There has been a lot of traffic on Micro Blog about ‘like’ buttons - as in should there be one? Some of those conversations have been repackaged and moved into other places - like this one from Dave Winer.

The challenge is that writers tend to see the like as a ‘nod’ of agreement with what they have written .. or at least as some kind of feedback …

“In real life there’s all kinds of non-verbal communication. you can nod your head, smile. We’ve come up with a similar language online, I don’t think there’s any more meaning in this. We’re being human. Not a huge surprise.”

💬 Dave Winer

I’m not so sure. I am far from consistent as to how I use likes and I am guessing I am not alone. BUT … But the point of this post is not to provide a counter argument - but rather highlight the inadequacy of the like button a measure of popularity.

You won’t have missed yesterday’s news of the passing of Jeff Beck.

Patti Smith used her newsletter to share the news and a link to just one example of Beck’s extraordinary guitar playing.

As of this morning she has 326 likes and 59 comments …. it is clear from the comments the sentiment - but the likes?

What are they liking?

• The news he is dead?
• The track from ‘Amused to Death’?
• That the ‘liker’ is flagging their solidarity with her and Roger’s position on Palestine?
• The fact she posted something - and they are bookmarking ‘seen’?
• They just ‘auto like’ everything - and haven’t even read it? Because even Readwise users, who you would have thought actually did … well … read! … don’t.

To be clear, I have no horse in the race. IF [@manton](https://micro.blog/manton) added like buttons here -

• it wont be the end of the world
• i bet whether they are enabled will be under my control

Back to Jeff … one of the best comments was a simple

💔

Music was my first love
and it will be my last.
Music of the future
and music of the past.
To live without my music
would be impossible to do.
In this world of troubles,
my music pulls me through.

💬 John Miles

🎶🎵Interesting to see the albums that appear roughly daily in Matt Birchtree’s feed where he celebrates a different album each day. So far, I am personally not inspired - but that is the beauty of music. It is all different. We are all different.

It might also be that there just isn’t enough context around a post to make me think why I should be bothered - particularly when on the whole - the artists he posts that I do know, just ‘don’t do it ‘ for me. All good. I know it’s me — BUT

I do think this quote needs refinement.

“I love music, and even at the stage in life where most people seem to listen to the same artists they did when they were decades younger, I’m still prowling the new releases every week to see what’s new. I’m obsessed with music.”

💬 Matt Birchtree

‘What’s New’ can’t come from an established artist?

Surely it depends on the artist and what they are producing?

I would agree that there are people who hit a formula and then repeat over and over and are really un interesting - and then there are others who keep evolving … keep changing … refusing to fall into that trap, to pick on a few ….

• Pink Floyd in their early days refused to play their hits like Emily Play and Arnold Layne in their concerts (though ‘Saucerful of Secrets’ doesn’t seem to have imposed that limitation on themselves!)

• The Arctic Monkeys open up concerts with brand new music that the audience will never have heard.

• Neil Young and Brian Eno are both famous for their position of refusing to talk about their music from the past.

Most importantly - if you never listen to music from artists that have been around - you’d never have heard Bowie’s Blackstar.

I would also argue that a true music aficionado would explore the roots of music. When you listen to real musicians talk, to understand their influences, their history - WOW. To trace the roots of how artists get to where they are is fascinating.

For my part, I am building a few lists in Album Whale that I hope might provide insight into the music I like - and how I came across it … it’s a different spin on ‘best of’ … and more to do with the interconnectedness and relationships in music - and me. When they are ready I will be back.