Losing in the Music League

Or, The Philosophy of the Songseeker

I don’t know if you’ve heard of this online game called “Music League”. Basically, the idea is that a group of people register for a league, a la fantasy football or something similar, and each week there is a different theme that each participant submits songs to. Then after the submission stage is over, a playlist is generated, which everyone in the league is encouraged to listen to. Every participant is then given ten “upvotes” to distribute to songs on the playlist as they please. You can use all ten on one song if you want. Or you can spread out your votes as you please.

We’re doing this at work, and I believe we’re in week five. But I’ll give you an example of what I’m referencing above so you can get a little more context. Week one in our league was “Chi-town Magic”—best song by an artist from Chicago. We had selections from Wilco (natch), Sam Cooke, Fallout Boy, Smashing Pumpkins, and Kanye, among others. I think Sam Cooke’s “What a Wonderful World” got the most upvotes, and that’s hard to argue against. My selection of “Pot Kettle Black” by Wilco got three upvotes, I believe, so my score at the end of the week was, you guessed it, “3”. And each week your score is added to based on the success or failures of your given selections.

It’s an interesting idea and it’s fun to see what sorts of things my coworkers are choosing. But I’m going to admit, I’m a bit frustrated. The leader has 49 total upvotes for the songs she’s submitted thus far. I have 15. I’m getting trounced.

I am generally opposed to comparing songs and artists like they are sporting events, so maybe I’m not “playing the game” right. And don’t get me wrong, it means nothing. But I’m finding myself looking for answers as to why I’m losing so badly. I do have a bit of a competitive streak and also people think since I’m so music-obsessed that I’m going to do well at something like this. But I find it’s actually just bringing out my long-dormant music snobbery, and little else. I mean, it’s fun too…I think?¹

Case in point, one week was a theme where we were supposed to pick a cover song that is better than the original. I picked the Mavis Staples interpretation of Talking Heads, “Slippery People”. I got a few votes, but ended up finishing below Smashmouth’s cover of “I’m a Believer”. How. Dare. You. Disrespect. Mavis. Like. That!

It means nothing. I have to remind myself of that. Mavis doesn’t care. I shouldn’t either. I haven’t checked with her to know explicitly, but I’m guessing she’s cool with it.

I guess the reason I’m losing is people interpret the themes differently and also people generally are voting for recognizable songs and artists rather than say, “New Jersey Turnpike” by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy as a fitting “Guilty Pleasure” (one lousy up vote for this weird, yet great song. Come on!)

In a way, this game flies right in the face of the philosophy of the songseeker. There’s a philosophy, you ask? Of course there is!

The songseeker is looking to discover. A songseeker wants a playlist of unfamiliar artists and genres to sift through. The songseeker wants to be challenged and wants to find something unexpected that delights and causes him/her/them to go down a rabbit hole of artists influenced by this new discovery, or artists who influenced them, or are direct contemporaries of them. The songseeker has favorites, sure, but is unlikely to get stuck on any one thing for too long.

I get why anytime anyone submits a Taylor Swift song it’s going to get a bunch of votes. She’s likely one of, if not the most recognized human in the world right now. And no disrespect to her. I like a lot of her music and you’ll find a lot of it floating around on my playlists.

Guaranteed points in the music league and maybe guaranteed clicks on this post? "Taylor Swift Speak Now Tour" by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity Photographer is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

But I already know her music. Most people do. Granted, there is no rule in this game that says you can’t play to popularity. My competitive side wants to get points, but my songseeker side wants to go obscure and hopes that people might appreciate hearing something new or weird, or new and weird.

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. Such is life. It’s hard to turn people on to new music. And not everyone necessarily wants to be turned on to new music. Or sometimes the new music you think people are going to be into just doesn’t fit their likes and dislikes.

All of this is okay. All of this is good. I’m glad not everyone has my music tastes and I’m glad not everyone listens to music the same way I do. Some barely listen to music, which is baffling, but if something isn’t your thing, it isn’t your thing.

We are told to “find your people” all throughout life, which is sound advice on the one hand, but I’m thinking that “find difference” might be just as, if not more sound advice. Difference helps us grow. Difference makes us question our long-held beliefs. Difference is the churning engine of the living world.

How does this apply to being a songseeker and participant in Music League? Well, I can hear the song “Crossing Guard” by Model/Actriz and get super excited by it because its unfamiliar and different than what I’ve been listening to and that satisfies something deep in the core of who I am as a music listener and a person.

Yet I could play this for a different person with different music listening beliefs and tastes, or I could submit it to a theme on Music League, and it may do absolutely nothing. They may hate it in fact. I have to be okay with that. Difference is good. Difference is beautiful.

So there’s a bit of an irony to it. Difference can be scary, confusing, and infuriating, but at the same time, without it we don’t grow. Without it we live in echo chambers where nothing is surprising. But some people don’t want a lot of difference, which is different to me, but I need to learn to accept it as fine. Does that even make sense? Probably not. But that’s ok too. The world’s a weird mess of a place that doesn’t make sense most of the time. Oh well.

For what it’s worth, I do feel good about my selection for this week’s theme, which is “Genre Breakers”, or songs that made you think differently about a genre of music. I chose “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” because it’s the song that introduced me to A Tribe Called Quest. And after I fell in love with Tribe, it led me into all sorts of great hip hop, which remains a genre that I love exploring to this day. Who doesn’t like Tribe? I feel like I’m going to get some points here. If I don’t? Well, I could revert to my music snob self and accuse my coworkers of bad music taste, but that guy was not only incorrect, but also a downer. I’m not letting him come back.

Instead, I’ll shrug and remember it’s just a game and go back to filling my musical listening with as much as I can possibly discover. Some of it will connect and some won’t. And maybe I’ll even find something on the Music League playlists that surprises me. It could happen.

If you don’t consider yourself a songseeker, that’s okay. But I would encourage you to try to throw on something completely different every so often, just to try it on for size. Where does it take you? Where does your mind go? Where do your emotions go? Maybe you hate it and don’t ever want to try that experiment again. Fair enough.

But just remember, there’s so much out there and I bet you’ll connect more than you realize if you remain open. But at the very least, remember to enjoy the music you love, no matter how you listen. It’s all meant to be fun, right? That way if you have 16 points or 73 points in your music league, you’re always going to win.

I mean technically the 16 is clearly losing. This is how numbers work. I get it. I’m losing. Don’t remind me!

1. Yes, it actually is fun. Despite my whining about it, there’s something enjoyable about being thoughtful about the themes and seeing how your coworkers, who