Welcome to the new Indie Vision Music, ladies and gentlemen! We hope you like what you see. We’re extra proud of the new look, and we hope you’re fans as well.

As we work through this transition period, we’ve had a ton of new ideas for IVM, one of which is this articles section. Staff have occasionally written opinion pieces before, but this has been very infrequent. We think it’s a cool idea, so we’re going to be doing it a lot more (at least, Matt and I are). If you like this kind of discussion, I urge you to check out the forums and hang out with us. The more the merrier, right? We’re almost always talking about something awesome, like end of the year lists, stuff we’ve bought recently, whether the word “Matt” is a swear word, and for a limited time only, a heated discussion of John Mayer. Come hang with us; it’s probably better than whatever you’re supposed to be doing at work.

So to kick this off, I wanted to start with a quick discussion of music in general. This is for two reasons: first, so that everyone has something to say, as opposed to only fans of a certain band, and second, so that I can feel like I’ve earned my staff post and still have time to catch a Boston Legal episode or write a break-up song before my brother’s birthday party. Here is the question: What, according to you, is a wrong way to enjoy music? And why is this wrong?

We’re in the digital age, friends. There’s no stopping it. I know many of you don’t like this; you love to listen to CDs or, if you’re really cool, vinyls all day long. You wish everyone did the same instead of downloading a couple cuts from iTunes or, if they’re really cool, Amazon MP3. Why? When music fans say this, they don’t generally mean only that it’s more convenient or more practical for them to listen to CDs. They think there’s a good reason for everyone to. Why? I buy from eMusic and Amazon MP3 a lot…it’s cheap and easy, and I feel like I’m getting the same product you are. What’s the difference?

You’re not alone in how you feel. My dad is one of those accursed “singles listeners.” He downloads a track or two off of iTunes, or, if he buys a whole CD, only puts a couple songs on his iPod shuffle — he decided he didn’t need a full iPod because he doesn’t want to carry around most of his music. I think this is a wrong way to go about listening to music. Is it? Why? If he gets the same things out of his music that I get out of mine, what’s the difference?

There’s a battle currently going on in the scene between groups I will call the “elitists” and the “backward,” though neither term is fair to those particular people. The stereotype of the elitist talks about those who had Bon Iver as their album of the year … in 2007. They hype bands that were created only to sound weird, and they ridicule anything they didn’t come up with themselves to make everyone else look bad (i.e. “normal” music, “fun” music, “pop-punk” music, “Britney Spears” music, etc.). The stereotype of the backward, on the other hand, has no artistic credibility. He would pay money to hug someone in Good Charlotte. He listens to the radio and yells things like “F*** YES DUDE” at Hinder songs. Why is either person wrong in the way he enjoys music?

How do you look at music?

The Headless Horseman is a student of philosophy and theology at Wheaton College (IL). He is a staff writer for IVM, though he seems to apply more effort to the parts of that job that do not involve “writing.” He is currently listening to Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light and bears striking resemblance to Matt Damon. He is currently single.

*Disclaimer: This blog is the expressed opinion of The Headless Horseman and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any other person connected with Indie Vision Music. Any concerns, questions, or hate mail can be directed to the author via email here. Any unsatisfied mail or comments directed to Indie Vision Music should content themselves with trying to get The Headless Horseman fired, and any lawsuit or criminal proceedings resulting from this post should be against him alone. Indie Vision Music accepts no liability for deaths or extramarital spooning resulting from this blog, except where required by law. Don’t download illegally; stay in school.*