"Quality" vs. preference

Is your favorite also the best?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 27.3%
  • No

    Votes: 6 54.5%
  • Other

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • I don't understand the question

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • Total voters
    11

Tiassa

Let us not launch the boat ...
Valued Senior Member
A simple question, in and of itself devoid of philosophy. The answer can bear some interesting implications:

Do you separate the idea of "the best" (e.g. highest quality) from "favorite" (e.g. personal aesthetic)?

A simple illustration: I'm looking right now at my iTunes playlists. One of them is an automatic playlist that keeps track of the most-played songs. iTunes also includes a five-star personal rating system.

The song I play most is not one I give five stars. I give it four ("Just Get Through This Night", Styx), but compared to the runner up ("Secret World", Peter Gabriel) it's just not the same caliber of song.

Quite simply, I'm aware that the things I prefer most are not always what my own criteria describe as the highest quality. In fact, three of the five most-played songs are of better quality than the most-played, in my opinion.

Yet it's my iTunes. Admittedly, what is perhaps the best album on there (I'm thinking of Radiohead, Hail to the Thief) has just recently been added, and its play count will be reset again as I only intend to keep the AIFF long enough to burn a copy before compressing to AAC or mp3. (I'll make up for it, guys ... I promise. I'm coming to see your show ... I'll buy some overpriced gear or something.) But aside from that point ...

But it's an interesting thought that struck me.

:m:,
Tiassa :cool:
 
Quality of construction is my first concern when choosing a product. If it doesn't come in quality i desire, i build it myself. With music, i only listen to music that i enjoy on some level, if i don't enjoy it anymore, i delete it. Quality is always the most definitive of my concerns
 
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