Thanks to the op for bringing this up. I guess the manufacturers and dealers are all about the equipment, so music is selected to show off strengths. I really wish there would be much more popular music that has a broader audience—from any genre. Yes, I know that much of it is heavily compressed or somehow not matching audiophile standards. But it’s what most of us are listening to most of the time.
The Music at AXPONA 2022
I didn't take any notes or data sets--but....that said...
Did it seem to you like at least half of the rooms played obscure audiophile music? What's up with wind chimes, sound effects, electronic psychedelia, and so on, being so popular at the show? It seems to me there are TONs of well recorded offerings that could be played from many genres.
I like the avant garde, but at a show wouldn't it make more sense to stay on the highway of golden age jazz, folk, blues, rock, hip hop, classical?
What I struggled with is there are so many superbly produced and engineered recordings available, why veer into such a direction?
To be fair, there were many rooms with great musical selections. Yet, it's hard for me to imagine folks saying, "hey, what's this track involving a waterfall, chimes, and percussion? I need to hear it at home."
Disclaimer--I realize there is some subjectivity to this and I'm certain I've got some "weird" music in my collection. It just seems there's a big selection of music being played that alienates people. And that's saying something as many hifi enthusiasts have diverse tastes in music.