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IT's Musical Habits
operand sent in a fun little article about the listening habits of IT. It seems that developers are headbangers, Microsoft certified pros are Britney fans, and management goes for Mozart. Tragically The Who is not included... Linux users tend toward Electronica, and Security goes for The Dead.
"Shockingly, the results of its poll among 200 students at the Training Company's UK residential courses reveal that developers are malodorous headbangers playing air guitar to Megadeth, Microsoft Certified professionals get their rocks off to Britney while IT directors can be found sipping the finest wines while Mozart tinkles away in the background. No stereotype-fulfilling findings there, then.
Wow, a poll of a whole 200 students...not exactly a big enough sample size for this study to be taken seriously...plus, what do the british know about music anyway...(oh, c'mon)...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Tend to listen to a lot of Led Zepplin myself, with plenty of the Dead, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and others thrown into the mix.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
where's alvin and the chipmunks ?
you think it's easy, but you're wrong...
Microsoft certified pros are Britney fans You can't make this stuff up.
mp3 and ogg. ;)
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.
Headbanger developers.. Never met one..
NT Admins Brittany fans.. lol
DeadHead Security guys.. believable!!
Ironically, the first link at the bottom of the article is "Who conducts the crappiest polls?"... Gee, that's just what I was wondering.
>> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"
Job: Microsoft-certified professionals Favoured genre: Mainstream pop Top three bands: 1. Britney Spears Listening to corporatised crap, while creating corporatised crap
Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul for us TMBG/Gentoo fans.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Recent IE exploits lead Microsoft developers to exclaim " Oops, I did it again ...." !!!
I listen to whatever honks off the RIAA the most!
Plus, I have a LOT of other things to do with my time than deciding on playlists and spend cash on discs and downloads and devices.
[barry] On another note, wouldn't "Tragically The Who" make a great band name? [/barry]
[
When I'm really late for a college project, I listen to black metal at full power. It helps you to stay concentrated.
More seriously, all the gurus I know don't restrict themselves to one kind of music. Well, for Microsoft pros, Britney could be an explaination to all the problems...
I'm an IT manager who developes, uses linux and has a head for security. I listen to pretty much everything except the Britney genre.
*DrugCheese rants*
Should we try to figure out what we should do because some underused psycho chose to make a barely pertinent musical taste study ?
I thought the music that we listen too was more related to whom we listen to music with, so if you have a manager who grew in some Bronxesque area, he'd listen to the Ramones or Public Enemy rathger than to Mozart...
Trolling using another account since 2005.
MCSE"'s listen to Britney spears!
That explains a lot.
I'm waiting for somebody to turn this into a 20 question "What IT Professional am I?" quiz and put it on http://seventeen.com/
Heh heh MS is gay people hoo lik MS lissen to bertney spears he heh hee
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
What I usually listen to:
Beastie Boys TMBG (The Spine, I don't really fancy their stuff that much) John Williams' scores Air Billy Joel Elton John Various hip-hop and top 40 Jurassic 5 Maroon 5 N.E.R.D. Puff Daddy
And a bunch of movie sound tracks like:
Kill Bill Vols 1 and 2 Love, Actually soundtrack etc...
My iTunes library only has about 850 songs in it.
Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
Perl/Java Developer, linux user Mostly Metal/Hardcore
Guess I'm supposed to be an IT director or CIO then. Better go tell my boss to promote me :)
...that the Chinese have great food, the Japanese have great swords, and the Koreans are all cross-eyed.
I do agree that the functions of the brain that enable logical and organizational thinking somehow also enable either strong inclination for music or strong musical abilities. But to say that developers or *nix admins tend to like different kinds of music is going a bit far.
As long as it's illegal.
What about the rhythmic aural pleasures of the admins in the surrounding cubes beating their heads against their desks? I'd think that would rank right up there.
Nothing but the finest in meaningless drivel
While this artist is greatly derided, it never seems to occur to the elitist music enthusiasts that she is popular for a very good reason.
Two of them, actually. I believe they're referred to as "left" and "right".
I can confirm this... At the 20/20 Microsoft and Linux Debate in Newport (no it wasn't open and honest!) I spied a Microsoftie listening to Toxic by Britney Spears on his MP3 player (I can't remember what it was but it wasn't an Apple iPod). This was after the debate^H^H^H^H^H^Htalk.
Avontech | Play dirty! They started it!
Do KDE developers listen to Kompressor?
"K.. is for Kompressor!"
wow.
/.
/. I realize it has absolutely no value what so ever.
sure are some uber-lame postings on
what is this, slow news day? nothing else to bring up of interest? or perhaps the post reflects the sheer stupidity of many of the slashdot readers. Im including myself in this since after years of reading
Back in 1995 it seemed like every young programmer was listening to Nine Inch Nails.
cat linux-2.6.7.tar > /dev/audio
On a more serious side, I'm a Linux user who listens mostly to various types of metal (Metallica, In Flames, Opeth...)
Now haven't you got to go off, take half your clothes off and mime to a plastic dance song into a camera for 3 minutes?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Yet another metal head developer.
Well, I listen to a lot more than just metal... (jungle, brit pop, 60's jazz, etc.) but I do listen to metal.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
So I listen to classical remixed into techno. Please mod as painfully insightful as I'm not joking. Ok I am , I have no real urge to be a manager, but classical remixes rock.
Interesting how age is not mentioned in that article at all from what I read... Note that it sometimes takes longer to get into different parts of the IT field (degrees take more years to get, etc)
[an error occured while processing this directive]
I'd post something insightful, but "Killing Is My Business..." just started and I'm losing...control...of my...lft hnd grphl
"You will soon be more aware of your growing awareness." - My first recursive fortune cookie!
The latest research by "accelerated learning" outfit The Training Company may be very silly, but at least it doesn't accuse piratical punters from downloading movies illegally from the Internet.
Honestly, how am I supposed to take an article seriously when it opens with some totally irrelevant line like that? Am I really to believe that Microsoft professionals are big-name, MTV-loving whores, and that Linux-lovers are the typical outcasts, because "no one listens to techno"? I take this article with a little more than just a *grain* of salt.
Genre: see sig.
trustedworlds.net - gaming, security, and the gunk that lives in between
Rap - cable, that is.
Uh, no. She's hated because her music is dreadful - it's like hearing a cat being disembowled. Reduce terrorism, my arse? What did she do, kiss Tom Ridge? All that the platnums prove is that the pop-music buying public has so little taste that they will buy whatever crap is shoved down their throats. We don't hate success, we hate crappy music.
Rush, Metallica, Evanesance, Billy Joel, Avril, Dream Theater, GnR, Queen, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, STP, RATM, Creed, Spock's Beard, GodSmack, Whats that say about me...
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
I suppose I need to change my listening habits to fit in. I once read a survey that proved nearly 2/3 of all surveys are are at least 67% inaccurate.
-NTidd
I bet I do not fit into most if not any of the groups with the music I listen to, and frankly I don't care. I like Billy Joel, Elton John. But while coding the best music IMHO is They Might be Giants and Tom Petty, John Melloncamp is also good.
What no who they are good music too.
The real measure of critical success is the test of time.
However, Toxic is a top tune.
I'm glad they took a well-sized sample of 200 people to represent the 7 job classifications. That's almost 29 datapoints per class. It've been more interesting if they would've tried to find corollaries to see who listens to what. Hell, I'd assume there's probably an age distinction more at play into someone listening to Classical than to job type (although I think age might play into that as well. I don't know many 19 year old IT managers).
And not to nitpick, but 'Electro' (in the article) is not short for Electronic. It is actually an identifiable style deriving from Kraftwerk (which they have on there, but the Orb and Underworld are not Electro) meshing electronics with funk (see "Planet Rock"). It then has all of its offshoots over the years like Darkwave (which most folks just confuse with Industrial anway) and Electroclash (Adult., Dopplereffekt, Fischerspooner, Peaches).
So what's on our lab iPod playlist?
Twine Twine, IDM/ambient.
Mr Vegas Pull Up, Dancehall.
various Welcome to the D: Electro, Electro.
various Lo Fibre Companion, grindy bass ambient from Birmingham, UK.
What is music when you despise all sound?
Prog-rock/metal/blues tastes:
Eloy, Nektar, AC/DC, Rammstein, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Thorogood.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Obviously you think that the who is something important and pivotal in music, but sadly it is mere folk music. If you are a smart admn, you should listen to smart music like classical or jazz. Personally, I am bored to death with the simplistic slogan "get you through the day" type music. Every one go listen to Prokofiev's piano concertos now!
photoplankton
Obsure band, but a lot of programming people seem to like them.
Maybe turn it around... Tell your favourite artists and you get the perfect job description as a return value :-)
For now... I have concluded that I should not be in IT LOL (btw I'm a developer)
Was Listening to some Jamie Cullum this morning (jazzy stuff)
Uh, no. She's hated because her music is dreadful - it's like hearing a cat being disembowled.
Rubbish. If it was that bad, nobody would buy it.
All that the platnums prove is that the pop-music buying public has so little taste that they will buy whatever crap is shoved down their throats.
They have litle taste!? Are you the judge of what is and isn't good taste? Here was I thinking it was a matter of taste.
I listen to Nintendo remixes. The songs are memorable and catchy, and most of them don't have lyrics so I can concentrate on my work.
--------
It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
It seems that developers are headbangers, ...against their keyboards, usually muttering things like "@#$% this compiler"....
...assume that whatever's popular is the bandwagon they should jump on....
...on the mistaken assumption that it will increase their IQs subliminally....
...knowing full well that lyrics, like marketing, is highly overrated....
...because typically, it is.
Microsoft certified pros are Britney fans,
and management goes for Mozart.
Linux users tend toward Electronica,
and Security goes for The Dead.
A: We are DEVO.
I've talked with a few people in IT around here about music before (varying positions, but mostly programming) and it seems we all agree on liking the following bands:
1. Devo
2. Dead Milkmen (have yet to meet an IT guy who doesn't like Stuart)
After that, there's not much agreement, but I am a bit surprised that these are the two bands we almost unanimously agreed on liking.
The new Britney Spears video begins filming today at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA. The video is expected to have a guest appearance by Bill Gates himself in an unknown role.
Moderation Insight
It's great geek music... the sci-fi.. the long instrumental passages...
Personally, I like King Crimson, Genesis, Gong (of Radio GNOME Invisible fame, no less!) among other stuff.
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
Well, I listen to NPR and to traditional Irish dance music. I guess that makes me a Luddite?
Don't read too much into the MCP-Britney connection - I'm an MCSD (certified in Java too) and I think her music sucks donkey balls.
Read my keyboard review.
I find the perfect ying to the technological world of IT is roots music. Bluegrass, Acoustic Folk, Acoustic Jazz etc. Bill Monroe! Del McCourey Band! Nickel Creek! David Grisman! Flatt & Scruggs! Bela Fleck! These guys "rock" :)
I've noticed in college that heavy metal was the style of music for long haired, ponytailed geeks, so I'm not too surprised that it's popular with developers. Though I never really got why geeks have picked out heavy metal?
Personally, even though I don't use Linux, I listen to electronica, like the mentioned groups - The Orb and Underworld, among others... I would've expected IT workers to mostly be into this, due to the technology involved in making it.
> Microsoft certified pros are Britney fans
This proves what we knew all along - MS fanboys are gay. Either that or they secretly wish they were a teenage girl.
The Who is in my top 5, along with Bruce, U2, Police, and Zepplin.
damkoziol
Peculiar that Johann Sebastian Bach does not appear anywhere. Of course considering the popular work of Douglas R. Hofstadther on Goedel, Esscher and Bach.
But also considering the logical build-up of the music. Looking at friends and colleagues, I have a feeling that there are more Bach lovers among beta people than there are among alpha people.
So... security is stoned. That certainly gives me the warm and fuzzies.
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
The public are not always right. They love movies like Independence Day.
Were the public somehow wrong to like that film? Why? Did they not enjoy it?
The real measure of critical success is the test of time.
The real measure of actual success is number of sales.
"it never seems to occur to the elitist music enthusiasts that she is popular for a very good reason" The reason is that the masses like simple (bad?) songs. It's only a shame they get awards for it.
Never confuse success with excellence.
So, the MCSEs listen to cheese-pop. Now I know why they run those "make a bunch of money in the computer field. No computer experience necessary. Oh yeah make a bunch of money in the computer field -- Be a MCSE -- Pay us, and they you can make a bunch of money" ads on the pop radio stations over and over again.
An interesting side note is that the one that advertises here www.computertraining.com uses Apache on Linux.
As for me, I'm a UNIX sysadmin and I like the Grateful Dead, Floyd, Zep, Beatles, Neil Young, Hendrix, Clapton, Bowie, and many of the smaller bands that play today like Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, Barefoot Manor, moe., Bela Fleck, etc. I also dig 70s funk.
Now mod this how you please...
Am I the only developer listening to hip-hop?
I'm a developer working on Linux, but I and my coworkers usually listen to Rock, Blues, New Age and everykind of music.
We have only one rule: - "no one can delete a song that another had choosen"
And of course, we listen our country's music
Yes, I am a
What a complete surprise, that the most self-satisfied, vapid user demographic would gravitate toward the most self-satisfied, vapid musical genre.
Funny thing is, depending on my mood, I'll listen to just about all of these. Yes, even Britney. She IS pretty hot. :) But I aint no MCS[ED]. Just your standard code monkey.
But I can't stand heavy metal...
:(
I like Electronic - Progressive and Trance - Sasha, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Hybrid, Luke Chable... Though my work is done in VC++ not Linux
As a sysadmin I love to listen to groove salad from Soma FM. It's downtempo electronica and acid jazz. As the site says A tasty plate of ambient beats and grooves. Takes the edge off work. It really helps to get rid of that nervous tick that tends to develop after working with lusers and PHB's all day =)
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
That as a DBA, I've never even heard of the three bands listed as "DBA favorite bands" (ok, so I read the article, "Oops, I did it again").
For me, LRB, Foreigner, Kansas, and Meatloaf. Sometimes some other oddball stuff. Oh, and the musical "War of the Worlds".
uh... They are forgetting some other groups for security folks and l33t alike
Slayer, System of a Down, Tool, aPerfectCircle, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Metallica (before the Black Album), Fredric Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach (the classical composer), Sepultura (from Roots and before), Jethro Tull, and Pink Floyd.
Uh, maybe that is just me, but SLAYER is manditory
Yeah, and the New Kids On The Block are great artists too. Like Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, etc. etc. Heavy underrated but packed with platinum. Too bad they never had a chance to support a war.
I listen to whatever sounds good to me, and that could range from funky jazz, rock, trance, dance, techno, maybe even some classical. Pop, however, is not on the list.
(yay for Yoko Kanno and The Pillows!)
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
Many of them are vastly overrated like the Beetles and Elvis.
Paul, what have you done for me lately?
It's my concentration music of choice. Non-vocal if I have a difficult problem to solve or a marathon under the gun deadline, vocal if I'm just relaxing. Digitally Imported is the best streaming site on the net. 8)
Moo.
Out on the road today I saw a deadhead sticker on a checkpoint box,
A little voice inside my head said don't look back you can never look back....
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
You forgot Nascar and Indy.
Go fast and turn, fast and turn, fast and turn, fast and turn, repeat.
Headbangers, uh? Funny I read the blurb while Slayers' "Decade of Aggression" is screaming out of my stereo ...
Does anyone else see age as influencing the results? Project managers are typically older than Developers. Developers are typically older than project managers, etc. Coinidentally, the eldest group is the biggest classical group.
Age is just one of many factors not mentioned that make drawing any useful conclusions from the results very difficult.
Sorry, couldn't resist the irony :-)
Human being (n.): A genetically human, genetically distinct, functioning organism.
make me a Linux CIO, then? I like old electronic music, and I like classical music... which may also simply mean I'm a strange old fart ;-)
wow - don't usually fit into stereotypes...
But OpenBSD loving security freak dead head I am.
I think those can only be believed if they come form actual listening statistics. Like from Last.fm / Audioscrobbler.com
heh. Let's take a shot in the dark here and guess that your a Microsoft-certified professional that got hit a bit close to home from this poll. Oh and people hate her because shes more about looks and sales then music.
I think The Who must be for hardware people. I had a professor in college who used to be a big shot with IBM designing computer hardware. He was a hardcore The Who fan (that peculiarly sounds like something Strong Bad would say). I remember this distinctly because he played "The Magic Bus" for us while explaining how a bus works.
Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform
Of course, refers to The Grateful Dead.
While often simply dismissed musically as "hippie crap" and "meaningless poetic fluff," this is not what is important here.
What is important is that The Dead flies right in the face of the music industry.
You see, The Dead is often considered to be the most sucessful band in history, as they have played in front of more people then any group in musical history. Not only that, but each year the group (or whats left of them) makes millions in profits from various sales.
All the while giving away the vast majority of their music for free!
This is my favorite example of a "happy middle ground" that can be reached between bands and listeners. Sorry RIAA, your claims are false. And The Grateful Dead proves it.
no
On the good old iTunes library, I have
Rush, lots of Rush.
Yes,
Genesis (the old Peter Gabriel variety)
Eric Johnson (including the the '70's Electromagnets)
and...
Veggie Tales : Silly Songs by Larry!
Wonder where that puts me?
No one got beat up more often than the mimes of the old west!
So, um, there are a bunch of folks who happen to work together and wow, they happen to have the same music. Music, oddly enough, that can be easily shared with a file copy....
It gives another reason for the wannabe programers out there to jerk-off. It's clear that this "study" was bullshit, but it gives the OSS losers a reason to bash MS programers.
I'm an MCP and a developer and I listen to 80s music, so neener!
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
thats about right for Microsoft Cert. Pros.
It just confirms my personal belief that people who chose Microsoft are suckers for commercial advertising over actual performace.
The survey is BS / joke in any case. You can't stereotype peoples listening habbits according to profession. Linux's userbase is a diverse one like developers / MS. and what about people who use all 3 ..
Its meaningless. I use Linux and like Electronica, but I also like rock and I lkie development. I dont like Britney and dont like Windows, but I dont believe you can infer anything from that. I also like classical music, yet I have no management ambitions as such.
This is very simple. Listen carefully.
Question 1:
Do you like it?
If you answered "yes", then the music is good. If you answered "no", then the music is rubbish.
The opinion of a critic is worthless. The only opinion that matters is your own.
Listen to what you enjoy. Don't be ashamed of it.
That is all.
Mod me down; I don't care.
How long is the MTV term going to haunt us? Why is it so wrong to call music "techno" now? At least that describes the music -- music made with technology. What in the holy fuck does "electronica" mean? Please, if you know then share because I sure as hell have no idea. And don't come at me with "music made with electronic instruments". Techno is not all 808s, 303s, and Roland W-30s. No, "real" instruments are also used as there is no comparing a digital imitation to the real thing. But, they are used in conjuction with technology. So, where did this damn "electronica" word come from and why is it now, seemingly, synonimous with techno?
In the last year:
Job: Security, Network Administrator, Tech support, Developer, all in an MS shop (a little Linux on the side). In other words, I've done pretty much everything except management in the last year.
Music: Cake, TMBG, Reel Big Fish, BS&T, The Doors, BNL, Sublime, Counting Crows, DMB, CCR.
Anyone see any correlation with that "research"?
And Michael Bolton* who listen to hard-core hip-hop.
-Peter
*Let's be very clear here that Michael Bolton, the no-talent ass clown, has nothing to do with this post.
According to this research I should be something between a security guy, a developer and a project manager.
Hell. I should do more to get such a job than just listen to music...
Ni.
What did she do, kiss Tom Ridge?
No, she was kissed by Madonna. :-)
Yes, I am a
Linux users tend toward Electronica
Interesting. I liked electronica & "techno" long before ever one keystroke in Linux. Was I operating Linux because I was listening to electronica, or was I listening to electronica because I was operating Linux?
...kind of like a quote from one of my favorite John Cusack movies
"Was I listening to pop music because I was depressed, or was I depressed because I was listening to pop music?"
I guess the differences in Rock styles can be explained by the age profile of people going to IT courses:
Developer profile: 25-35 years old, teenager when Iron Maiden and Megadeth were all that.
Project manager profile: 40-50 years old, teenager when Pink Floyd was hot.
Security profile: same age or slightly older than a project manager, given up hopes of ever becoming a project manager, not young enough to be a top-of-the-line developer anymore. Gone into security (and taking courses on that) because the "experience of old age" does give an edge in (a) making young developers listen to you when you give them security advice, and (b) not having enough dreams for the future anymore to let features go before security (no enthusiasm to cloud judgment), etcetera. Just the kind of person to have grown up in the days when Grateful Dead / The Doors / Jimi Hendrix were cool.
Or am I way off the mark here?
Headbanging stuff pumps up the adrenaline and gets the enthu required to code.. no doubt developers are headbangers... and management listening to mozart?... simply coz its soporific.. those dudes got no work u see :)
fifteen jugglers, five believers
Mozart + Handel + Vivaldi == Classical "Lite"
Would be a better way of gaterhing the data..
http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/t_o_b_e/
Soon Hindi bollywood music and Chennai's Mollywood music is going to be #1 for coders,sysadmins,security experts,testers,etc...
Hindi music rocks though !
It's called "lipsynch"
eminem ... helps feed aggression levels to better formulate informed and proper contentious responses to those users who really force you to want to smash that damn phone on their head every time they call back and say "...oe has removed access..., what did you do at your end"...AHHHH!!
...damn, better answer that phone. *Maybe* this time it's finally Ed Mcmahon!!!
i produce and dj "techno" (drum and bass to be specific) music.
and those of us that listen to what people refer to as 'electronica' or 'techno' don't like when you generalize. =)
I like electronica, rock, indie, outlaw country, classical, reggae, hip-hop, old folk tunes, punk, ska, swing, and whatever else I forgot. Definitely don't like Britney, though, or anything in that genre.
So I guess Windows Administration is not an option for me. Damn.
(Score: -1, Stupid)
You comment on ANY type of music saying that you're not into it or don't understand it and you're labled "closed minded" and have no understanding at all on music.
What is it with people. Can't anyone have likes and dis-likes in music? If someone says they don't like hip-hop, then people jump down their throats calling them small-minded, yet would a hip-hop fan sit down and listen to an album of Hank Williams Sr.? Or Patsy Cline?
Would a fan of opera actually spend his or her time going to the store to buy a Megadeth album? Life is too short, there are only so many hours in a persons life they can actually listen to and enjoy music...why waste it on stuff you don't like?
There is no one out there that likes every form of music there is, you may think you do, but trust me, there is always something out there that will make your skin crawl no matter what you like. If you like a particular style or genre of music, don't worry if someone else doesn't like it. Music is a personal thing.
People are different! Wow, what a concept!
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
We've got a Lotus Admin here who is a huge fan of both Iron Maiden and Shania Twain. No, I don't understand it either.
Me, Network Architect, tend more towards Funk, Jazz and Tom Waits, tho there is still space for Metallica and old ZZ-Top (yeah, before they grew the beards), as well a lot of Latin Rock.
On high rotation this week:
- Cafe Tacuba (because they just rock)
- Ray Charles (in Memory Of)
- Barry White (My fiancee. She's in finance)
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
From the bottom of the page:
:)
Related stories
Who conducts the crappiest polls?
Suits nicely with the that poll
Live and let live, I say. But, just because it's popular it does not mean it's any good. Think McDonalds and Microsoft.
"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
Monopoly is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now.
And feeling good was easy, Lord, when the screen went blue,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Windows XP.
The number of albums she sells is not a measure of talent; it is a measure of the quantity of people numb enough to buy the hype. I'd rather vigoursly floss my more sensitive bits with barbed wire than listen to her.
only not while coding. I don't listen to anything while I work. Too distracting.
So, let me get this right...
You don't like her music. Therefore anyone who does must be stupid and fall for the hype.
I suspect it's the other way round. You're simply following an anti-populist counterculture herd, and refuse to allow yourself to like her music.
OOgh, I forgot about this...retch.
They meant Microsoft certified members of the oldest profession.
Of course they are of the oldest profession, with highly cultivated appreciation of taking it up the tailpipe.
Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
But success is not necessarily a measure of talent or vice versa. The two can be mutually exclusive.
If you're a fan, fine...enjoy the "music". But accept the fact that some folks are a little more demanding in what it take to satisfy the musical tastes. Some of us like to hear artists with a genuinely fresh, original style, for example, rather than yet another corporately packaged bimbette with nothing new to offer.
Reboot once, twice, three times
it's Windows.
Enya, Severe Tire Damage, Pink Floyd, Phillip Glass, Bach, the Beatles, Gershwin, DoCo, both Joplins, Tomita, Copland, Jimmy Reed, Simon Stinger, Bobby McFerrin, Satie, Kodaly, Oingo Boingo, Ehren Starks, TMBG, Vivaldi, Beau Soleil, Sibelius, Dan Montgomery, Rammstein, Crono Cross OST, Classical Gas, US Air Force Band, Dub Side of the Moon, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Malictus, Foo Fighters, Gordon Lightfoot, Guster, Jeff Golub, The Who, Luther Wright and the Wrongs, Scissorkiss, Greig, Dvorak, Johnny Sixarms, Game Theory...
What's my job?
This is very true. It is not just a "left" wing conspiracy to get you to listen to Britney's music. Its the enitre political system in the clutches of corprate music labels. The "left and the "right". Of course the other left and right don't hurt.
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
Now does that mean they listen to Britney, or does it mean I am an MCP?!?!?!
Maybe it's just where I live, but I would say that hip-hop is more popular among local IT people than any other type of music. It is kinda funny to watch a bunch of scrawny white guys noddin' to 50 while ghosting machines or coding or whatever.
I like a lot of hip-hop and rap, but I also like classic metal and grunge and emo and goth music and really just about everything but tejano techno and post-1980 country (no, I didn't miss a comma between tejano and techo. I like traditional Tejano music and I can put up with most techno. I cannot stand tejano techno for even a minute.)
http://xkcd.com/386/
I did learn machine, assembly(motorolla) and C++ in college, but never used any of it afterwards.
Stupid Engineering Degree!!
Ops, I shuld have usd the prevuwe but in.
Personally, I recommend older Jean Michelle Jarre or Vangelis for good background music when concentration is required.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
Nope. But I refuse to allow myself to be a sheep and believe a performer is worth my time just because the rest of the herd buys the stuff. Most folks who listen to stuff like Britney Spears are narrow-minded herd animals who never get beyond what get played on whatever the "cool" local radio station shoves at them. It's not that I "refuse to allow" myself to like her music; I just can't find anything about it to like. It's mindless pap and is designed to sell to people who don't like to think too much about their music. Sorry to burst your bubble but the folks in the industry who make the marketing decisions will tell you the same thing.
I spend almost 80% of my music budget buying from artists I've never hear/heard of before. I've discovered a lot of very cool and wonderful music this way.
I don't suppose that only snobs from "upper management" are able to listen to classical music. I started my musical fascinations with King Crimson, Marillion, Yes and Genesis - and with Bach, Haendel and Mozart on the other side.
Of course, it is quite comprehensive... all my favourites are dead or they've changed and create some crap (eg. Marillion). But hey, wasn't Unix created along with the best albums of Genesis and Yes?
Just finding inspiration, well, that's my excuse
According to my musical tastes, I'm best suited for project managment. This could be an interesting interview question/guidance consoler question. Favorite music indicates career that you are best suited for!
Okay, but what about Metallica's album where there is an orchestra playing along to their hits? Would this be the sort of music listened to by the developer who wants to be an IT manager?
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
Truly depressed geeks listen to Morrissey.
"Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey"
The only problem is HR doesn't read Slashdot.
Ops, I shuld have usd the prevuwe but in.
Microsoft guys: wma
Java guys: mp3
Mainframe: shn (the only way to listen to Dead shows)
Sysadmins: ogg
OS X: aac
Security guy: anything as long as it's on an encrypted partition
there's no place like ~
There's not many musical styles I don't like. But lately I have been listening a lot to Switchfoot, Demon Hunter, Emcee One, T Bone.
Since I do a little of all of these jobs, this would explain my diverse music background. I listen to all of that music, except Brittney. I really do not go for any pop, top-40 type of music, and never really have.
Yes, when I stay up late, the headphones go on, and Primus cranks through. I love the Dead, and any "Jam Band" music, too. Yes, I am sad that Phish is finally calling it quits. What will all the followers do now? Allman Brothers tour?
I listened to the Who on the way into work this morning in my car, before waking up to clasical music on my clock radio, and then switched to NPR for the news. I am an NPR junkie, who cannot stand Fox news. 75% of fox viewers thought Sadaam did 9/11!! Less than 20% of NPR viewers belived that one.
I like most music, except for the top-40, one hit wonders, who will never sell many albums past 3-5 years.
Classic Rock withstands the test of time, as well as clasical, and some headbanger music. Top-40 rarely stays popular.
- Bruce
What gives?
Their early stuff is great to code/troubleshoot to.
-Nick
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
I am such a pathetic nerd.
I listen to Vivaldi, Bach, YoYoMa, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky among others. Does that mean I'm due for a job promotion to CIO/IT Director?
But I also listen to AC/DC, Public Enemy, Kid Rock, Beasty Boys, M&M as well as Sarah Brightman, Enya, Beach Boys, Alabama. So I guess I don't fit anywhere...
Nope. But I refuse to allow myself to be a sheep and believe a performer is worth my time just because the rest of the herd buys the stuff.
And I refuse to believe she's rubbish just because the rest of the herd buys her stuff. It doesn't occur to people that it's possible to like music that isn't trying to be innovative and clever, and is just enjoyable to listen to.
It's mindless pap and is designed to sell to people who don't like to think too much about their music. Sorry to burst your bubble but the folks in the industry who make the marketing decisions will tell you the same thing.
Sounds good to me. I listen to music to relax. Not as a mental exercise.
I spend almost 80% of my music budget buying from artists I've never hear/heard of before. I've discovered a lot of very cool and wonderful music this way.
Me too. I've also discovered a lot of no talent idiots. I also buy music that I hear on commercial radio. I've discovered a lot of cool and wonderful music this way.
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Anybody who basses their carrer on MS certs is stupid enough to like biteney. i mean com onn could you take anyone seriosly if you walked in their office and heard oops i did it again.
Those of us who are classically trained counter-tenors fit where, exactly?
(grin)
I've long felt like the only geek with good taste in music. Finally, some proof that I'm right.
At my workplaces (former and current), I noticed guys are usually into trance and dance genres. Even my current geeky boss is into them!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I'm sure this has been said before, but it all depends on the context. If I am doing coding, I prefer something familiar, say Radiohead. If I'm just chatting, I'll surf through whatever have (all legally downloaded mind you...hehe).
I'f I'm reading on something, I'll prefer classical music.
If I'm building a machine or repairing one, I won't listen to anything, but I'll let the theme from "Mission: Impossible" roll through my head 99% of the time.
Just my 2cents
--- There is a man in a smiling bag.
Thing with a sale is it is one sale if you kinda liked it, and one sale if you think it is the best music ever.
Of course there is no objective measure of the quality of things like music. You can measure the tehcnical skill of a musician to some degree, but beyond that you just have a combination of how popular it is at the time, and how popular it remains afterwards.
There isn't anything wrong with liking something that isn't good. I enjoy plenty of bad movies, they are fun, and enjoyable, but bad. Many people are too invested in what they enjoy, and don't, and feel that everything they like has to be good and defended, and everything they don't must be bad (or they would like it), and attacked.
Britney certainly isn't my taste (in music...), I don't like much pop. She does appear to do well crafted pop though, and these days (and for a good while now) look and dance are as much a part of pop as music. I don't think she is particularly talented, beyond her assets, but lots of people enjoy listening to her, and more power to them. Why some people who don't enjoy it have to knock them I don't understand.
As a comp engineering student, my preferences run to:
Metal (Metallica, Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Nightwish, Ozzy to name a few)
Swing and Jazz (playd the sax in highschool)
Misc--Flogging Molly, Apocalyptica, DJs Doboy, Darkzone and Tiesto, Milk INC (those last few being trance)
Myself and a friend both picked up the habit of coding to trance streamed from www.di.fm
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
No, underwired.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
At a party this weekend we noted that it seems like a lot of IT professionals like to play music in their off time.
Several of the IT people at the party were in different bands. Plus I work with another guy that is also in a band. I've noticed that a lot of my co-workers often wear headphones and listen to music while working.
I play (or played, as I am out of pratices) Sax and Piano.
In terms of listening habits, I vary depending on my mood. I have a lot of rock and classical. I avoid pop, rap, and country. When I used to go on late night coding binges I'd often find that the later it got, the loader the music I listened to.
As far as the study goes. I'd be curious too as to the gender of the participants. Women and men will listen to different kinds of music as well and some jobs might tend to find a skewed gender ratio that might effect the music being listened too (then again, IT is skewed)
http://www.ishkur.com/music/
This was one of the coolest guides to the different genre's of electronic music I've seen. Warning: flash
As usual I'm different... I go for Contemporary Christian.
There are lots of perfectly appropriate songs for M$ users:
This troll brought to you by the RIAA. Resistance is futile.
My current slant in taste is somewhat fitting: :-)
Two years ago I started listening to modern coffee house and contemporary easy listening music. I got completely hooked and spent a small fortune on various Cafe del Mar, Cafe Abstrait and Ministry of Sound Chillout compilations.
Lounge and Chillout are extremely good for backdropping serious IT work (serious == Linux, OSS and real programming). Interesting enough to keep you going and lighten you up, but unobstrusive enough so it won't go on your nerves. I even got my friends hooked to the style. Now that I have a lounge/chillout collection of considerable size I'm about to rip them, to save a years worth of presents for all my buddies.
That style of contemporary music is my tip for anyone looking for a nice way to color up his coding sessions.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Job: Project manager
;)
Favoured genre: Rock
Pink Floyd
Queen
Rolling Stones
Hey... I get to be a project manager!
I just started working here, and already I know that I have a career advancement plan.
God help me! I looked at my music library and it looks like I should be in Management.
I'm a developer and generally listen to Psy/Goa trance if I feel like beats or Ambient music. Puts me in the zone without lyrics distracting me. When I burn myself out on those styles then I'll listen to metal, punk, or rap for a couple days before switching back.
...Severed Heads. 'nuff said. Also extremely listenable whilst shooting things in 3D.
insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
Were they on first?
Tommy, can you hear me now?
Good!
kulakovich
Good man.
Howdy.
I'm shocked! No Ayumi Hamasaki, T.M. Revolution, or even the Pillows? Or how about some Puffyamiyumi? Kids today...sheesh!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Poppin' and lockin' B-boy that works in a Novell shop. Yes, I get more play than everyone else in the office. Caucasian women seem to respond really well when I break out the beats in the server room and do windmills...eat THAT suit and tie monkeyboy!
Shows us the racism inherent in the system. Or maybe it's because the study was conducted in the UK.
Geeks mostly pay lip service to "Goedle, Escher, Bach". Most never heard, and even less understand the genious of Bach.
Some geeks will say Escher is cool without knowing anything about the roots and precursors of his work (which icnludes Muslim art).
An definetely very few people know what Goedel theorm is, so frankly no surprises.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Lies damn lies and statistics!
However I intend to staple this survey to my CV and tailor the music I like section acording to the job I'm after.
"goatse? What's that? Anyone have a link?" - AC
A linux oriented news site, posted on a windows bashing forum that says that Microsoft certified pros listen to Britney? This isn't biased at all.
I'm a developer and I listen to Peter Gabriel, Dave Matthews Band, jazz, some occasional Clash & the Pogues, and lots of African music. I love Antibalas & Fela with their 20-minute or longer jams. I find English lyrics a distraction when I'm working, so I usually listen to music with non-English lyrics.
That would make sense, they get taken in by marketing, not substance.
250gig hard drives are cheap... and people still only listen to genres? There are only so many *good* songs to begin with. Why limit yourself to a certain cross-section of music like this?
Sticking feathers up your ass does not make you a chicken. Just as listening to The Dead will not make you a Security Professional.
/^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
I didn't see Network Admin on the list so I'm not sure what to make of this...
I'm a Network Admin who listens to and plays bass in a heavy metal band but doesn't do development. I also listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, and other classical music but can't imagine myself in management. I love 60's and 70's rock but am not a security professional. I also work with Linux on my own time but can't stand electronica. I do some database work but don't listen to much of what they call "indie". Finally I've had an MCP in the past but would never be caught dead listening to pop.
Yeah, I know, not a scientific survey and all.
Maybe that's why I'm an Admin, a little of this, a little of that.
I wouldn't say I'm a bad gambler but the last time I went to Vegas I even lost a buck on the soda machine.
Kompressor does not dance.
Are you sure about that? Go get StepMania and then get this.
So if I keep Dido, Hendrix, The Orb, Slipknot, Pink Floyd, and Beethoven in the same playlist (as I normally do), does that make me an MS-certified Linux developer/security expert that manages databases, projects, and IT departments? Well, that explains everything!
Sadly, a lot of peopel hate success, and jealously deride both her and her fans. That is the worst fanboy argument ever.
That's because you got the name wrong, it's the "Tragically Hip," not "Tragically The Who."
Awesome band, gotta love their "Darkest One" video with the Trailer Park Boys in it :-)
-d
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
... out of the boardroom. Any boardroom.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
It's good enough that you seem unable to argue against it.
I attended one of their last concerts in Pittsburgh, PA.
I found the crowd more fun than the band,
everybody was having such a good time...
The stage F/X were strange, and I didn't like them.
But the music was O.K., not bad for a bunch of guys who have been playing for sooooo long...
When they were called Pavement.
Unless you are singing without instrumental accomopaniament, or beating yourself as a drum, or whistling.
Oh, you mean, electronic technology?
All music, even high, classical, concert or cult music (whatever name you want to use) nowadays is made using during its conposition, performance or both electronic technology.
I don't understand why you get so worked out about a niche genre whose most outstanding feature is the endles boring repetition of loops.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
you forgot to mention Microsoft certified pros: 12-16 year old girls, which would completely explain the whole Britney thing.
#!/
unless someone else puts in a CD at work, then I am forced to listen to it.
You can't handle the truth.
...I should be listening to Sex Pistols and/or Smokie, but I'd really prefer Nine Inch Nails, Nautilus Pompilius & Nirvana. Guess it's a sign from the above for our company to begin moving on for Solaris to the NetBSD...
What is it about Britney, I wonder, that brings out the 'Spears Apologists'? Slag on any other pop star diva, and the biggest reaction you might get is "Well, I like em, nyah!", but Britney _always_ seems to bring out the "She's GOOD DAMMIT, you elitist music snob pigdogs!" trolls.
I mean, even in pop music's 4/4 time, 120 bpm, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-fade world, Britney is uninspired packaged drek. And yes, most of the world's taste is firmly in thier mouths, no matter how often they buy her muzak. What inspires such loyalty, to throw themselves on the grenade of musical credibility??
I have come to the conclusion that the 'Proponents of Britney' a) are, musically, complete ignoramuses, b) are some sort of advance scout army to prepare us to toil in the salt mines for our new Spears OverLordette, or c) want in her pance.
TFOAE
What is it about Britney, I wonder, that brings out the 'Spears Apologists'?
Probably the aggression with which she's attacked. What is it that causes such hatred and loathing from musical elitists?
mean, even in pop music's 4/4 time, 120 bpm, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-fade world, Britney is uninspired packaged drek.
Your opinion. It's an opinion. These are somewhat subject to opinion.
What inspires such loyalty, to throw themselves on the grenade of musical credibility??
Credibility with those who dispise people for liking the wrong music isn't really what most people want.
I have come to the conclusion that the 'Proponents of Britney' a) are, musically, complete ignoramuses, b) are some sort of advance scout army to prepare us to toil in the salt mines for our new Spears OverLordette, or c) want in her pance
Or perhaps... They just enjoy the music, and don't analyse the music on artisitic grounds, just whether or not they like it. The fact that you do analyse music doesn't mean people who don't are wrong.
I am a 27 year old systems analyst, and since my company doesn't allow mp3 players in here anymore, I and to revert back to using CDs. Here is what is in my CD wallet:
Nirvana's Nevermind, Incesticide, and In Utero
Hum's Electra 2000, You'd Prefer an Astronaut and Downward is Heavenward
REM's Monster (don't ask why)
Helmet "In the Meantime"
The Strokes "The Strokes" and "Room on Fire"
Dave Mathews Band "Under the Table and Dreaming"
Red Hot Chilli Peppers "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan"
THE WHO "Live at Leeds"
The Urge "Magically Delicious"
Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape"
Pink Floyd "Dard side of the Moon"
Smashing Pumpkins "Saimese Dream", "Melloncoly and the Infinite Sadness"
Weezer "Pinkerton"
Deftones "Adrenaline", "Around the Fur", "White Pony", and "Deftones"
ok, with that stated, where does that put me in this list? Not an old fart, but not a new geek. Now I am so lost
eh, this sucks, I am going back to bed....
a lot of people buy music that is almost as bad as the sound of a disembowled cat. think sonic youth and their SYR albums which are mostly feedback/static. in spite of the fact that most people would get a migrane after a brief listening encounter with these albums, they sell rather well for an indy label.
Why some people who don't enjoy it have to knock them I don't understand.
I have no idea. I do enjoy winding them up though;)
Especially considering I despise having to use Linux as a workstation yet I listen to more electronica. Guess they need to do a better study.
I be a software engineer, yeaaarrrgh. Classical (brahms and beethoven esp.)
Electronic (kraftwerk to aphex twin)
Rock (metal and punk) You wont find listening to much Britney or any other radio/top 40 garbage. I have grown to dislike hip hop over the years, although I still like the old school stuff.
TallGreen CMS hosting
Probably the aggression with which she's attacked. What is it that causes such hatred and loathing from musical elitists?
;)
Hey, I like slagging Celine Dion, too, but no one jumps up and down defending her near as much.
Your opinion. It's an opinion. These are somewhat subject to opinion.
Ah..."somewhat subject", eh? C'mon, that's gotta be the prevarication of someone who realises that, hey, I know that I won't ever be buying "Britney's All Time Greats (as performed by the San Francisco Philharmonic)"...
Don't worry, I won't tell.
Credibility with those who dispise people for liking the wrong music isn't really what most people want.
Oh ho, who said anything about despising people? I, for one, don't like Britney's music, and I don't think much of her corporate backers, but I'm sure Britney, and her fans, are very nice people. Know dog all about music, tho.
The fact that you do analyse music doesn't mean people who don't are wrong.
Nope. Just uninformed.
But, I'll let you in on a dirty little secret! Nothing's new! Nothing! It's all stuff based on a several hundred year old musical system! How insane is that?!? And I STILL like stuff written today, omg lololz!
Just not Britney.
Evanescence was really good in Ottawa last night, tho...
TFOAE
...A.K.A. "The Twins"
Software is like a goldfish - it'll grow to fit the size of it's bowl...
First off, your argument consists of vague claims. They're "generally considered the most successful band." They make millions of profits in "various sales." Which likely means t-shirts, movies, posters, and ticket sales. Surprise, surprise, the band makes money from the stuff that isn't pirated.
What you seem to be saying is that bands don't have any control over their music. They must be forced to tour endlessly, more than any other group, to make a profit, just to appease the pirates who have decided that's what a band should do to make money.
How are the claims of the RIAA magically false just because a band tours a lot and makes a profit from it? Which of their claims are you saying is false? The Grateful Dead's touring profits don't have anything to do with the RIAA claims of music sales going down from illegal downloading.
This "happy middle ground" you speak of is bogus. It's an imaginary concept you've concocted thatthe artist is forced into because of people illegally pirating their music and not paying for it. Artists can choose not to give their music away for free. It's their right. No matter what you think of Metallica, you can't argue their stance--Lars simply said they have the right to control their music. It's true.
People don't have the right to violate copyright holder rights. I get the impression pirates are freeloaders who get bitter when the free ride is taken away, and have invented every justification under the sun for it. They never hold up logically or factually...they're just vague rallying cries to stir up fellow college dorm room pirates against the evil RIAA that dares sue the illegal downloaders (which is what Slashdotters were saying they should do years ago during the Napster lawsuit...funny how viewpoints change).
Nope. Just uninformed
So, people need to be "informed", so that they cease to enjoy the music they currently like? Why? They listen to music for enjoyment. If they enjoy it surely that's all there is too it.
The problem is, you're an elitist. You assume that if people look at something in a different way from you, they're wrong. They're not though. Just different.
C64 remixes. Some seriously good stuff in there, but you might have to wade through a lot of so-so or goofy stuff. Lots of serious effort out there though.
Some random starting points, helps to have played the actual games I guess.
Slumgud - Wizball
The Dead Guys - Last Ninja / Paperboy
DHS of TSW - Total Epygt
N-Joy of The Soundwavers - Thundercats
Puffy64 - Way of the exploding fist
Instant Remedy - Commando
DjLizard - International Karate / Temple of Apshai Trilogy
Slow Poison - Wizball / Parallax Walkabout
FTC - Parallax subtune 4
Lagerfeldt - Robocop
THC Flatline - Short Circuit / SpellBound
Some of my favorite cuts from the past years:
Big names:
Lesser known:
Anyway, I don't think any of these fit other people's apparently narrow conceptions of the term "techno."
Only two? Seems like she's got a full set for various ocassions: http://www.liquidgeneration.com/poptoons/britneys_ breasts.asp
(sorry for the Flash movie)
This doesn't explain my latest plunge into a country music phase that I am still trying to fight my way out of....
I feel sorry for her. Look at her eyes; was she a fetal alcohol syndrome baby or what? That would be typical for trailer trash.
I don't think anyone has said that someone is "wrong" for liking simple pop music.
I like beer. I enjoy the great variety of beer available, and I go to great lengths and expenses to try new brews. And I won't be caught dead drinking any swill like Bud, Miller, etc. I don't have any problem with other people drinking that stuff, but I like my beer with a little more character and substance. Maybe I'm just being a snob, or maybe I really appreciate the complex depth of flavors available in different beers.
Similarly, I have friends who are very into wine. Me, I'm happy with a $10 bottle of chardonnay. My friends think they are sour and flat. My parents like box wines. I think they are sour and flat. It's all about the development of your pallet, and the ability to appreciate the nuances of the tastes.
Music is the same way. I've been playing classical piano since I was 8. I have extensive ear training, and while I'm no virtuoso, I can hold my own. My ears to used to hearing more complex peices and analysing them, so I likely notice more subtle effects than the general listening public. But I still can enjoy the Ramones or Green Day or the Connells. But I find Brittney and Avril and Vanilla Ice to be flat, predictable, and entirely uninteresting. I would encourage others to develop a more discriminate ear, to broaden their horizons and listen to something a little challenging, but if you're happy with what you like, I don't fault you for that.
Brittney is the Milwaukee's Best of the music world. Frowned upon by anyone with any sort of sophistication, but loved by the indiscriminate masses. If I'm an elitist for thinking that way, so be it. But doesn't that mean that Brittney panders to the lowest common denominator? Argue all you want about how good she is, but I think my argument against her having any sort of quality at all is implicit in your "elitist" accusation.
Hey, how'd you know I was lookin' at you if you weren't lookin' at me?
Less look fast, more go fast.
New Age?
"I don't think it's selfish, to eat defenseless shellfish." -NOFX
Pirates of the Caribbean theme (from the ride) Commercial Jingles (Especially Meow Mix on Repeat one. Some people can only tolerate that one for 2-3 minutes) National Anthems (Star Spangled Banner, Oh Canada, Hymn of the Soviet Union, God save the Monarch) Don't Worry Be Happy Eagle Slayer (can't find any of their songs but got a copy of Monkey Attack & the Boy with Robotic Arms) and for music some of our coworkers can stand Johnny Cash Johnny Horton Suicide Machines Dropkick Murphy's They Might be Giants
Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
I'm confused! It seems like music BSD fans would like! (just kidding actually)
m ove+me+brightly%22&hl=nl&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=15216%4 0news.duke.edu&rnum=1/
Seriously, I LOVE the Dead. on my first job, early 90's, I came long this little gem (on an IBM VM/SP, just before the intarweb became familiar - thanks to BITNET and the GDEAD mailing list)?
Enjoy: http://groups.google.be/groups?q=%22Information,+
Less look fast, more go fast.
So, people need to be "informed", so that they cease to enjoy the music they currently like?
:) No where does it say I have to be listened to. Though I do appreciate it in your case. :)
:)
Again, where do I say people 'need to be "informed"'. Au contraire, I simply take great pleasure in informing them. I treat it like a civic duty.
Why? They listen to music for enjoyment. If they enjoy it surely that's all there is too it.
Surely! I mean, music degrees are a waste anyway, right? If the lowest common denominator is satisfied, what possible use could there be for anything more??
The problem is, you're an elitist. You assume that if people look at something in a different way from you, they're wrong. They're not though. Just different.
I'm an elitist, you're, as you say, different. No problem!
Seriously, tho; think back to what I said I wondered about. ("She's GOOD DAMMIT, you elitist music snob pigdogs!"). You say you like her, and I say she has little (I was gonna say 'no', but staying on time and nominally in tune are musical qualities) redeeming musical quality. I'm really responsing to my hypothetical, rather than your preference.
There's really no conflict between our two statements.
TFOAE
I'm quite sure many people listen to anime/japanese-pop music.
just did a search...no rammstein?
Sehnsucht,Mutter, anyone? Or, Mein Teil?
You're wrong. Both phrases exist in the song. In one verse it says "build a little.." and in another it says "make a little..."
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
This further confirms my theory that MCPs are generally pre-teen girls.
----- sXe
When I work, I really need fast heavy music.... It's the only thing that makes me concentrate. I work much better with my headphones on loud than listening to any kind of office sound... Although my playlists vary continuously from day to day, it's almost certainly going to contain some thrash/crossover, swedish/swedish style death metal, old hardcore, some fast melodic punk and a few random things thrown in like swing, old indie and hip-hop... And I annoy my co-workers by hand-drumming on my desk when I'm thinking
I'm a Linux user and developer, and I listen to Metallica and AC/DC. I seem to be fitting the 'developer' profile much more than the 'Linux user' profile, although from the amount of time I spend on each it should be the other way around.
:-)
I really don't like classical, and I really don't like management, so that works
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10);'
since SARS comes from eating CATS!!!! so i'm leary of the chinese food. I have no comment on Japanese swords but will take a Scottish claymore or Irish hand-and-a-half any day over a katana because i'm not asain. I have some korean friends. they are kind of crosseyed.
The More Laws, the less Justice --Marcus Tullius Cicero
I said :
"*Actually, techno can be traced back to the 50's, then later the Silver Apples produced some, but it isn't considered to really come into it's own when Kraftwerk came around."
i meant:
"*Actually, techno can be traced back to the 50's, then later the Silver Apples produced some, but it isn't considered to really come into it's own until Kraftwerk came around."
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Kate Bush.
Tori Amos.
The Corrs.
Enya. (And Clannad and Medwyn Goodall)
Movie themes from "The Blue Max" to "Conan".
Billy Idol
Alan Parsons.
David Arkenstone.
Enigma.
Def Leppard.
Peter Gabriel.
Queen.
Sisters of Mercy.
Type O Negative.
Give up?
Try "expansive" as a phrase.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Not only that, but other people produce the music she sings to, and they use instruments! Some of the intruments are electronicm and some don't even need people to pay them!
But first you say 'None of the times I've been exposed to B.S. did she manage to sing in tune...', then you say 'Have you ever heard of "real time pitch correction"'. Don't they use it for Ms. Spears then?
Although I love reading about the musical tastes of slasdotters.. No.. really.. I do! I think a more interesting survey would have been to take 200 bands and ask what operating systems and applications they like to use. A good number of them would probably fit into the "where's the "any" key" category tho.
My musical interests (who cares?): Since there's no new life-changing new life-changing industrial bands and EBM is boring me to tears, I've been getting into Neo-Classical and Epic Metal. I was into Noise bands for a time but they make my head hurt to much now. I guess I'm not hard core enough. I've also been digging up my Tangerine Dream and Kate Bush and Shoe Gazer type music... Occasionally I'll put on some Infected Mushroom. I go through phases. I go sleep to classical. Does that mean that I would fall asleep in at management meeting? Probably.
What I use: I do software/hardware tech support on a primarily MS Windows platform and at home I have XP Pro. I fiddle with/study linux ala Knoppix when I have time. I'm still a student of sql, php, vb, vba, database building when I have time. (when I stop playing video games)
You mean she sings, too?
Right is wrong when left is right.
It's hard to objectify quality in any way, except to use the test of time. The Beatles are still listened to by people outside their time. People aren't listening to it purely out of nostalgia for when they were growing up, and there's not the whole thing of some music sold as it's part of a movement or reflected attitudes at the time.
Again, where do I say people 'need to be "informed"'. Au contraire, I simply take great pleasure in informing them. I treat it like a civic duty. :) No where does it say I have to be listened to. Though I do appreciate it in your case. :),/I>
:P
it certainly seems important to you.
Surely! I mean, music degrees are a waste anyway, right? If the lowest common denominator is satisfied, what possible use could there be for anything more??
Well, no... But if the lowest comon denominator is satisifed, then there's no good reason to criticise. The existence of bad music does not prevent the existence of good music. You don't like it. Who cares. Lots of people do. I can appreciate that you may get offended if they play it in shops, but if people enjoy it on their iPods, then it's their choice.
You say you like her
I don't like her. Never said I did.
There's really no conflict between our two statements.
Nope. Fair enough. You seem to be quite reasonable.
I do get kind of irritatyed when people dictate what other people's tastes should be, even if they find those tastes simplistic and ininformed. I feel the same way about OS zealots and wine snobs. (Of course, I have been an OS zealot in the past. I saw the error of my ways.)
it sucked then and sucks now.
They do, but there is a limit to how far you can adjust an signal before it sounds worse than being out of pitch. at that point the machine just stops bending the note.
Less look fast, more go fast.
No wonder she's bitter.
And that is? You haven't mentioned any musical qualities in your post at all...
She sings sogs that a lot of people enjoy listening to.
When I studied Arisotelian logic, that was called "Nose Counting" and is a logical falicy, simply because serveral (uneducated) people aggree, doesn't make something true. (or untrue)
We can deduce from the large number of sales, that lots of people enjoy her music. Therefore, the music must be enjoyable by a large number of people. Since enjoying music is the usual purpose of buying it, it is therefore succesful in its intended purpose.
Given that it's explicitely stated that the awards are prestigious, we can assume that those who make and those who accept nominations must have some degree of knowledge and experience of music.
Prove that that is the motive, until then, this is an ad hominem against those deriding her and fans.
It's merely speculation. However, I can see no logical reason to deride her fans.
The real point here is that she can't sing, I have no objection to technology in music (MIDI for example, or wierd tech instruments, which I make and use myself) but I do object to is the fact that she can't sing, if we want to hear a synthesised singer, let's just eliminate the lipsync performer, and put the computer center stage! But the others playing her music, actualy can play to some extent or another. I'm under the impression that she doesn't write any of the lyrics to the music, or take part in the creation of the music itself, so how can she be called an "artist" if she isn't perticipating in any of the art, I think "performer" would be a better word. If you like it so much, fine.
Less look fast, more go fast.
These categories don't seem entirely removed from reality in my experience. Personally, I'm somewhere in between developer/DBA/Linux monkey, and at my desk I currently have:
Butthole Surfers
Celtic Frost
Cradle of Filth
Iron Maiden
The Melvins
Sonic Youth
a random assortment of house/techno mixes
Rachmaninov's piano concerti
in other words, mostly a mix of headbanging, heavy indie, and electronic.
I also wonder how many of the managerial types listen to classical because they actually like it, as opposed to using it as a prop to make themselves look cultured/dignified.
I am NOT a Database Administrator...
There's few things I hate more than large amounts of raw data. (KILL.)
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
I sometimes develop software, I use Linux both at home and at work, and I'm involved in security, both at work (as a sysadmin) and at home (with an IRC network I help maintain in my spare time).
:P
That might explain why I listen to electronica (various bands, some Orbital, and I've even come across a Manual album), metal (Blind Guardian, Arena, Iced Earth, Threshold, Therion...), and while I'm hardly into The Grateful Dead, I *do* listen to Pink Floyd.
Whoda' thunk it...
I just found a band I'll have to investigate through that guide. Plus, it's quite informative, especially if you don't really know what genre you are actually listening to.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Well the linux community in sweden seems to conscist mostly of trance and j-pop fans. Of course we've those annoying hard rockers and all of there sub genres or whatever you want to call them. I represent the one and pure music forum, J-pop.
God,root what's the difference? I read slashdot, there for I errr... am stupid?
Isn't it amazing how all those job categories had a single genre of music that they agreed on? And it's amazing that they all fit into the genre that most of us expected. I'd love to see the methodology on this.
My iPod has music from many of the genres they mention. I've got loads of cheesy pop, indie rock, electronic, hip hop, new age, etc. So where would I get put?
Another non-study getting reported as crap news.
Who said anything about rap? I said hip-hop. Two different things. I don't listen to rap.
I'm scratching my head on this one, considering that rap has to do with the music and hip-hop regards the culture; rap just happens to be a subset of it. I wouldn't say that "most rap is pretty shitty." However, I would agree that most of the newer stuff is destined for File 13. If I had to suggest good rap albums, I would suggest almost any produced by DJ Premier since he's practically can't-miss(see Gang Starr, Guru, Nas). Usually, the rappers he works with have a smooth flow and a very strong command of the English language.
Note, that I do not include the nonsensical genres of rap-rock or rap-metal. Now, I do like rap - as you can tell that I have an affinity for Gang Starr, and I like metal as well - I even consider Tesla's Mechanical Resonance one of the better albums in my record collection, but this ill-implemented hybrid is a shame. Pop Will Eat Itself did a better job with this fusion back in the late 80's-early 90's, and they didn't even have to resort to mic distortion or screaming "SHUT UP!" every stanza.
BTW, since we're talking about bad musical genres, if you are wondering why Christian Rock is so bad, no one has to go father than Isaiah 42:10, which says, "Sing a song such as has never been heard in the heathen world!"(Amplified). Of course, this is evidence that God himself is upset with most Contemporary Christian Music artists considering that they don't follow this rule by creating derivative secular works. Just some foor for thought.
"Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick any two" -- RFC 1925
Translation: sheep
Translation: counterculturalists who have sold out to "the man"
Translation: unmitigated nerds
Translation: pretend badasses
Translation: self-appointed martyrs
Translation: never did quite figure out what to major in
Translation: insufferable elitist
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
I know when I code, there no substitute for a bottle of shasta and my all Rush mix tape...
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
So, to transform from a linux user into a linux developer, all I need to do is start listening to Megadeath and Slipknot all day long, and it will happen? :D
Or do I need to go through a more industrial phase first, mix electronica and heavy metal, in order to insure a successful transition?
It would be interesting to see if it works in both directions. Perhaps they should do a study on that as well.
I like 60's, The Dead, The Who, etc.. I also buy modern Pagan music http://www.witchvox.com/xpaganmusic.html/ I am a Unix, Linux, and Network administrator. The first pagan music that I purchased, http://www.wiccabilly.com/lyrics-chantrant.shtml/ has referances to "Bob Dobbs", http://www.subgenius.com/ and the best Linux distribution, Slackware, also uses Bob's likeness in some of its logos.
I know lots of European history. Once you get past all the insufferable kings and queens it all comes down to a huge continental civil war that has been going on for 2000 years. It flares up in roughly 100 year intervals (except for the 'hundred years war' in the 1600's where it started and forgot to stop and continued until so many people were dead that they decided to stop and fuck for a generation before going back to it.
The last episode of the great endless European war was a double-header that started in 1914, wiped out an entire generation by 1918. It would have just gone on and on had not the flu wiped out everybody that the bullets and gas didn't. They took a generational break and went back at it in 1939. By then the Europeans had so impressed everyone else with their savageness and blood-lust that entire continent was kept split right down the center for two whole generations with the threat that if they didn't behave, they would get nuked out of existence and written out of the history books. The Europeans responded by refusing to fuck and go to church, so now they have the lowest birthrate in the world, to the relief of their neighbors.
So now they pretend to be united so they occupiers will ignore them. But if history is any guide, they'll restart their endless war again sometime between 2010 and 2020 with the latest generation of techno death toys. Maybe this time they will succeed in actually completing the massive continental suicide that they have been working on for the past 2000 years. God knows, next time around there's going to be a lot of people around to help them do it.
country AND western
sup
What, no monkey-boy, dance-remix on the MSCE top 40 list?
http://achurch.org/media/ballmer.avi
Yow! I'm supposed to have a plan?
I once read an article in SunWorld about some Solaris management product. It actually concluded "ATTENTION ALL PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION! ATTENTION ALL PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION! ATTENTION ALL PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION! WE HAVE RESUMED CONTROL! WE HAVE RESUMED CONTROL! WE HAVE RESUMED CONTROL!"
Nobody says it better than Geddy.
====... (would be a horiztonal line here BUT NO, too many junk characters. You are such friggin' Nazis...)
This section added to effect caps-to-lowercase ratio of this post, and because Slashdot is lame:
Screw the Slashdot Preview function for complaining about caps. It's SUPPOSED to be yelling, in context. Idiots.
cuz i run my home network. four debian boxes. i use streamtuner and xmms when i get bored with my regular fare. KFJC has a nize eclectic selection. WFMU is a good source as well. my tastes run from punk to jazz. as a joe sixpack construction worker i have to endure a lot of demographically correct AOR FM radio tuned in by a yellow dewalt radio/battery charger. i have a walkman tuner i use on occassion on big jobs, but the suits frown on headphone usage, no matter how menial the task. same guys that read and talk on cell phones while they drive in traffic are gonna tell me what's safe? yeah, uh huh...oops sorry i drifted off the subject...dick dale, ramones, beatles, lowell george, hendrix, pearl jam, screeching weasel, smashing pumkins, dread zepplin, lyle lovett, jack bruce and early clapton and i spose ginger baker, johnny and edgar winter....i have more but it seems pointless, i listen to what i like, duh.
Serenity now, insanity later.
I listen to fucking bluegrass, pure unadulterated music with blinding speed and themes of killing and wrongdoing. I also like some "Americana" style music, roots stuff, swing jazz, etc. Odds are if the stuff is played on REAL instruments I will enjoy it.
...for your hearing ability's sake, also listen to what this guy recently had to say about hearing loss, weep, and pump down the volume.
I hate lyrics. My literal mind is always trying to sort them out and make sense out of the song -and honestly, song lyrics are mostly crap that is not supposed to make sense.
But I can't tell my brain to quit and I have to listen to SOMETHING, so I listen to songs in foreign languages that I don't speak.
The words blend in with the musical notes and my brain doesn't waste any time trying to figure out symbolisms or meanings. It's pure listening bliss.
Pah! A second rate copy of Epica with a bit of Sisters of Mercy thrown in.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Nobody's dictating anybody's tastes. They're just laughing at virgins like you who like Britney because she's got big jugs.
We can deduce from the large number of flies, that lots of creatures enjoy eating shit. Therefore, the shit must be edible for a large number of creatures. Since being eaten is the usual purpose of food, it is therefore true that shit is food.
P.S. I suspect that AAG actually knows something about logic. I'd quit while I was behind, if I were you.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
So... That would be insulting other peoples tastes then?
OK, so I do security, software development and UNIX (mostly BSD) system administration. But I listen mostly to drum and bass, reggae, dub and some hip hop. So do a lot of my colleagues here. Is this because I'm dutch or what? Don't IT people listen to many dance music types? The hard and fast dnb keeps my working pace nice and fast, while reggae and dub is good to chill out a bit. Hip hop is rarely played when working but more when at home. Any other people here who have the same tastes?
BTW, I do find it rather fitting that MS pro's listen to the most popular crap as they are using the most popular crap as well. These are the people that think that when something is popular
The way to corrupt a youth is to teach him to hold in higher value them who think alike than those who think differently
How would winamp, xmms or musicmatch jukebox help to steal sensitive data? I would have thought it better to ban removable, writable media in that case.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Ahh, so you admit that you're just trolling people here. How cute.
What a pity that the Register survey didn't find out what's popular with Slashdot trolls...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
This completely fails to address the question. The question was "what qualities appeal to people", not "what is her profession." If you factor in the lip synching thing, you didn't even address the question of what her profession is, but nevermind.
I like all kinds of music, all genres. Not all of it is particularly talented -- I love the Ramones but they never did figure out how to play a song with three chords in it -- but I do try to take in as wide a variety of genres as I can get my hands on: rock (Beatles, Kinks, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Clash, the Pixies, and lots of punk & indie rock type stuff from there), jazz (Miles Davis, Louie Armstrong, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Martin Medeski & Wood, John Zorn), electronic music (Kraftwerk, Massive Attack, Autechre), rap & hip hop (Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, the Roots), classical (Bach, Beethoven), world music (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, klezmer jazz, tuva singing, Los Lobos [or are they rock?], Japanese pop), etc. Just to scratch the surface.
If there's something inventive & vibrant there, I'll give it a chance and probably like it. If it's crap, I do what I can to avoid it, no matter how popular it is. Jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish are crap -- they pick a scale and noodle around in it aimlessly in a pot-addled haze for a few hours, but dammit you could write a Perl script to do that. The Doors are a collossal, steaming, quaking mound of crap. Jimi Hendrix was astounding, as were the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were okay, but nothing brilliant like Hendrix or the Beatles. Pick & choose.
This inventivness area is where Britney Spears makes falls down dramatically -- there's no spark in it that makes it worth paying attention to. That's not to say that pop musicians can't also be interesting artists -- both Prince & Madonna showed that magnificently since the 80s -- but more often than not, the stuff on pop radio is middle of the road crap that really does have little to redeem it. This has nothing to do with popularity -- I neither know nor care what bands are popular on the charts these days -- it has to do with the performer's ability to work as an artist and establish some kind of visceral connection with the listener.
But then, I'm not really answering the question either. You're just saying she's good because people like her; I'm just saying she sucks in spite of the fact that people like her. Neither of those angles really gets to the heart of the question. For that kind of answer, you could do a lot worse than to read Pat Metheny's commentary on Kenny G's version of Louie Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". No, it doesn't have anything to do with Britney Spears, but it does convey quite nicely how painful it can be to see some no-talent ass-clown arrogantly stomping all over the memory of one of the most widely enjoyed people in American music. This isn't the exact transgression Britney makes with her music, but it ends up pushing a lot of the same buttons.
But really, if you want proof that Britney Spears is not only a talentless ass-clown, but also a dangerously corrupting influence on America's youth, you need look no further than this quote:
America's "wholesome little sweetheart" is nothing but a Stalinist! Argggh!
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
The question was "what qualities appeal to people", not "what is her profession."
But the question completely misses the point. She doesn't need any quanitifiable musical talent. She simply needs to entertain.
If there's something inventive & vibrant there, I'll give it a chance and probably like it. If it's crap, I do what I can to avoid it, no matter how popular it is.
But that's simply because you want something inventive and vibrant. Your tastes are different from those of the majority. Nothing wrong with that. On the contrary, many people approve.
Here's the thing - Musicians and music purists believe they have taste and experience, because they have studied music, and they know what makes music good and bad. They don't though. They only know what makes that sort of music (real music) good and bad. Mainstream commercial pop music is a totally different product - Primarily it's a product for entertainment rather than a means of artisitic expression. Criticising it in terms of artistic talent makes as much sense as criticising a music video for having a predictable plot and no dialogue.
America's "wholesome little sweetheart" is nothing but a Stalinist! Argggh!
Yep. That's what I meant with my comment, "Apart from her well publicised efforts to reduice crime and terrorism". I expected someone to pick up ion that sooner.