what is the difference between good and bad music


my friend says rap is bad music. another friend says mahler is a terrible composer.

is it all subjective, i.e., a matter of opinion ? or are there standards which can distinguish good from bad music, however one defines these terms ?

if there are standards, can one specify them or refer me to a source ?
mrtennis
a person has a right to like or dislike the music of any composer without being judged for that preference.

it is childish to "penalize" someone for not liking the music of a composer.

i can't think of any rational reason for people being so intolerant.

this attitude is just the opposite of audiogon forum which is accepting of diverse points of a view and stimulating discussions.

thank you gentlemen, for helping to keep my brain cells from atrophying.
Music, blah! I just listen to the wind. Since its not driven by tubes, I spit a lot.
Again Mrtennis, I am describing how good and bad music occur to me. I am not describing how they occur to you. Yes the same piece of music may be good one day and bad the next, based on my emotional state, just as a pill might be good to take one day and bad to take the next because I had a headache on the first day and not the next. the pill is the same but the context isn't. A car is good for getting to work but not good for getting to Europe. I have no problem with that. Do you want some objective way to put a label on a piece of music that forever says it is good, and ve haf vays of making you like it! What makes you want that?
hi redkiwi:

you are helping to make my point. it's all subjective, and opinion.

good and bad anything is purely a matter of opinion because there is absolute standard.

there is knowledge, opinion and facts.

when we experience something we cannot know it.

if music can be judged good and bad by different people and good and bad by the same person, music is neither intrinsically good or intrinsically bad. it is only a label given to it as a result of experience.

there are different "types" of music , just as there are different composers. the types of music are different. better or worse is purely subjective.

this also applies to all other art forms.
Ck out jaybo's comment on the thread "what to do with 1200 cds I do not need" made on 4-21. There Jaybo says, "what we collect defines who we are".
As I interpret Jaybo's nicely put comment, why keep music on our shelf that serves no purpose to our lives.
I'm getting just this point over at gramophone's forum, confronted with arguments from several members.
I mentioned that i have made a somewhat end to my search for new composer additions. I'm very happy with my 20 yr search for composers that reflect who I am.
Anything else will have to be heard at a concert, if ever.
The cds on our shelf reflect who we are.
I'm not saying that composers not rerepresented on my shelf is bad music, its just not important to me. Has no significance to my life.
The good/bad evaluation needs to be rephrased as to what is significant to us and what is superfluous.
What first began as an elimination of certain recordings I didn't need, many 2nd/3rd rate performances, the next step was to look for composers that could be eliminated.
There was not many to go, as i always had a good hunch as to what I liked and not.