[FA Worldmusic] relativity

[Dmitri Vietze]

Good and bad are in the eyes of the beholders. And what each person 
perceives as good or bad includes a lot of data that has less to do with 
issues of technical skill, production quality, and even musical passion, and 
more to do with subconscious factors. Including what friends listen to, 
personal and cultural identity, what people think they are "supposed to 
listen to" to fit into their affinity groups, and some wacky song they heard 
on the radio when they were a kid and their parents turned it off, etc. So 
in the end, if we eliminate labels and categories, how do we talk about 
music?

I still think there is a place for organizing music and presenting it in a 
framework. I think it is interesting how emotional some people get about how 
you should or shouldn't categorize music, how certain music should or 
shouldn't be grouped together. (Heck, why call it music? Let's call it 
sound.) The point is that with so much sound out there, it is helpful to 
create entry-points for newcomers to a particular sound, and reference 
points for talking about sound when playing the sound is not feasible.

The question is how to create entry-points for people in (North) America to 
listen to music in other languages, with other rhythms, harmonic structures, 
timbres, etc. In an ethnocentric USA, is it really the same for global music 
forms as it is for other forms of music? How many of you in the so-called 
"world music" field have promoted a concert, sold a CD, etc. without 
mentioning the country of origin of an artist. Isn't that just another 
category?

Much respect,

===> Dmitri!
music at rockpaperscissors.biz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Ballman" <philballman at gmail.com>
To: <fa-worldmusic at folk.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 1:42 PM
Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic] FA-Worldmusic Digest, Vol 18, Issue 14


> >What I meant is I'm not a fan of music categorization.  It results in
>>arbitrary boundaries that encourage pre-conceived biases and
>>discourage open-minded listening.
>
> Bill, I'm with you 100%. Forget categories; just listen. I hate the term
> "world music", it's awful.
>
> My man Duke Ellington perhaps put it best:
> "There are only two kinds of music: good and bad."
>
> Phil
> -- 
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