What It’s Like When Your Taste In Music “Sucks”

I used to argue when my friends said I had bad taste in music and movies. When I was younger, I would pretend that I really enjoyed listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beatles. I thought if I listened to this type of music enough, then I could convince myself, and everyone else, that I listened to “good music.”

Here’s the truth: I’m 22, and “good” music still bores me just as much as it did when I was 16. The only thing that has changed is that I’m (pretty much) no longer embarrassed to admit that I love every single country pop song that comes on the radio and I buy every single song that Pitbull releases. Yes, I pay for them on iTunes.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that a few things are true when you have so-called “bad taste” in music:

• The music that you are purchasing on iTunes is sometimes cheaper. Seriously, I’ll always be proud of the fact that I was able to purchase Jason Derulo’s “Marry Me” for $0.69.
• You are never listening to some undiscovered band or song who is going to “make it big” in the near future. Unless you occasionally stumble across a true gem like “Talk Dirty (feat. 2 Chainz)” before it becomes popular.
• You can never have conversations about the deep meaning of lyrics. Unless you can find some secret message in the following chorus of the aforementioned number.

 “Been around the world, don’t speak the language

But your booty don’t need explaining

All I really need to understand is

When you talk dirty to me”

• You will never be one of those people who can bond over the awesome bands you saw at that SICK music festival last summer.
• The question, “What kind of music do you listen to?” gives you minor anxiety because you either a) don’t know how to answer or b) don’t want to admit that Jesse McCartney Radio is your go-to Pandora station.
• You hope no one at the gym notices that you’re listening to David Archuleta’s “Crush” on repeat while running on the treadmill.
• You cried when David Archuleta lost American Idol Season 7.
• You can’t find some underground alternative band that has concert tickets for $15. OK, you definitely could, but you wouldn’t enjoy the concert. Better save your money, and just watch One Direction live performances on YouTube.
• That being said, One Direction tickets are about the monthly cost of your rent, and therefore you probably won’t be able to afford a concert anytime soon.
• Your playlists or mixed CDs never have a distinct theme. Most of the time a Nelly throwback will be followed by a “good” song that you might impress your friends, which is then ruined by DJ Pauly D’s “Night of My Life.”
• People assume that you love Justin Bieber just as much as you love One Direction. Wrong. So very, very wrong.

There is, however, one positive thing about having the worst possible taste in music. You know exactly the type of music that should be played at parties. Flo Rida’s “Club Can’t Handle Me Right Now” never fails to get the crowd pumped up.

Photo credit: flickr/Kmeron