Another annoying survey is making the rounds, so I thought I'd take a moment to rant about it. The premise of the survey is the higher you score on these 100 questions, the more of a snob you therefore are. The problem, though, is only 17 of the listed behaviors qualify as snobbish.
So, here it is. For easy reference, I have color coded the questions. I have also added notes to some of them.
- Actual snobbish behavior, in my opinion, in which I have not engaged, to the best of my recollection
- Not at all snobbish things I have done
- Snobbish behavior of which I am guilty
How Much Of A Music Snob Are You?
Please take a break from alphabetizing your vinyl collection and take this quiz.
Have you ever...
- Felt like ranking your favorite music of the year was a necessary thing to do?
- It's fun!
- Skipped over someone on a dating site because they have bad taste in music?
- Shamed a younger person for not knowing a musical reference that was before their time?
- That's just plain rude!
- Corrected someone for getting a minor fact about an artist wrong?
- Been annoyed when everyone starts liking something you liked a year ago?
- Lame!
- Forced someone to listen to something obscure because you wanted to
educate
them? - Been dismissive of someone buying a greatest hits album?
- Had elaborate rules for the sequencing of mix tapes and CDs?
- Been a DJ?
- Nine years at my college radio station.
- Loaded your phone with new songs before a party, just in case?
- Been annoyed at someone DJing from an iPod?
- Complained about something being
overproduced
?- It's a completely valid criticism of plenty of recordings.
- Made a point of telling people that you preferred an artist's earlier work?
- Some artists just peak early. Some get better with time. Some are consistently good (or terrible).
- Insisted that a demo version of a song was better than the finished studio version?
- It happens.
- Insisted that a song (or an artist) is much better live?
- Some are. Geez.
- Insisted that a remix was better than the original version?
- I much prefer the Coldcut remix of
Paid in Full
by Eric B. & Rakim to the original. So sue me.
- I much prefer the Coldcut remix of
- Believed that other people are too dumb to
get
the music you enjoy?- That is just rude, not to mention condescending.
- Coined a genre name – ___-core, ___-wave, etc?
- I remember calling Rites of Spring
REM-core
before the termemo
was coined.
- I remember calling Rites of Spring
- Said
there's nothing good on the radio
?- Only at a specific moment in time, not as a generality.
- Had your brain shut down upon being asked
what kind of music do you like?
- Stopped liking an artist because you're embarrassed to be associated with their fans?
- That is just plain asinine.
- Avoided going to see a band in a large venue?
- Big shows have big prices, plus, I like to get up close.
- Left a show because you were annoyed with the crowd?
- Been to SXSW?
- My band was invited to play back in 2006. It was fun, too.
- Been to Coachella?
- Been to Glastonbury?
- Connecticut, yes. :-D
- Been to a DIY punk show?
- Been to an illegal warehouse rave?
- Bragged about seeing a band before anyone else knew them?
- I was the only person in the audience when Dirty Projectors played where I live the first time. I'd never heard of them before, though, and was there for the headliner, who ended up turning in a really dull set.
- Worked at an independent record store?
- A couple, yes.
- Worked at an independent record store and made someone feel bad about what they were buying?
- Rude! I would never have done that.
- Had a college radio show?
- See above
Been a DJ?
- See above
- Had a free jazz phase?
- I still like it, thank you.
- Had a dub phase?
- Had a black metal phase?
- I still like it, thank you.
- Had a krautrock phase?
- I still like it, thank you.
- Told someone that you think international pop music is better than American pop music?
- Acquired a copy of every single thing a band has ever released? (EVERTHING.)
- If I really like a band, sure.
- Purchased a bootleg?
- Very few.
- Bought an album on import?
- I started buying imports when I was in middle school. Are we not supposed to buy music if it's not manufactured and distributed in our home country?
- Bought an import single?
- Are we not supposed to buy singles if they're not manufactured and distributed in our home country?
- Bought every version of a CD single to get all the b-sides?
- Begrudgingly, yes.
- Ordered from indie mail order catalogs?
- Of course!
- Traveled out of your way to go to a record store?
- Why not?
- Planned an entire vacation around record shopping?
- Friends and I used to go to New York to go record shopping on Spring Break instead of going to the beach.
- Bought high-end headphones?
- Bought high-end speakers?
- Bought tube-amp speakers?
- Actually worried about the quality of your home stereo?
- Been anxious about the bitrate of audio files?
- Have you ever been mad at someone for ripping an mp3 under 320kbps?
- Insisted on listening to lossless audio files like FLAC?
- Purchased a FLAC file?
- If that is the only way it's available, or if the MP3 and FLAC are the same price.
- Been actually ANGRY about the
loudness war
? - Spent hours making sure your entire mp3 library had consistent metadata?
- Organized your mp3s by BPM?
- Why would anyone do that?
- Spent hours alphabetizing CDs or LPs?
- It makes finding stuff much easier when you have a large collection. Duh!
- Bought a turntable and vinyl records after 1990?
- Yes and yes, and replacement styli when mine broke.
- Told people that vinyl just sounds better than CDs?
- Cared about how many grams a vinyl pressing weighs?
- The quality of the pressing process matters much more than the weight of the vinyl.
- Bought a record you know you might not actually listen to?
- Bid on a rare record on eBay?
- Of course!
- Spent more than $20 on a record?
- Of course!
- Spent more than $50 on a record?
- Very rarely
- Spent more than $100 on a record?
- Only twice, on extremely rare records:
- Overhang Party's eponymous debut LP
- Leland (Yoshitsu)'s eponymous debut LP
- Only twice, on extremely rare records:
- Spent more than $500 on a record?
- I am not made of money!
- Purchased a cassette-only indie release?
- If that is the only format available.
- Purchased a limited-edition 7-inch single?
- Plenty!
- Subscribed to multiple streaming services at once?
- Saved a hard drive because it had music on it?
- Laughed at someone for not being able to identify a sample in a song?
- Rude!
- Accused an artist of
selling out
?- Sometimes, that is a valid criticism. For example, Pantera ditching the glam look when Metallica hit the big time dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
- Bristled at a pop song snuck into an otherwise niche DJ set?
- Contributed to a zine?
- Two of them! Live Squid and . . . And Suddenly
- Heard of Lester Bangs?
- Heard of Gerard Cosloy?
- Heard of Nardwuar?
- Heard of Robert Christgau?
- Heard of John Peel?
- I hardly see how knowing the name of the most famous radio disc jockey in history is snobbish.
- Heard of Ellen Willis?
- Been able to name 5 music journalists off the top of your head?
- Been able to name more than 10 music journalists off the top of your head?
- Bought an issue of The Wire magazine?
- Owned a 33 ⅓ book?
- Submitted a proposal to write a 33 ⅓ book?
- Regularly listened to a show on WFMU?
- Shopped at a record fair?
- Yes, but not much since the dawn of the internet.
- Bluffed your way through a conversation about an obscure artist you actually didn't know much about?
- Bought a Soul Jazz Records compilation?
- Traveled more than five hours to see a show?
- On a few occasions.
- Shamed someone for buying music at a chain store?
- Why would I do that?
- Bought mixtapes on the street?
- Shamed someone for wearing a band's t-shirt at the band's concert?
- Bought a T-shirt at a show and wore it the next day?
- Many times.
- Planned out the music played at your wedding even if you're totally single?
- Had a song or artist ruined for you because you associate it with an ex?
- Bought tickets to see a reunion show even though you kinda knew it'd be disappointing?
- Remembered parts of your own life based mainly on what you were listening to at the time?
- Been emotionally distraught after a favorite band has broken up?
- Back when I was a couple of teenage girls, I killed myselves when Take That split up.
I recovered, luckily.
- Back when I was a couple of teenage girls, I killed myselves when Take That split up.
- Mourned the death of a favorite musician as though they were someone you actually knew?
