2025-08-31

Falsehoods Critics Believe About Music

1. Artists/bands release music to please their fans.
2. Artists/bands release music to pioneer/reinvent existing musical boundaries.
3. Artists/bands release music to sell records.
4. Artists/bands release music to grow an existing fanbase.
5. An artist/band with a mostly serious repertoire should not release an unserious album.
6. An artist/band with a mostly unserious repertoire should not release a serious album.
7. A band is bad because it only has onetofew consistent members in its lineup.
8. A band is bad because it replaced a skilled/beloved musician in its lineup with a less accomplished/obscure musician.
9. An artist/band is bad because its music does not translate well to being played live.
10. An artist/band is "soldout" because it achieves commercial success.
11. An artist/band's best album is the standard for what they should strive for in subsequent albums.
12. An artist/band is good because it comes from a background of hardship/distress.
13. An artist/band is bad because it comes from a background of affluence/contentment.
14. An artist is good because they are a child/descendant of a famous artist.
15. An artist is bad because they are a child/descendant of a famous artist.
16. An album should be rated within the context of the artist/band's existing discography.
17. An album should be rated within the context of the music scene at the time of its release.
18. An album is bad because it departs from the artist/band's established musical style/genre.
19. An album is bad because it dips into what is/was seen as "mainstream".
20. An album is good because it pioneered a new genre of music.
21. A good album should be timeless.
22. A good album should capture what the music scene was like at the time.
23. A good album should not rehash the same sound/themes/style of an artist's previous album.
24. A good album should be an emotional expression of the artist/band.
25. A concept album is bad because it is long and/or mostly instrumental.
26. A song is bad because it features one or more synthetic/digitally produced instruments.
27. A song is good because it features only acoustic instruments.
28. A song is bad because it features AIgenerated sounds.
29. A song is bad because it features autotuned vocals.
30. A song's lyrics have to be deep or meaningful.
31. A song's lyrics have to be serious.
32. A song's lyrics have to be written by the singer.
33. A song is bad because it asserts a social/political/religious opinion.
34. A song is good because it is highly technical/complex.
35. A true fan must be familiar with more than an artist/band's most popular tracks/records.
36. A true fan must contribute financially to an artist/band.
37. A true fan must see an artist/band live at least once.
38. A true fan must view professional music critics as authoritative sources on music.