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[INFJ] INFJs and bad taste in music.

MonkeyGrass

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I've heard a few people say this, and I'll have to admit I was a little surprised. I know I'm lousy at gymnastics, dancing and not running into corners, but music? <blink>

If you believe INFJs have lousy musical taste, I'd love to first hear what you define as "bad music", and then, explain what it is about INFJ-ness that predisposes us to being musically backward. :cheese:

Then, if I'm not totally intimidated, and if you'd indulge my vanity, I'll state what music I love, and you can let me know if it's something I shouldn't talk about at a party. Go!
 

Andy

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Anything involving the crazy frog counts as bad taste.
 

BlackCat

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Yeah, those pesky INFJs. Music taste totally correlates with INFJs, in fact, I don't know a single INFJ with very similar tastes!
 

MonkeyGrass

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The whaa? :shock:

I had to google "crazy frog". Dear sweet lord. :ohmy:
 

SilkRoad

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Hm, that's an interesting one. I'm not sure what you'd say about my taste in music. It's actually quite SP, I think :D I certainly enjoy the likes of Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, etc :D I think my top preference for music is sort of dark, but rocking as well. A few examples might be much of U2 and the Police, Joy Division, White Lies, Editors, etc.

I have a feeling that INFJs might be into some annoyingly whiny singer-songwriters - I really can't stand a lot of that stuff. Or maybe that would be more INFP? Not sure.
 

Lauren Ashley

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"Good" and "bad" are subjective. People irritate me when they say that some music is "bad." What's good or bad is dependent on the person listening to it. Everyone is not going like the same kind of music, but as long as they like it, that's fine.
 

MonkeyGrass

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When I was young, I was into whiny, depressing music. I was more P than J, then, though. Now, I tend to appreciate clever music more than songs that bleed all over the place emotionally.
 

MonkeyGrass

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"Good" and "bad" are subjective. People irritate me when they say that some music is "bad." What's good or bad is dependent on the person listening to it. Everyone is not going like the same kind of music, but as long as they like it, that's fine.

+1 I agree with this to a large extent. :yes: I suppose a better question may have been, "Do INFJs have musical taste that could be described as "strange" or "eccentric" by most?"
 

Siúil a Rúin

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There is such a thing as high or low quality in music just as there is in food, clothing, writing, architecture, or anything else that is designed. There is also a significant degree of subjectivity and context. Both vantage points are relevant in evaluating music. However, there are so many things wrong with the phrase, "INFJs have bad taste in music" that I scarcely know where to begin. That statement is idiotic on more levels than any bad music I've ever heard. (edit: my beef being with the sayers of such statements and not a thread figuring out what is meant by it.)
 

Lauren Ashley

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+1 I agree with this to a large extent. :yes: I suppose a better question may have been, "Do INFJs have musical taste that could be described as "strange" or "eccentric" by most?"

I wasn't disagreeing with your thread, just the idea that there exists music that is definitively bad. Low quality, yes. But I think the phrase, "bad music" is overused.

I don't think my music taste is extremely eccentric, but eclectic... house, disco, alternative, rap, indie, electro, R&B, pretty much everything. And I can get into some very melancholy music, if the mood permits.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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I wasn't disagreeing with your thread, just the idea that there exists music that is definitively bad. Low quality, yes. But I think the phrase, "bad music" is overused.
I think most disagreements about music result from associating familiar and personal taste as "good" and its opposite as "bad".

I should clarify that my beef is with the people who make statements like the one in the thread title, and not with this thread in any way. It's worth looking at if it is another strange assumption generated by MBTI labels. The same sort of thinking pervades many music discussions even without MBTI labels.
 

MonkeyGrass

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I think that's what compelled me to start the thread, Toonia...I was confused by what others meant by "bad music". Does "bad" music mean music that someone else doesn't care for? Or that we're incapable of distinguishing whether music is good quality or if it's poorly executed? The intent behind that broad statement will determine how I disagree with it. :laugh:
 

Claide

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None of my friends really approve of my taste in music. I just tell myself that I get more out of what I listen to than they do. ;) Lately, I've gravitated towards music with thought-provoking or clever lyricism.
 

MonkeyGrass

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None of my friends really approve of my taste in music. I just tell myself that I get more out of what I listen to than they do. ;) Lately, I've gravitated towards music with thought-provoking or clever lyricism.

Me, too, Claide. Maybe that's a much stronger criteria for me than anything. There are popular artists and bands whose music is just fine, whom I get no particular joy in listening to, because it's just not clever.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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I think that's what compelled me to start the thread, Toonia...I was confused by what others meant by "bad music". Does "bad" music mean music that someone else doesn't care for? Or that we're incapable of distinguishing whether music is good quality or if it's poorly executed? The intent behind that broad statement will determine how I disagree with it. :laugh:
I guess the best way would be to hear it directly from the person making the statement. My impression is that most commonly people do associate "bad" with whatever music they do not personally enjoy. People who play an instrument a little will sometimes focus more on the technical execution of music. Some people focus on how derivative the music is - how much it is a mere copy of something else. That is a common feature of commercialized music - it goes out and finds a new style developing naturally to express something authentic about a group of people, it is seen as catching on and so it is copied and marketed until it is watered down and meaningless much like making a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of a work of art.

So I would say the following issues are common in people defining music as "bad"

Personally disliked This is purely subjective and has meaning primarily for the individual and doesn't extend to others, being based on personal associations and familiarity.

Derivative This can measure the relationship of a piece of music within a larger context and whether it has the fully integrated expression and meaning of the original, or if it reassembles snippets of an original aesthetic in a superficial manner.

Technically unskilled This can be measured and evaluated largely outside personal preference, but still has subjective elements.

Poorly designed Although it is more rare that people focus on this aspect, but it addresses issues of proportion and cohesion.
 

MonkeyGrass

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That is a common feature of commercialized music - it goes out and finds a new style developing naturally to express something authentic about a group of people, it is seen as catching on and so it is copied and marketed until it is watered down and meaningless much like making a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of a work of art.

Agreed. Which is why I'm just baffled at the assertion that INFJs are more prone to appreciate watered down musical koolaid as you described. I tend detest tepid, uninspired music. We tend to value originality and thoughtfulness. :doh:

That said, I do have a close INFJ friend who has terrible taste in music. However, I think has more to do with the fact that she's simply not really musically inclined at all.
 

MonkeyGrass

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Who exactly? Where?

Goodness, I knew someone was going to ask...I'll have to dig through and see if I could find the references. It's possible that when I saw the isolated few times stated as widely accepted fact, it just struck me as so odd that it stuck with me. :huh: I'll be just as happy to find out that this isn't really a common belief, if it isn't. :yes:
 

The Outsider

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Goodness, I knew someone was going to ask...I'll have to dig through and see if I could find the references. It's possible that when I saw the isolated few times stated as widely accepted fact, it just struck me as so odd that it stuck with me. :huh: I'll be just as happy to find out that this isn't really a common belief, if it isn't. :yes:

Oh no, there's no need.

It is obviously an ignorant thing to say. People of same types don't share a common taste in music, that is entirely individual.

That said, in my opinion, most people listen to bad music, but that's just my opinion.
 

Jaguar

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"Good" and "bad" are subjective. People irritate me when they say that some music is "bad." What's good or bad is dependent on the person listening to it.


Music is like looking at a painting. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
 
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