Respecting All Music: Is It Necessary?

Here's the thing: A lot of people say that being a musician requires you to respect all music. A lot of people, including my father. 

You may think: Being a musician, you like certain music and dislike certain music, and that's how everyone is. Is it really necessary for me to respect the music that I don't like?

Here's the answer: Yes. 

However, respecting all music doesn't mean you have to like all music. It simply means that your attitude, even towards music you dislike, is something along the lines of "I appreciate what you play, but it doesn't come in my list of preferred music". 

That being said, you shouldn't insult any music, and specially not in front of the person who composes or practices such music. You can express your opinions on why you dislike it, but there shouldn't be any hatred for that kind of music. 

Parth, just because we're musicians doesn't mean we shouldn't hate certain music...We're human beings too, and we hate certain things too!

Being the human that you are, you are indeed entitled to hate things, but essentially, as a musician, you have a deeper understanding of music than normal people, and that's why you shouldn't hate it.

What is music?

Music is a sound that's good to the ear. 

That's the basic definition of music. Music is anything that sounds good to the ear. People like music. 

Coming back to being human, you are a human, and you are going to dislike certain music.

Just because you don't like certain music, doesn't mean the whole world doesn't like it. Being a musician, you are expected to have a basic understanding that if you don't like some music, other people love it. Since it sounds good to someone's ear, it is classified as music, and it doesn't deserve any hatred.

There are millions who hate the very music you like listening to, that doesn't make it bad. That doesn't mean that your music deserves hatred. 

Similarly, nobody else's music deserves hatred either. There should be a respect within you for all kinds of music, even though you may or may not listen to some. 

Thank you for taking out the time to read this. Have a nice day :)