what is the difference between good and bad music

Good music is every CD in our collection. Bad music is what my parents think of it.

I like some of lrsky's ideas, agree good music should reflect who we are, somehow is connected to our soul. But of course we all have different degrees in soul, roughly said. ..."bad music is annoying" Agree, what we claim as bad grates on our nerves. Though I'm strictly a classical listener, with some world folk interest (as is everyone here I'm sure), there are quite a few classical composers that I don't like and a few that I can't stand. As Lrsky said, its not a matter of hate, its that I'm totally indifferent, and hope never to hear a note from several on my strong dislike list.
We should all decide for ourselves what we are attracted to, that in some way relate us to the world we live in, conects us to something greater than ourselves. My 25 fav classical composers do that. Mozart is one. And I am not sure what Lrsky is saying about Mozart..."Think Mozart's work, and though completely disparate..." What are you saying?
Now among my 25 fav, Beethoven is not at all represented. The 4th sym, only via Bruno Walter is OK, but have no intentions of listening to it. The 3 overtures are also OK, but not in my cd collection. . Mahler is also another I have no interest at all.
I get my Mahler via Shostakovich and Schonberg's early works. In that respect I acknowledge Mahler. But as to his works, I'll pass , no thanks.
At the moment I am suggesting simular ideas over at Gramophone's classical forum. ..That is, should we blindly accept historical traditions, or is it better to first know the composers of the 20th century, after which we can decide which historical composers are meaningful to us. There's hardly anything in the 19th century classical that I find of interest.
"the beholder can be vastly over-rated.....the audience"...is the most important element.
Well that may have been true before the dawn of recorded medium, records, now cds. But I'm afraid its the individual that rules. What the group has established in a historical time reference, is now not so important. We now have a choice to hear at home what we want, and are not limited to the concert hall's offerings, as our previous generations were.
Its the individual that is of of highest importance. The group consciousness will always lag in development. They are the last to "get it".
Now as to modern pop culture, I discovered at least one song i love, heard it on KLSU radio here in Baton Rouge last week, purely luck. It was a Indie music type group here from BR, called Blessed Yes, a song called Trace, a real smash hit (60's brit expression).
btw the group lost in the MTVU's(MTV university) contest this week against 20 other college bands. The winner was obviously from california, student population capital of the US, and got the more votes. I heard a few songs from the winning group. Dull stuff. . Hated it....IMHO the wrong band got the win....and so it goes. The majority rules. I'm afraid.

it would seem that good music is anything i like and bad music is anything i don't like.

what if i change my mind ? the music hasn't changed only my attitude towards it.

it would seem that, intrinsically, there is no good or bad music, because one man's preference may be distasteful to another.

one could generalize to art, movies, books, wine, food--the aesthetic arts.

if there are no standards than one should be tolerant to all music and respectful of others opinions even if personally disliking the selections of others.

Mrtennis, if all you heard since childhood is "BEETHOVEN IS GREAT" a thousnad X's. You really don't know if this is true or not, until FIRST you are old enough/experienced from hearing many other composers.
What age that is, depends on the individual. I knew from eraly days of classical transition, from R7R, that I had not much interest in Beethoven. Yet he sure was talked about quite alot. Still is in 2006.
Many of those Beethoven fans have not heard a note of some of my favorite late 20th century composers.
I'm tolerant of Beethoven, just not all the hype haloed around his shrine, by those with very limited experience in classical music.
This is what I find disturbing. Like everything now a days, sharp lines of division are being drawn. Now that i got a few issues off my chest, I can try to be more tolerant towards fans of certain composers. But then again free speech of ones opinions should also not be sensored.
Don't follow the crowd, say what you really feel.

I don't consider myself particularly well informed about classical music, sometimes mistaking one composer for another (or unable to identify) when I hear a piece. What I do have is a passion for all kinds of music, old and new.

My listening tastes run from old pop such as the Everly Brothers, Ray Charles, Booker T & MG's, Elvis, Bobby Darin, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Nat King Cole and countless others. I like to rock with the Doors, Beatles, Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix, Early Fleetwood Mac, Led Zep, Stones, Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Elvis Costello, Roger Waters, Robert Fripp, and countless others.

Vocals by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy, Rosemary Clooney, Helen Humes, Nancy Wilson, Anita O'day, Carmen McRae, Mahalia Jackson, Della Reese, Peggy Lee, Jeri Adams, Polly Bergen and Dakota Station.

Male vocals like Peter Himmelman, Tom Waits and Daniel Lanois. Country by Emmylou Harris, Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. 80's pop by XTC, Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins. I absolutely love Bjork and Radiohead. Have lots of Nirvana, Neil Young, CSN&Y, Eric Clapton, James Brown, Jimmy Reed, Elmer Snowden, Etta James, Stevie Wonder and Al Green.

I have a whole section of jazz and blues including hundreds of the Fantasy titles (Contemporary, Pablo, Galaxy, Prestige). Dozens of Mosaic box sets, including Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Ike Quebec, Bill Evans, Lightning Hopkins and too many others to list.

I have a nice Jazz collection from Concord (California), and shelves of ECM, Impulse, Blue Note, Roulette, A&M Horizon and a mass of Capital, Columbia, RCA and other popular labels. For those who are familiar with Jazz artists on these labels, you know how varied the sound is. All but the last mentioned (Capital, Columbia and RCA) tend to have a "house" sound and artists that are associated with that sound, especially Blue Note and ECM.

I have dozens of classical titles on London, Decca and the RCA shaded dogs. I have a few DG and Mercury as well.

I have a section dedicated to classical female vocals, including Frederica von Stade, Cecilia Bartoli, Dawn Upshaw, Kathy Battle and Mady Mesple.

I also listen to Eminem, The Streets, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, Yello, The Shins, The Eels and The Postal Service.

I have a section of movie sound tracks, Broadway plays, spoken word and such. I have some old country from folks like Faron Youg and Roy Acuff and modern bluegrass such as Alison Krauss and Martina McBride and all of the incredible releases by Johnny Cash on American Recordings.

I have several pieces of electronic music by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Laurie Anderson, Phillip Glass, Jan Jelinek and the Nascent french jazz movement by artists such as Michel Portal, Barre Phillips and others.

I am constantly in search of music. As far as I'm concerned, for every piece of new music I find, buy and learn to love, the value of my life and my music system increases.