Originally Posted by
MarkBastable
The notions aren't preconceived. They're conceived - on the basis of experience, as all notions are.
Those things that you list as virtues - I don't think they count in themselves. Creativity, structure, musicianship, imagination, originality, technique, vision are all ingredients that can be combined to make something worthwhile, but all of them feature in a lot of rubbish too.
The question, then, is: what does make a work of art worthwhile - and is it entirely subjective? I think that, actually, there's a large objective element, and it's analysable. It's not just down to 'personal taste' or 'just one opinion'. I think you can identify what's good and what's not, and why it's good or otherwise, and you pretty much have to do that case by case.
However, in a thread like this, no one wants to read that analysis every time, especially when the conclusion is 1/10. So it's better to be briefly dismissive of the stuff you don't like, unless you have something specific to say about it.
My brief dismissiveness doesn't change the music. It doesn't impugn anyone else's opinion of it. It doesn't even, actually, matter. In fact, as people often say when I'm 'snotty' about something, it reflects more on me than it does on the thing I'm being snotty about. Which is fine.
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Quite right, Pip. I was wondering why this thread died. Man, I wish someone would've said something sooner! 
