Does bad music exist?

As for parallel fifths, they are a no go in classical functional harmony, but if we go back to f.e. medieval times, there are things such as parallel organum which often uses parallel fifths. Plus, rock, pop, folk etc., as well as non-Western music traditions, have their own rules, even when they are unwritten. I think f.e. it is a total misunderstanding to write red lines under parallel fifths in rock music. It is to use a set of rules from one type of music on another type of music.

Bad, best, poorest, etc etc...all connotations pertaining to the individual.
That’s not to say that a piece of music can’t be “bad”. If you fx are trying to play Blackbird over the guitar and effectively end up playing Creeping Death...well then you are doing a very bad job. The same thing can be said of X person trying to play something and making a complete arse of himself with mistakes and poor timekeeping....yet when Jimi Hendrix made “mistakes” it didn’t sound like mistakes at all because he played into them on purpose and often ended up with some kind of sonic monster - many a times sheer Goosebumps City if you ask me.
Play Henry Cow to a cookiecutter pop musician. Chances are they’ll latch on to all the “mistakes” in the music or similarly point out when it sounds “wrong”.
It is however entirely on purpose

That’s just inside western music. Go see an Indian or Pakistani band and revel in the nonsensical way of approaching music! The same goes for a lot of the music you encounter in Sufi culture.

Bad music does exist and can be identified more easily live.  This is one of my favourite so bad it's good live videos. The musicians are mediocre at best and the singer is downright awful. Happens to be the CEO of UMG India now, go figure.

Guldbamsen wrote:   That’s just inside western music. Go see an Indian or Pakistani band and revel in the nonsensical way of approaching music! The same goes for a lot of the music you encounter in Sufi culture.

rogerthat wrote: Guldbamsen wrote:   That’s just inside western music. Go see an Indian or Pakistani band and revel in the nonsensical way of approaching music! The same goes for a lot of the music you encounter in Sufi culture. Pardon, but what is the nonsense way of approaching music in India/Pakistan unless you mean bands like the above?  OR this guy? He (Atif Aslam) IS nonsense, he is a terrible singer and I don't care how many fans he has.  Even Bieber has plenty of fans, can't polish a turd no matter what.  Atif needs a lot of studio editing help to hide his bad singing even in studio recordings.  Live...I rest my case with the below performance of Wish You Were Here.  He has the cheek to add Hindustani alaps that he does not have the chops to sing.

I was being tongue-in-cheek
A lot of Indian and Pakistani music does sound nonsensical to the average pop musician - at least the ones I’ve played some Ravi Shankar to. Hell I know some who find the rhythm in reggae completely nonsensical
Nonsensical was perhaps the wrong word but still pretty much covers the expression on my friend’s face after a good tabla n sitar session: ‘WTF is this?!?!!! Why don’t they follow the goddamn rules!!!?!??!’
They are...though not the ones he was brought up on

Here´s one Finnish band I have always hated:

siLLy puPPy wrote: Good and bad are subjective terms. There is certainly consensus in which music can have attributes that enjoy mass appeal. ...

Guldbamsen wrote:   ... Nonsensical was perhaps the wrong word but still pretty much covers the expression on my friend’s face after a good tabla n sitar session: ‘WTF is this?!?!!! Why don’t they follow the goddamn rules!!!?!??!’ They are...though not the ones he was brought up on

rogerthat wrote: ... The idea that Bohemian Rhapsody of all songs could be too tough to assimilate for some had never occurred to me...and as I said, just the intro part, not even all the changes it goes through (which I could understand somebody taking a dislike to).

moshkito wrote: It was just as bad as the rich ladies coming out of the concert in Chicago with Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar ... one of them leading the cortege and saying ... "how can all that improvisation be called music?" ... I've wanted to put that on film so bad ... it would be Fellini on acid!