When I was browsing Weibo, I saw He Caitou forwarding a Weibo post by Li Ronghao. It seemed that Li Ronghao had chosen an Internet divine song for the contestants on the show. Some people said he was low, so Li Ronghao posted on Weibo: The name of Internet songs is corrected, and the general idea is that just because the song comes from the Internet, it cannot be stamped as low-level. Music is neither good nor bad, only whether you like it or not.

This Weibo post by Li Ronghao is written in separate articles. Although there are some jumps between entries, I agree with some points, such as: You can’t stamp a song as low-level just because it comes from the Internet. The channel through which a song is released and disseminated cannot be used as a criterion for judging whether a song is good or bad: if a musician releases good music on the Internet, it does not prevent it from becoming good music.

——So I do think there are good and bad musical works.

The idea that music can be divided into good and bad may be more easily accepted by the public. Li Ronghao said that music is not good or bad, only whether you like it or not. But we are sitting here trying to figure out the slogan of a music station: listen to good sounds, share good music blablabla, there is no sense of violation. No one here will be offended. There are good music and bad music in the world, just like good fruits and bad fruits, good cars and bad cars - there are certain standards. But when it comes to the field of "like it or not", it is completely up to each person. The discussion here is not whether we have the right to interfere with other people's likes and dislikes, so there is no need to discuss it.

I just mentioned "standards". I thought for a long time, trying to find some objective standard that can judge the quality of music besides billions of subjective standards. For me, a person with no musical accomplishments, a good musical work must contain the author's sincere feelings or opinions, and must be meaningful. Using the broken lyrics and music routines that were used decades ago to fool around and come up with a song that is indistinguishable from the work of the ancient song generator is obviously not a good work (but it may pass the Turing test). All divisions are cruel - there are always some who are not qualified. But only if someone works harder, is more sincere, is more sensitive, and is more talented, then their work deserves to be called "good work."

Li Ronghao’s fourth post on Weibo mentioned food: “Delicacies from mountains and seas must mean they are good, and hot and sour shredded potatoes must mean they are low?”

Good vs low, delicacies from mountains and seas vs spicy and sour potato shreds. There are some differences between good and bad and high and low. Good and bad are like horizontal comparisons, which are easier to accept. The high-level and low-level are more like vertical comparisons, with thresholds and a feeling of indifference and unreachableness. There is a comment like this under He Caitou's Weibo

This classmate's analogy can be said to be a fountain of talent and free thinking. Coffee and garlic, men and women are born with the same nature, which cannot be changed. There is no innate superiority or inferiority, otherwise there is really no way to explain it! To put it bluntly, there is a threshold for advanced level, and it is not something that can be obtained easily. As a dish, delicacies from mountains and seas are difficult to obtain. The producers need to work hard to hunt them (resolutely opposed to indiscriminate hunting!!), and they also require more complex cooking skills. Therefore, there is a threshold, and consumers have to pay more to get them. Hot and sour potato shreds are cheaper, easier to make, and have a lower threshold, so they do not have the characteristics of "high-end". Rather than saying that the species "hare" is more advanced than the species "potato". Many wine packages have "high-end XX wine" written on them, and Jiang Xiaobai angrily wrote on the bottle: "All food is created equal, no one is nobler than the other." (The brands are listed casually, there is no other meaning) So, is there a threshold for musical works, this acquired creation? I think there is, and the threshold lies in the audience’s perception.

Let me try to describe what I think the threshold is. "Noisy" music rhythms, brainwashing melodies, lyrics cobbled together with buzzwords, or the simplest and most harmonious chords can also directly stimulate the audience's senses and easily leave an impression. The threshold is relatively low. As for advanced music, let me take symphony as an example. After all, I don’t have much musical knowledge, so I only know about symphony XD. The symphony is extremely rich in content, including different levels, different emotions, and even different plots. Perceiving them and being fascinated by them is an experience that is more difficult to obtain than simple and direct sensory stimulation. I think there is a threshold for this kind of perception. First, there needs to be at least the medium and desire to access them. After all, symphonies are rarely trending on Weibo right now. Everyone is busy at work, and there are relatively few opportunities to hear them. Of course, this is not the point. This is even the result of the existence of "threshold".

More importantly, the perception of music is reflected in the sensitivity to music's emotions. This kind of sensitivity is not something everyone has. Either the discernment developed through long-term study, or simply talent, these are the thresholds. The richness of the symphony's content and emotions makes it difficult to capture its full charm, but once you do, the experience you get is more than just "sensory stimulation." Presumably these wonderful feelings can transcend the smoke screen of time, take you to the past, and accompany you to the future. There is a threshold for high-level music, but after you cross the threshold, you will get a richer experience - this is what I think of high-level and low-level music works.

Finally, I feel that whenever this topic is discussed, there is a quarrel on the Internet because everyone has replaced "the level of music" with "the level of people who like certain music". These are two completely different things. Don't take it personally.?

Finally, let us return to the subjective world. I can't control what I like! ! A little bit! !