A few hours ago I was doing an interview via email and like so many others I eventually got to a question that read something like ” who is the worst band in the world right now?” I instantly cringed. Should this be one of the questions I leave blank? Should I use it to make a point? How many times do I have to hear this question? Do people really care to hear me trash talk someone?  Sadly enough, I’ve learned the answer to the last one is an easy yes.

What I answered was right in line with the artists mentality of what art is. Before I go further I would like to admit that I am probably on the spectrum of ‘most guilty’ when it comes to being intensely reactive to hearing young first time ‘American Idol’ contestants referred to as ‘artists.’ Being that the “who is an artist and who is not?” debate is extremely subjective and a topic for another blog, I will continue to address why ‘best’ & ‘worst’ are dead and downright dumb terms to use when comparing songs or musicians IN MY OPINION.

To begin, music is a product, or at least it used to be. Yes purists will say that music is so much more than a product because “it changed my life” or “it can change the world” and I agree and believe that wholeheartedly as well. But like all art, music is a product. A product of talent, which is a product of tons of hard work. People aren’t born knowing what makes a good song; And even the basis for what makes a good song sways and changes due to culture and the surroundings of each generation etc. Art has a meaning in every form. Paintings have meaning. Performance has meaning. Writing/storytelling has meaning and music has meaning. They are all products of people and their work.

Malcolm Gladwell once said that “people find what they are looking for in my books and its different for each person because they are looking for different things.” This is a world-wide concept for dang near everything we do. People take what they want or need in the things that they do. Teenagers look for everything from rebellion to meaning to belonging when it comes to their music, and when they find it it can help define their youth. It did for me. While some people I know don’t live IN music, they just live AROUND music. Its just there. Some of these people go through their early twenties (and sometimes late 30′s) looking to music to provide a beat backdrop so they can rub their bodies against somebody in Vegas in hopes of leaving their hotel rooms in the morning. They don’t need anything more than the lyrics from the new will.i.am and Britney Spears song to connect to. AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. If you like red cars and your friend doesn’t, it doesn’t make them a moron worthy of twitter harassment. In fact, the more you bash red cars the more you’ll probably end up liking them at some point if you live long enough, because you’ll find a reason or a need to. (Late 40′s)

Rhythm and melody are universal languages. Knowing this is what defines writing pop music. (to review: ‘pop’ is short for ‘popular’ which makes up the majority) The majority can’t sit at a piano and figure it out. The majority can’t tell you why Mozart was an angel. But the majority can always tell you what they enjoy. They can tell you which songs make them want to dance or sing along. Rhythm and melody are the keys. Musical mind or not, those two things get through.

So what makes Nickelback worse than Coldplay. NOTHING. What makes Story of the Year as good as the Smashing Pumpkins. NOTHING. What makes Freddie Mercury better than Barry Manilow? Okay, I’ll stop there. What makes all these things comparable or not is opinion. Yes Billy Joel is a better piano player than I am, than most of the world in fact. I’m not saying that levels of talent and execution can’t be compared or debated, what I’m saying is who cares? If a billion people like Nickelback, they are geniuses to a billion people because they connected to a BILLION people.  What does it matter to me or you? It doesn’t.

I want substance in lyrics and challenges to ideas when I listen to music or read books. Some days I want the same huge concepts in my art that my soul needs to confront. Some days I want soft music sung in a language I don’t even understand. Some days I want a surface country song from the 80′s because I want to remember riding horses as a boy. Thats what I need and its all out there because I am not alone and there is a place for it. There is a place for it. There is a place for all of it.

Music is not a competition. Marketing is; and marketing is a great topic for us to discuss, in another blog.

All my best,

Moon Valjean

As mentioned subscribe to the blog as I cover “Everything under the Moon.” All over the map topics from music to sports, local favorite food destinations to international politics, and of course a few beer suggestions from pubs I stumbled across on each continent. Enjoy!