath the surface.

@Piccolo Yup. I noticed that too.

imo, it is. I tried out possibly hundreds of American artists/bands over many years - popular and unpopular, and failed to really love anything. It only took me a couple of songs to get into Japanese music so I pretty much stick with that and other asian music. I can't be bothered to search for more and more years anymore to try to find good American music when I can easily try out new asian artists and 9 times out of 10 wind up loving them.

Well sorry. You came off sounding very....young.

I think both you and identity should try and figure out why you're being attracted to this type of music, and not any other type. If you really care anyway.

My opinion is with Kanzaki. Perhaps you guys just prefer the sounds/lyrics that are more dominant in Japan than in other places.

That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure many people feel the way you do, but I think it's very vital for everyone to understand that those things don't actually make the music any better, and why that is.

And I know, it seems kind of trivial, but it's actually important to help you see things better. Some people dont care to...as a result, they'll never possess the full wisdom of what music is.

Ah, I'm an idealist. The world would be so much better if people possessed the full wisdom of things wouldn't it? lol But usually, they are satisfied with their half-truths. Wisdom is difficult anyway...makes life harder. People don't want that.


ANYWAYS...there are treasure troves of music in every industry, and for every person with their individual tastes, the amount of digging in each one is going to vary.

If you can't be bothered, you're simply going to miss out. And it's up to you to decide whether you care or not.


Personally, I mean, I love the Japanese industry, and probably most of my music comes from there, because for the past year or two, I've been really diligent in searching it out...so like, I probably understand your feelings about that...but I don't agree just about the parts about mainstream music in other places.

I like hearing about how they do it with their boyfriends lol ;)

for me it's like Japanese VS American or british because only those 2 options have the best quality of music. other than Japanese, American or british are just Meh for me but American music owns my hear for the most creative

Figure out? What is most wonderful doesn't need a reason.

You say their half-truths, and yet you say it would be better if we possessed the full wisdom. The difference in my truth and yours lies precisely in the word their, as in mine, and yours. Our tastes vary, as do our opinions. You claim to understand, and yet you don't seem to be comfortable with accepting that someone may dislike music other than Japanese.

But fair enough. If we compare music to a painting, abstract art is composed of many colours, shades. I may notice all those shades in a song, but are they all pretty and genuine? Since we like different colours, what is pleasant to my eyes, may be painful to yours. That doesn't necessarily mean it is; it exists there, and is liked by a group of people. Those who aren't fond of it, will move towards what they enjoy. I take my time to understand all the shapes, but no person likes everything.

I've come to appreciate Chinese music to an extent, there are French singers whom I enjoy, and Chopin among other pianists inspires me to play the piano. Unfortunately those artists don't live in the present time.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron's OST is in English, and it's a mesmerizing piece of work, but I still prefer GACKT's music over Bryan Adam's, even though Hans Zimmer's compositions are some of the best. Music alone without words is beautiful, and when there is no singer, the significance of the words that the composer would speak fades away, because they aren't there.

Does being judgement-free make life harder? You tell me to dig deeper, and I do, although what I find doesn't impress me.
You however, seem to have an opinion about me already. I wonder how much you found out based on two posts.

Anyway.
I see art in a small percentage of music.
Perhaps I'm blind, wouldn't you say?
You may also say that my taste lacks wisdom.
I'll give anyone a chance.
Then I'll listen to what I deem good.

"Let's eat all the things we like, and throw away the things we hate"
Like Ayu would say.

It's just the internet. No point in arguing.

Quality and standards are going to vary from person to person. I don't really believe there is any definitive standard or definition for music quality that is universal in a sense it can not be disputed. It's all based on opinion. emiko used Koda Kumi as her example of quality music, however I love Koda just as much but from my perspective Koda hasn't produced quality up until her recent release. Do that mean Koda hasn't make quality music and emiko's wrong? No. It's subjective.

It's the same thing with Western vs. Non-Western. People could argue for or against Western music having no standard or that Japanese music is just screechy stupid pop music but in the end there are going to be some people who prefer slvtty dance music over grand emotional ballads and vise versa. It doesn't make either type of song worse than the other.

It all comes down to personal taste. I understand where you come from, though for me it is not like that for japanese music - I only love Ayumi Hamasaki that much and not japanese music in general. Her music is the only music that ever gave me goosebumps - I never thought this was possible through music and always wondered what people were talking about, too. Other than that I'm too close to western music, growing up with it - for example my very much beloved Take That (they're from England). But I know that I usually don't really like modern German Music. Understanding the lyrics head on is always a factor. Who sings is also a factor. What do you know about that person, what kind of image do they have? Does it comply with your views and expectations of the world?

Soundtracks are also interesting - you usually have no singers and it is often classical - but I think this music also lets you feel emotions. Especially because no one is singing and it's up to your imagination what the general meaning of a piece of music is. It is kind of like the difference between a book and a movie - but more wide. I also love to listen to monks who sing gregorian chants one of the oldest form of singing there is. Very interesting and for me very calming. When I was younger and didn't understand english I used to make up my own lyrics to songs in an imaginary language. For me the lyrics are important but melody and the general feel of a song, too.

So I seriously just got this thread by looking at the poll options. You're putting it as fact that Japanese music is the superior type of music.

That's kind of weird. I'm sorry, not trying to offend anyone.

Try broadening your music tastes. There is a lot of good music outside Japan, just like there's a lot of "bad" music in Japan. I mean, it's fine if you prefer it, but just remember you might be offending someone who likes western music better. As stated, it's opinion. No music is better than another type.

There is no poll option for my feelings. I love Western music just the same as I love Japanese. Daft Punk and Britney Spears can stir up emotions just like Ayu can for me. Not the same ones, of course, but I feel just as strongly, independent of what those feelings are. There are so many Japanese artists who are full of fake, and so many Western artists who dedicate their lives to quality music, I really can't judge.

I listen to whatever

You just proved your bias lol. Just because you prefer something doesn't make the other inferior.

I can see why you were 'misunderstood', the options on that poll are very scewed and come off really haughty and biased. It's like you're basically saying that everyone feels the same way you do but are either aware or unaware of it. O_O It probably wasn't your original intention to do so but you've gotta be more mindful of how you set up polls like these.

Well, for me I've been listening to almost nothing but J-pop and occasionally K-pop for the past year. There just hasn't been any... desire to listen to much else. Like emiko stated, a lot of pop music here has hip hop (and even country :tired) influence these days which I'm just not a fan of. I'm more of a fan of pure pop, electropop, techno pop, 90's, 80's synth pop and even bubblegum teeny pop. There's few artists right now that I bother with, like Britney, Madge, and Ashley Tisdale. Other artists I like/love (like Evanescence), take forever to release something and by the time they do, I've forgotten all about them and can't be properly excited.

Most of the J-artists I like just happen to fit the bill of what I like in my music period. All female with sweet high voices, cute with a hint of sexy, singing catchy fun pop songs that lift my spirits and keep me energized. Artists like Kalafina, alan and Hikki are another story... I turn for them for strong ballads, beautiful vocals, and compositions that stir the blood. I put Ayu in another category all her own, as (much like identity stated) she pretty much convinced me just how powerful music can be. I used to hate pop ballads (and still do to some extent) because I thought they all sounded so generic and boring always talking about a break up or whatever blah blah. I thought hers would be more of the same then I heard HANABI~episode II~ and was blown away. Though I admit to being one of the ones complaining about all the medium ballads recently, still no other artist to this day can make me fall so completely in love with a ballad like Ayu does. :yes

I listen to whatever the hell I like, no matter what language it is. Language is not a factor for me.
I'm not one of those people who is like "OMG! I ONLY listen to Asian music, so I can't listen to this British / American / w.e music cuz I just won't like it!" I think that's really silly. People really miss out on a lot of great music when they limit their possibilities.
How can you say you don't like ANYTHING non-asian? Have you heard all the music in the world? The answer, for everyone, is NO.

Find out what works best for you and him lol.

But seriously, have either you and identity given American artists / bands a fair chance? I mean, when you searched through American music, did you go in thinking "let's see if this time I find something. what am I talking about, I won't". Thoughts like those can greatly alter how you view the music, how you might genuinely like the artist. It predisposes you to find nothing of value.


As emiko said, you have to know why you're attracted to the music you are. I know in identity's case, lyrics mean a lot to her. Again, I agree with emiko that lyrics don't make the music better. You can have a song with very beautiful lyrics yet the actual composition could be boring or crap and vice versa. And seem for you, the thread opener, that emotions seem to be your thing which sorta bugs me since there is emotion in American music. Maybe there's a certain emotion you like more than other that's more heard in Japanese music? But that's preference and because you happen to like 'that' over another 'that' doesn't make it better.


It's accepting the music the way it is and for what it is instead of putting what you want into it. Like Japanese idol music for example. Most people don't like it or even hate it because the singers don't have the most unique or good voices around, their music isn't all that original or sometimes entertaining, and the image they present isn't exactly one most like but that doesn't them any less "important". They have their reasons for existing in the music industry and continuing to do so (believe or not, people do really like that type of music :P).

I know that all I ask for is to be entertained. Yeah, it's a low standard and you inference that however you want but I don't feel dissatisfied if I don't like something or someone, I just move on and hope to find something that I do. I don't mentally build a bias against any country's music.

This.

Who's that user with the sig that goes something like: "Wapanese = wannabe japanese" something? I wanted to quote his/her sig here.

I wasn't like that at all. I really wanted to find something I liked. I usually went into it like "yay, this might be the first singer/band I actually end up liking!" and get all excited just to be let down in the end after listening through their albums. I just feel like I did give American music a fair chance, and I wound up not really liking much of anything. I searched long and hard, and maybe found one song that I thought was "okay" or "not that bad" but that's all. Really though, I'd love to love American music but whatever I listen to seems to always disappoint me.

this.

I don't know why you feel attacked. Nobody said anything mean. Sorry if you thought I was trying to insult you or something. :shrug

I just listen to so much... there's amazing and there's horrible music in every genre from every country.

I mean, I'll be at home listening to Ayu, then in the car listen to Katy and Gaga on the radio, get to my friend's house and listen to indie rock in the back while we eat dinner, head to a salsa and bachata party, listen to French rock on the way home, and then arrive and listen to something shoegaze or dream pop.

Variety is the spice of life. Comparing Western music to Asian music is like comparing apples to horseshoes. Try all sorts of music instead of putting up a wall, which is what so many people do and then miss out on amazing music.

@Kanzaki: I know which one you're speaking of but I honestly don't like him much (for other reasons) so I won't go looking for his posts. XD Trying to pick a good definition from Urban Dictionary but it seems to be cluttered with fails. Liking anything Japanese =\= Wapanese. (-_-)

I think this might be the one you're looking for:

^ :laugh that's so true for many people here, I'm sure

That saddens me, no, truly, that saddens me that you haven't. It's the country you grew up in and English is your native language so it should be idealistically be the source
of comfort to express yourself. I would ask if you've looked into past artists like from the 90s and etc. but you probably have. Well, Japanese music seems to fill in what American music has failed to do and you seem happy which is a very important thing in life. =]

Great first post emiko. I pretty much agree with everything you said.

There was definitely a time where pretty much all I listened to was Japanese music (around the time I first discovered it, so 2005 I think), but with time my tastes broadened again. Like other people have said: Japanese music can be just as crappy as anywhere else (look at Arashi, KAT-TUN, etc.) Sure, American music has kind of blown lately, but that's why I'm constantly looking for new music from anywhere, not just one country. American music was great about a year or two ago, just as British Pop was. More recently K-Pop has been amazing, and it definitely doesn't stop there. I say just keep looking, because you may not think anything but Japanese music is good right now, but that's bound to change, because you obviously haven't listened to every artist from every country on Earth.

My standards? If it sounds good to me, that's good enough. I do consider myself a music appreciator and I appreciate ALL styles of music since they all take time and effort to make. But generally I tend to stick to Japanese and Electronic music. I love Japanese Pop but my all time favorite genre is Trance. Without Trance, I wouldn't be myself. But anyways, I love all sorts of music. I am open minded. I like from Drum n' Bass to Glitchstep to Orchestra to Speedcore to American Pop to Trance to Happy Hardcore and so on.

I really don't care if some of the stuff I like *cough*American Pop*cough* "sounds all the same" becuase I like it and that's what matters. All that matters is if you like the music.

I was like that years ago. I mean, during my teenage.
I was totally into japanese music that I often said 'western music is crap, Japan is the best!!1 Kawaiidesune(^_^)v' lol. I'm totally a music sucker as well, so I was listened to anything seriously. Mainstream, indie, j-urban, shibuya-kei, j-rock, visual-kei, oshare-kei, enka, etc. I'm thankful to that, because I know much more about japanese music now. But growning up make me appreciate western music too. I remember when I was watching a Mononoke Hime AMV with Loreena Mckennitt's Mummers Dance as bgm. I totally fallen in love with her voice. Suddenly, my brain worked properly and et voilà wapanese brainwash disappear :laugh.
I discovered a lot of wonderful western groups and singers, even though I love oldie music more than most of 00s music. Especially 50s, 70s and a little bit of 80s. And classical music.
I'm still a japanese music lover though, but not so obsessive like before.

Music is such a wonderful thing it's a waste do not appreciate it just because of language, seriously. So my standars are:

I listen whatever I like, genre and language doesn't matter at all.

Well, you didn't really explain your ideas in the best way hunny.

I would have never guessed that you are actually versed in many different artists from many countries...I'm sorry that your posts have been waiting approval.

In any case, I think that, saying "There are some Japanese musicians that top the list" is just soo incredibly loaded with bias.

And I mean, I'm sure most of us would agree with that statement, hell, I agree with that statement...but it's sort of like "well, yeah, of course they have some of the best musicians"...

but then there's the problem that, you can find really amazing and talented musicians in every place all over the world...they just might not be making the type of music that you value.


People are getting aggravated, because we hear stuff like your first post all the time, and it's like "um no."

But I'm sorry that you've been misunderstood, but, I mean, if your premise was that you think Japanese music has some of the best music...perhaps you should find another way to say it, and start a new thread.

I think it would be really interesting to analyze possible "evidence" for something like that...even though, it's something based in opinion.

Lies

....

Hoshi no Suna - I think people should stop to convince you of trying other music, atm, as I think japanese music works best for you. Why don't accept this as a nice thing? I mean, you found the music you wholeheartedly love and can't stop listening to it. Stick to it. Why is it bad that this is the only music you like? There are people only listening to classical, opera or jazz. I love that there is so much different music and when you found YOUR music the one that fits you best - great!

And are you American? Because people try to convince you to like american music the most, it seems.

I think the reason why people are telling you to try different music is because it looked like you were stating your opinion as fact in your first post. I'm not saying that was your intention, but that's what it came off as.

See, what I got from the title of this thread and your first post, was that Japanese music is waaay up there, and everything else is... well like you said, crap. I'm not saying you feel this way, but that's how you wrote it out. I'm just getting this all from the word "standards". I felt as if you were saying that if you like only Japanese music, you have high standards. And if you like western, you have low standards.

That's just what I got from. Again, not saying you feel that way because I don't know. But maybe next time you could try wording what you mean better. :shrug

@Hoshi no Suna: I wrote a lot so here's a spoiler to contain it lol. Hopefully u understand what I'm trying to say. I know it may come off redundant at times.



^___^

It's what xLitax and emiko said earlier, you never intended your posts to sound as though Japanese music is definitively above other music but it's how it came off especially with one of the poll options reading "Even if it's not as good as Japanese (or Asian), I listen to other music as well". No one is trying to make you like something you don't like. It's as I said already, just the whole "anything that isn't Japanese = crap" sounding opening even though you don't mean it that way.

i really couldnt figure out if u meant the poll or those artists. "but even ur not everyone falls under those categories" which trust me i remembered if u recall my earlier post. why list those for english. and not for japan? its things like that that made u come off that way. the way i mentioned. even when u say not everyone falls under those categories, u describing it that way specifically as a negative point of english music makes u seem u think most are. which is the usual intent for those types of statements.

yes you could have explained it differently. and i agree with yum! for the poll options. reading this thread initially was just...meh

when I love the song, then it won't matter... :D

Theoretically, I love music from all over the world.

I DO however prefer Japanese music to Western music. This has NOTHING to do with quality or general styles, but everything to do with language. I love the Japanese language and I find it not only better suited but also more beautiful than English. Aside from that, though, English is my second favourite language. When I hear a song in Dutch I cringe.

for me if i like the song then i like it, and if i don't like the song then i don't like it
i don't tend to care about the artist although there are some artists who i try to avoid.

i just feel if you like something, then you can't help that.

But i do prefer it when i discover that a song i like was composed/written etc by the artist that is singing it, as I feel it has more meaning this way.

Hmmmm.... I think people are such creatures that get used to things and after that when nothing actually surprises them anymore they start looking for something more thrilling...same, i guess, happened with me.
I've started from Britney Spears and now I'm sitting in a J-music world. I grew up with music that my dad used to play (the beatless, queen, ozzy....) so it changed my taste too after I started to realize that pop is too sweet for me. I went straight to the gothic rock.. What I'm trying to say is that I lisved with English music and just by little accident I found the j-music world. But then again, Ayu was first and when I listened to GACKT I was like "Who could listen to that?!:no" yeah...:innocent
the point is music taste changes with the person and their life, at least this is how I see that.
Right now I listen to mostly japanese, but I do still have my old western favorites from years ago. The main thing I usually look in the music is the richness of the melody, and the weird, unexpected sounds and solutions melody/vocal-wise, or just the melodic sound in the song which makes it so easy to listen and so catchy. I like finding new sounds while listening to songs over and over again, they simply don't get you borred. These are the only qualities that i actually find more in japanese than in western music.
To add to this, even my dad admited that at some point japanese music is different and fresh for the ears of those who never really heard any j-music before, I'm refering to rock in this case, since me and my dad we both are rock music lovers.

My saying usually goes, "I'll try something once"! :) But I try to open my mind to other music that isn't Asian at all! (^_^)

I listen less and less to international artists