You ever notice how fine the line between good and bad music is?
 

My itunes isn't working so I'm listening to Pandora. Occasionally a band with "modern rock" written all over them comes up. And the instrumentation isn't even that different than a lot of stuff I listen to.

A very thin line.

Yes, yes I have.

it is a very fine line of opinion

It's thick line.

And it's purple.

What is bad music?

Yes, but that's probably because the "modern rock" band completely learned the instrumentation from the stuff you listen to, likely at the hands of a producer who then polished the sound so perfectly with pro tools that any inkling of soul in the music is completely washed away.

I know what you mean though. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs strike me as the band who is most perfectly on that very thin line. On the surface they have pre-fab third gen over-produced poser band written all over them, and yet I can't help but notice the SY/Royal Trux/Blondie/Pixies influences undercurrent to their sound at the same time.

But then I lived in Seattle up until the early '90s, so I watched the awesome originality of the Green River, Malfunkshun, Melvins sound dillute down to Pearl Jam and then beget Stone Temple Pilots and Creed. Obviously the line between the Melvins and Creed is not a blurry one, but the evolution from the one to the other is a real phenomena nonetheless.

You listen to Pandora when iTunes doesn't work? But they're so shitty...

That's a very good point. You could listen to Dr. Yo instead! That shit kicks ass (except for when he very occasionally plays the Offspring, but mostly it's the perfect mix of old punk, post-punk, and experimental.)

I disagree with the thread title. IMO, music is either plain good, or plain bad. There are different degrees of goodness and badness, but nothing really teeters on the edge for me.

Well, that's more complicated in my opinion as songs that are originally crappy can be great when covered by another musician. So interpretation matters too.

For intance Leonard Cohen's version of Hallelujah really doesn't stand the comparison to John Cale's cover.

There is no line between them, cuase the is no good or bad music. It's just music and different listeners and perceptions

is it possible for music which is made with ill intent(ie i want to make lots of money) to be good?

what is the relationship between the maker of music and the listener of music.

MTV is still running and it's very successful, Rolling Stones are still touring with the same setlist for 40 years and Britney Spears still performs sold out shows. Maybe it's weird, but this is how things work in the music industry. So how can i help / we help a guy who still buys the 100's Rolling Stones' Best Of..., or watches MTV Cribs, and thinks he does the right thing and that is good music?!?

Maybe just say "who cares" because it has no effect on my life or anyone else's? Just a thought.

I'm pretty sure he's playing USAISAMONSTER right now!!!
I only have one album from them, so I could be wrong, but it sounds like them.

Edit: It's definitely them.

the fine line is directly proportional to your own personalized take on whats acceptable as "good" music... one mans nectar is another mans poision etc etc etc

Yeah, if you're using either iTunes or Winamp, then it will show you what's playing while it plays.

It's true. You only have to listen to poor imitations of bands you like to see how easily great can slip into awful.