Do you care about other people's music?

[Kestrel]

Intended as a light-hearted topic so let's hopefully not have anyone taking anything too seriously!

It always feels a bit pretentious to call myself a music-addict because I feel like most people are. I do know some people who through their own admission don't actually like music, but I assume they're just dead inside.

I basically need music to function. It gets me in the zone to do whatever it is I need to do at any given moment, inspires so many ideas, relaxes me when I've had a bad day, and pumps me up for a good one. Naturally if I'm making a character I quickly associate them with a few (or hundred) of my favourite tracks — if I can't find the right songs for a character, that's usually a bad sign for me that I'm having some trouble connecting with them and haven't yet found their "voice" in my writing.

All of this is normal, right? I know lots of people who feel this way about music and their characters, so I know I'm not special.

What I'm sort of wondering though is: does anyone actually care about other people's music? You like listing tracks on your character's wiki page, sure, but are you actually going to bother listening to someone else's playlist, and does that at all enhance your experience/understanding/enjoyment of their character? Or is it mostly just an annoying, mastubatory exercise in self-indulgence, one of those things where we're all waiting for our turn to talk/share?

I love sharing my music but I always worry that I'm just being obnoxious, wasting my time, other people's time, and space on my page — plus, making it easier for other people to suss out who I'm playing, which I sometimes like to keep under the radar.

Thoughts?

[Auspice]

@Paradox and I do have a tendency to have chars in relationships. But part of the fun we have is picking out songs for the characters. Even songs for specific scenes. I'd say that's like,10% of why I love rping with him because I feel like most people when I go 'omg this song is perfect for this scene' just roll their eyes at me.

Part of what pissed me off about my date yesterday is he got all condescending about modern music, saying everything made in the past decade is trash. Fuck that.

I know no one will ever have the same exact tastes I do, but at least be able to appreciate and embrace music..

[Goblin]

I almost never listen to music. I like music, but to me music is a distraction when I'm doing something. It happens that I got it in the background though, but it's a rare thing.

I always got the radio on in the car however, but that's not quite the same I guess and it's always radio so there's a bunch of talking and news as well.

I voted 'lol,no' though I've listened to some songs sometimes out of curiosity, or if someone has linked me a song they think fit their character. So, the 'lol,no' is a bit... well I guess I'd have liked a 'It may happen' sort of option

I've done song lists when I'm bored. But, I do them for myself. I think most do. I don't care one wit if others wanna listen to them or not.

[Thenomain]

I always care what other people listen to. I might not like it, but it keeps me aware, and being curious is a key in staying young.

[Auspice]

I've actually gone so far, in the past, as to make collaborative playlists for games.

I love seeing what other people feel is the musical theme of a game or plot.

[Wretched]

I think to enjoy the music someone else is into, I have to be into that person/character/moment. My music tastes are pretty broad, but they all gotta hit that itch. Like @Kestrel, I almost always have music somewhere, hitting the right dopamine buttons, or just drowning out the rest of the chaos in my brain to stay on task. I am usually open to other types of music, but its hard to predict what I will and wont like. And something I hate in the moment I light love in a few months... so to answer the question...

Sometimes?

[Ninjakitten]

I love a good playlist. Do I listen to everyone's? Not even close. But I look at the lists most of the time, and sometimes think about what they suggest about the character, and if I like a character and I'm not busy (I only have certain circumstances under which I can really listen), I'll actually play the list. There's been a couple that I absolutely loved, even if I didn't love all the songs, because they seemed so well-put-together and apropos.

I also wonder sometimes whether people ever look at my playlists. Sometimes I pick songs for nonobvious reasons, and sometimes I'll let things show in the music that doesn't in the other information. I wonder at times if anyone ever notices those things. But I do make them mostly for myself, because it's easier for me to stay in the right character's head if I'm listening to the right playlist.

[Kestrel]

Wanted to give other people a chance to respond before I shared my own stance on this, but I'm actually somewhat in between. ( @Goblin I did try editing the poll after to include a "sometimes" option but don't know how to do that. Anyway, getting more polar responses to a poll is usually more interesting when it comes to light-hearted topics.)

I care about other people's music/playlists and will listen to them only if I actually like their taste in music.

There are genres of music that I just can't relate to and give me a headache. In those cases I tend to find it a bit annoying if they share tracks my way, and it feels like a chore to listen so as to be a good friend. I'd rather just read the lyrics if it's a character I care about.

If we have the same taste in music, though, I'll happily listen to their entire playlist, even if it's 100 songs long and we've only RPed once.

I find it can often be a good bonding experience on an OOC level, too. If someone posts a Gin Wigmore song for their character I get all excited and want to hit them up to fangirl together. I've sometimes specifically sought out characters that I otherwise would not have thought to approach just because their playlist made me think they seem interesting and fun. (A choice played-by also has this effect sometimes; I don't care how "hot" the played-by is, but if it's an obscure played-by from a film/show I really like or something it'll get me excited.)

With this caveat in mind, people sharing a tracklist for their character does enhance my experience/enjoyment/understanding of their RP.

Just don't be that bozo who sets their music to autoplay or something, this isn't the 90s.

For extra bonus points if we have the same taste in music and you link me a song that makes you think of my character and/or our characters' dynamic, you are now my best friend for the day. (I had an IC romance going on with a fellow Hozier fangirl once, it was fucking magical. She sent me Take Me To Church and I cri everytime.)

[farfalla]

I don't give a shit about anyone else's character playlist or scene song or whatever. I don't relate music and RP that way, and also I can only listen to new music when I'm in a particular headspace. But it also doesn't bother me to see music put at the beginning of scenes, or shared OOC, or on character wikis. I just ignore it. I guess if someone in a 1-on-1 scene wanted me to discuss it, or go listen, or reciprocate, I would be annoyed. But otherwise what is the possible harm?

[Pyrephox]

I've found some great new artists/bands by clicking on other people's playlists, so sure! I don't usually associate the songs with the characters in the same way that the player who made them does, but it does absolutely no harm.

[mietze]

I enjoy listening to other people's playlists. I do not mind sharing my own, will sometimes offer if I feel some sort of trust with the other person because it does feel a little vulnerable to do that.

I am not a music snob and I love almost every genre of music, from hymns and classical to metalcore, including twangy country, bluegrass, rap, and almost every type of electronic/dance. (Not super crazy about most dubstep but there are exceptions.) Which is probably why I tend to enjoy other people's playlists no matter what.

I wish there was a less clunky way to keep a playlist shareable since mine change constantly and I often find it irritating to transfer them/keep them up to date on spotify.

[Auspice]

@mietze said in Do you care about other people's music?:

I wish there was a less clunky way to keep a playlist shareable since mine change constantly and I often find it irritating to transfer them/keep them up to date on spotify.

I like the fact that Ares markdown is setup to allow embedding Spotify playlists. Then I only have to keep the one thing updated.

[Thenomain]

@Auspice

Am I the only person left on the planet who doesn't use Spotify?

[Three-Eyed Crow]

I've been making character playlists since the dark ages of ITunes. I do it for myself, as a character-building exercise. There are old ones I've saved that were never shared because the game wikis didn't really have that capability back then. They never need to be. They're for me. I usually have music on when I RP anyway so it built out of that pretty naturally. If I can share the Spotify link on my character page I do, but that's secondary.

I love discovering new music through the playlists other folks make and I do listen to them when I come upon them. They're non-essential fluff but it's a brand of fluff I enjoy.

[Auspice]

@Thenomain said in Do you care about other people's music?:

@Auspice

Am I the only person left on the planet who doesn't use Spotify?

Yes.
(Actually no. I know at least one person who still uses Pandora.)

[TNP]

@Thenomain I don't subscribe to, does that count? But I recently started listening to it when the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hadestown came out and they had it. I've since branched out to other OBCRs.

[Thenomain]

@TNP said in Do you care about other people's music?:

@Thenomain I don't subscribe to, does that count?

Yes. I don't care to listen to/watch any service with ads, anymore, but that does mean at least that you are willing to create and listen to a playlist. You have an account.

I'm not saying Spotify is The Devil, but that I am probably of a quite small minority.

[Tinuviel]

I only care about others' music when I have to listen to or otherwise hear it.

ETA: Additionally, 99.99% of the time I'm not going to listen to that song you message me about. I don't care.

[Rinel]

[Sunny]

@Thenomain said in Do you care about other people's music?:

@Auspice

Am I the only person left on the planet who doesn't use Spotify?

I don't! I mostly still listen to my local radio station if I'm not after a specific song.