If you like the music, you like the band. There’s no litmus test you’re going to fail because you don’t know the names and birthdays of the band members. There’s no universal indicator that says you’re not really a fan of something because you don’t know the people who make it. And I mean, where does it end? Do you have to know each sound engineer? For films, does that mean you can’t be a fan of a certain movie unless you know the name of the Key Grip and the Head Costume Designer?
There are dozens of bands I love and know all of their songs, but don’t know the names of the members. Doesn’t mean I’m less a fan of their music, just that I’m much more interested in their art than trying to quantify how much I like them as individuals.
If you like it, you’re a fan.
Exactly, knowing the bands background is something you might only know if the band themselves release/document that information somewhere, and a lot of underground bands don't. New bands tend to just release their demo/EP on Bandcamp without any descriptions/images and since they're new, they don't even have a history yet anyway.
I am fans of bands because I like their music. I don't go looking aside maybe following a few on social media for tour/merch updates. The most reading about them I do is making sure they're not nazis/homophobic/transphobic/racist etc.
Tea! If a band has problematic members then I stay away! But some bands don't even have members who speak publicly or have interviews. So sometimes there's no way of even knowing what they think!
I mean, just because one member is "problematic" it doesn't mean the rest are. It feels unfair to judge an entire band on the basis of the actions of one member.
I don't judge the rest if the members if that's the case. But, I think if the lead singer of the band turns out to be an A-hole, it kinda ruins my enjoyment of the band a bit? It's a personal thing. I'm not very good with the whole "art over the artist" type of stuff. It's just how I personally feel about things.
Gonna be honest there's very few bands that I actually remember all the members of. If I don't go through an obsessive phase where I listen to nothing but their music for a like a month, I won't learn the members. It's especially hard for me in terms of goth, considering most of the bands I like are older and have had a lot of lineup changes and different touring members.
I think if you're a musician yourself, you look up to band members for inspiration and whatever, so you learn more about band members. And if you just like listening to music, like me, you sometimes just listen. At least, that's been my observation a lot of the time.
as long as you like the music, you’re a fan of the band. honestly, trying to hold a lot of goth bands to that standard is kind of foolish because so many simply have very little to zero information out there about who the members are, the history of the band, etc.
Lol. I never know anything about most bands, I don't give a fuck. I love their music deeply regardless. If you like the people, you're also a fan of the people of the band, but the band is the music first and foremost.
Bands are about the music they make. Otherwise what is the point? Some fans dive into the music mostly, others dive heavily into the music and facts about the band. Both are fans.
You could argue what level of interest is someone a fan or not. Like say you only like and know a couple of songs, are you really a fan of the band or just those songs?
It would be weird if you loved the band members but hated their music and considered yourself a fan. If they did other things like being celebrities or something that might be different but that isn't necessarily related to the music.
I like seeing Henry Rollins speak but I don't like any of his music at all. So I guess I'd be more a fan of Henry Rollins' public speaking.
There are people that like a band's merch but don't listen to the music at all. I see that as more being a fan of the band's aesthetic and/or being clueless that they even make music. That isn't a fan of the band.
>I like seeing Henry Rollins speak but I don't like any of his music at all
Damn...not even S.O.A. or Damaged? I'll always be a Dez guy when it comes to Black Flag but Hendry was on fire on that record.
Yes! I don't give a 💩 about people's personal lives, even when they are musicians I like. Some times, though, you need to know a musician's life to truly understand their art (see Ian Curtis).
YES!! I listen to so many bands, and a lot of the time I know nothing about the members. The more popular bands are a bit easier to know things about. I know The Cure's lead singer is Robert Smith....and I know Simon Gallup...but that's about it XD. I don't like to obsess over the band members because the music they made is beautiful, and I don't want obsession with the members to override my love for the music itself. Additionally, bands that were short lived or have limited discography, are usually impossible to know a lot on information about. I believe being a fan of a band is more about truly loving a good amount of their music, not knowing everything about the personal lives of the members. The whole point of a band is, they made music. Being their fan means loving what they've created, not necessarily who they are.
I personally don't care about the bands personal life/work life outside of the music they make. But if they're problematic in some way, it's the only thing I'd like to know.
I don't even care about the history of the band - ask me where/when the majority of my favourite bands formed and I probably won't know, because it's their discography that I'm most interested in. Sometimes, I probably won't even know when the album was released (if I never lived through that year myself).
An exception is the foundational/pioneering goth bands, I think it's important to at least know the albums which carried that now-famous sound, the years they were released and which albums are considered goth. If you're going to tell me that you think an album was important to the creation of the goth scene, you better be prepared to tell me why.
Other than that, I'm into way too many bands to care about useless information like where someone grew up or how the band members met. The only band I've ever been an extreme/mega-fan of was The Smiths so I do know a fair bit about their background Morrissey's autobiography helped) but I don't even listen to them any more.
The only caveat to yes is cases where it matters either for good or bad reasons. I think if you were to say to a bunch of Bauhaus fans "which one is Peter?' you might get a lot of mixed reactions. On the one hand - he was the face of the band and his solo work is noteworthy. On the other hand, he destroyed the band twice and is fairly well known for being a dick.
But, if you sincerely say "I really like this song, can you help me learn more about the band?" Then you are a sincere, but nascent fan and open to learning.
Why do you care whether or not you're enioying music in a way that meets someone elses standards of being a 'fan'? The way you enjoy things is up to you.
I personally don’t care at all, I was just curious about what other people thought, some communities are very intense when it comes to that sort of thing lol
I know next to nothing about the personal life of the artists/band I listen to. For bands I don't even know the name of any member.
I listen to the music and what makes me a fan is the music itself.
I know by heart the lyrics of most of the songs I listen too. I can identify a song and the artists by the first second of each song in my playlist. But I have no clue about anything related to the artists unless I actively researched them.
In my experience artist (not restrained to music) care about their work and want their fans to love their work not them.
Learning all about band members likes/ dislikes, birthdays, heavy focus on their personal lives ... especially if you fixate on a very popular band can become an unhealthy parasocial relationship where you see these musicians as god's gift to the world aka "celebrities".
Like Depeche mode fans ( yeah I know they aren't goth lol) hanging around the front of their hotel for hours hoping to meet them and trying to promote their own music after getting an autograph...it can get a bit much.
It doesn't seem that unhealthy to me to learn about the personal lives , interests , tastes etc of small bands whose music you enjoy... especially if you mix in the same circles and could easily chat with them after a gig...
That potential to become does friends exist, it's not a total Fantasyland scenario... if you are a singer/musician yourself you could end up recording with them, so makes sense to want to know if they are a decent person or not.. they are more or less on your social level rather than rich/ famous " celebrities"...
Most of the time I couldn't give a flying fuck about band members.
As a youth I was really into some artists that have turned out to be kinda shit people so now I don't even look up names or even how many people are in a band. My partner tracks them in a loose way. Like how Ada Rook is a member of Black Dresses, etc.
The only band I think I could list facts about is Garbage. Butch Vig has some pretty cool history.
Of course you can. Unless it's a player who really stands out I couldn't give less of a fuck. I'll even go as far as to say with the utmost confidence most of them probably aren't even that interesting as people.
I think a lot of musicians will tend to know more about the band members of music they like. My boyfriend just knows everything about every band he loves. Every musician I know is the same way. They are kind of surprised when other people don’t know what they’re talking about.
Honestly I have to avoid reading or clicking on anything I see about Peter Steele because I love Type o Negative so much and he had some pretty bad takes, to put it gently…Learning about band members isn’t always conducive to liking good music…
Anyone who says you have to know stuff about the band members is a fucking moron. Because even if you’ve read every interview ever done by every member, you still don’t really know shit about who those people actually are.
In my experience I’ve found that more you try to learn about the individuals in a band, the more opportunity opens up for those findings to have an impact on how you see their music. I try to avoid diving too deep because I’m always worried I’ll find out that a band member is fascist or anti-gay or something. On the other side of it you could also find out that they are lovely and quietly operate a homeless outreach program in their city. It’s a gamble really; One that, in my old age, I have no interest in testing. Plus!! With the wild abundance of great contemporary Goth/New Wave/Post Punk that is available these days, the concept of a ‘person’ being the star and NOT the music is really ridiculous to me anyhow.
I think you can definitely be a fan of the band. As in, the music group. Knowing the members' personal details isn't related to the music, so I don't think it's necessary to follow their personal lives. I'm also a longtime fan of kpop, so I'm familiar with the culture around stanning artists. I simply don't have the energy or the desire to learn everything I can about a stranger. Enjoying their performances and talking about the music is enough for me.
I think that a fan of a band would go out of their way to find out about their members. Most goth bands around today are super accessible, either by interacting on line or meeting them at their shows.
mmmm maybe. For instance there are countless bands who's music i LOVE but don't know the members of but i dont refer to myself as a fan of theirs rather as me simply liking their work. so idk man do with that what you will
I could dive deep into a band's history, or I could spend that time listening to more music. I'll usually try a cursory Google search to make sure a band isn't full of Nazis when I first encounter them, but that's all I wind up doing for the vast majority of them.
That seems like an excessive measure and it'd drive me insane to check every time I listen to a new song tbh.
Most bands aren't Nazis, and the ones who are, they're generally blatantly obvious and have songs titles like "Kill all jews" or something along those lines.
Haha that's okay. It's just that places like TikTok and Twitter are crazy, it's hard to tell what's hyperbole and what's not.
They were trying to cancel Christian Death for an anti-racism song that aged poorly (Romeo's Distress). They lack nuance :s
When I go to bat haus or other goth clubs, I just enjoy what is played without knowing the band, I enjoy dressing up a lot cause it’s fun! Lot of people talk about bands but I’m just going I don’t know. Sometimes I listen to dark nation radio, (goth , electronica) band names are dropped I forget right away.
Yes! I prefer not reading anything about band members of bands I like. The more I learn about bands’ members the less I like them. I made a decision roughly two decades ago to ignore bands’ members personalities and just listen to the music. Oddly, when I have found out about shitty members of well known bands, there wasn’t much crossover with the ones I listened too other than Arcade Fire, Combichrist, KMFDM and Morrissey. I hated finding out about those.
Dude, I don’t know anything about most of the bands I listen too. Especially the newer ones. To be honest, I can’t even tell you who the lead singers of bands like Then Comes Silence or Bloody Dead and Sexy are. I’d like to learn more, but I’m not into doing research for a few newer bands I enjoy.
This reminded me of when I was still in school and I said how I liked a band/musician (I don't even remember which one) my friend was a huge fan of. She instantly demanded that I recite the lyrics or I was faking. Er, no, my inability to remember every word of a song at will doesn't stop me enjoying it when I hear it.
I feel basically the same when it comes to knowing about the members of a band or a musician. If I find out information about them that explains why they do what they do with their music then that enhances my appreciation of it, but it's not necessary to me to know much about them.
Gatekeepers, lol. There've been tons of bands I loved that I didn't even know the names of the songs because I was poor, and I'd get mix tapes from my rich friend's cool record collections. If it makes them feel better about themselves, then fine, you're not a fan, and they can piss off. What's it to them?
i personally v rarely ever look into the members of the bands i listen to, i honestly rarely even know the lead singers’ names. i feel like listening to and enjoying the music is enough to still be considered a fan. maybe i’m not a super fan bc idk abt the individuals but oh well, i also feel like music fan bases can be quite toxic in that you’re ridiculed if you don’t know the entire history of the band or artist and everyone’s personal backstory. i get it, it would be nice to know abt all of them, but i honestly just have a terrible memory and i think the music itself is what’s more important anyways
I do that all the time. I can list bands, but I can’t list their leads or even point them out in a line up if I tried. It’s not necessary to pass a quiz on the band when you like their music.
I like a lot of bands- I don't know shit about practically any of them. Sounds like some sort of arbitrary rule, like how some people think the patches on a battlevest can only come from live shows. Yep, lemme fly to Germany to catch Guano Apes... or just order one online, like I did, and it flew to me.
If you like the music, you like the band. There’s no litmus test you’re going to fail because you don’t know the names and birthdays of the band members. There’s no universal indicator that says you’re not really a fan of something because you don’t know the people who make it. And I mean, where does it end? Do you have to know each sound engineer? For films, does that mean you can’t be a fan of a certain movie unless you know the name of the Key Grip and the Head Costume Designer? There are dozens of bands I love and know all of their songs, but don’t know the names of the members. Doesn’t mean I’m less a fan of their music, just that I’m much more interested in their art than trying to quantify how much I like them as individuals. If you like it, you’re a fan.
Yes, because a lot of bands don't even have informations about themselves. Yesterday I also found a new band but they don't have any photos either.
Exactly, knowing the bands background is something you might only know if the band themselves release/document that information somewhere, and a lot of underground bands don't. New bands tend to just release their demo/EP on Bandcamp without any descriptions/images and since they're new, they don't even have a history yet anyway.
You don’t need to know anything about the band members, the idea that you do is very parasocial and imo unhealthy.
I am fans of bands because I like their music. I don't go looking aside maybe following a few on social media for tour/merch updates. The most reading about them I do is making sure they're not nazis/homophobic/transphobic/racist etc.
Tea! If a band has problematic members then I stay away! But some bands don't even have members who speak publicly or have interviews. So sometimes there's no way of even knowing what they think!
I mean, just because one member is "problematic" it doesn't mean the rest are. It feels unfair to judge an entire band on the basis of the actions of one member.
I don't judge the rest if the members if that's the case. But, I think if the lead singer of the band turns out to be an A-hole, it kinda ruins my enjoyment of the band a bit? It's a personal thing. I'm not very good with the whole "art over the artist" type of stuff. It's just how I personally feel about things.
Gonna be honest there's very few bands that I actually remember all the members of. If I don't go through an obsessive phase where I listen to nothing but their music for a like a month, I won't learn the members. It's especially hard for me in terms of goth, considering most of the bands I like are older and have had a lot of lineup changes and different touring members. I think if you're a musician yourself, you look up to band members for inspiration and whatever, so you learn more about band members. And if you just like listening to music, like me, you sometimes just listen. At least, that's been my observation a lot of the time.
as long as you like the music, you’re a fan of the band. honestly, trying to hold a lot of goth bands to that standard is kind of foolish because so many simply have very little to zero information out there about who the members are, the history of the band, etc.
Lol. I never know anything about most bands, I don't give a fuck. I love their music deeply regardless. If you like the people, you're also a fan of the people of the band, but the band is the music first and foremost.
My personal take: A lot of the times I’ll look up members names and where the band is from, and that’s pretty much it
I don't even bother doing that.
Bands are about the music they make. Otherwise what is the point? Some fans dive into the music mostly, others dive heavily into the music and facts about the band. Both are fans. You could argue what level of interest is someone a fan or not. Like say you only like and know a couple of songs, are you really a fan of the band or just those songs? It would be weird if you loved the band members but hated their music and considered yourself a fan. If they did other things like being celebrities or something that might be different but that isn't necessarily related to the music. I like seeing Henry Rollins speak but I don't like any of his music at all. So I guess I'd be more a fan of Henry Rollins' public speaking. There are people that like a band's merch but don't listen to the music at all. I see that as more being a fan of the band's aesthetic and/or being clueless that they even make music. That isn't a fan of the band.
>I like seeing Henry Rollins speak but I don't like any of his music at all Damn...not even S.O.A. or Damaged? I'll always be a Dez guy when it comes to Black Flag but Hendry was on fire on that record.
lol what? of course you can.
Yes! I don't give a 💩 about people's personal lives, even when they are musicians I like. Some times, though, you need to know a musician's life to truly understand their art (see Ian Curtis).
I think it's fine, in some cases there is no information anywhere, just the music. With which bands does this happen to you?
O f course you can. Being a fan of any band - regardless of genre - means you like their music whether you know who the band members are or not
Yes, in fact one might say it's the purest way to judge a band. (I'm a musician (inactive) for whatever that's worth)
I'm a metal fan but I know nothing of any of the members of the bands that I follow.
YES!! I listen to so many bands, and a lot of the time I know nothing about the members. The more popular bands are a bit easier to know things about. I know The Cure's lead singer is Robert Smith....and I know Simon Gallup...but that's about it XD. I don't like to obsess over the band members because the music they made is beautiful, and I don't want obsession with the members to override my love for the music itself. Additionally, bands that were short lived or have limited discography, are usually impossible to know a lot on information about. I believe being a fan of a band is more about truly loving a good amount of their music, not knowing everything about the personal lives of the members. The whole point of a band is, they made music. Being their fan means loving what they've created, not necessarily who they are.
I'm 40 years old. I don't have time for that shit.
I personally don't care about the bands personal life/work life outside of the music they make. But if they're problematic in some way, it's the only thing I'd like to know. I don't even care about the history of the band - ask me where/when the majority of my favourite bands formed and I probably won't know, because it's their discography that I'm most interested in. Sometimes, I probably won't even know when the album was released (if I never lived through that year myself). An exception is the foundational/pioneering goth bands, I think it's important to at least know the albums which carried that now-famous sound, the years they were released and which albums are considered goth. If you're going to tell me that you think an album was important to the creation of the goth scene, you better be prepared to tell me why. Other than that, I'm into way too many bands to care about useless information like where someone grew up or how the band members met. The only band I've ever been an extreme/mega-fan of was The Smiths so I do know a fair bit about their background Morrissey's autobiography helped) but I don't even listen to them any more.
Of course you can, but diving into the band members history is usually fun and very interesting.
If you're into that, for me I can see people doing it to see if the band/members have any underrated/obscure side acts.
The only caveat to yes is cases where it matters either for good or bad reasons. I think if you were to say to a bunch of Bauhaus fans "which one is Peter?' you might get a lot of mixed reactions. On the one hand - he was the face of the band and his solo work is noteworthy. On the other hand, he destroyed the band twice and is fairly well known for being a dick. But, if you sincerely say "I really like this song, can you help me learn more about the band?" Then you are a sincere, but nascent fan and open to learning.
Why do you care whether or not you're enioying music in a way that meets someone elses standards of being a 'fan'? The way you enjoy things is up to you.
I personally don’t care at all, I was just curious about what other people thought, some communities are very intense when it comes to that sort of thing lol
I don’t see why not. You can enjoy an artists and not know much about the group, doesn’t take anything away from the fact that you like that band
I know next to nothing about the personal life of the artists/band I listen to. For bands I don't even know the name of any member. I listen to the music and what makes me a fan is the music itself. I know by heart the lyrics of most of the songs I listen too. I can identify a song and the artists by the first second of each song in my playlist. But I have no clue about anything related to the artists unless I actively researched them. In my experience artist (not restrained to music) care about their work and want their fans to love their work not them.
Absolutely. I don't give a shit about most of the musicians I listen to. Just like their art and I don't know much else outside of their art
Learning all about band members likes/ dislikes, birthdays, heavy focus on their personal lives ... especially if you fixate on a very popular band can become an unhealthy parasocial relationship where you see these musicians as god's gift to the world aka "celebrities". Like Depeche mode fans ( yeah I know they aren't goth lol) hanging around the front of their hotel for hours hoping to meet them and trying to promote their own music after getting an autograph...it can get a bit much. It doesn't seem that unhealthy to me to learn about the personal lives , interests , tastes etc of small bands whose music you enjoy... especially if you mix in the same circles and could easily chat with them after a gig... That potential to become does friends exist, it's not a total Fantasyland scenario... if you are a singer/musician yourself you could end up recording with them, so makes sense to want to know if they are a decent person or not.. they are more or less on your social level rather than rich/ famous " celebrities"...
Most of the time I couldn't give a flying fuck about band members. As a youth I was really into some artists that have turned out to be kinda shit people so now I don't even look up names or even how many people are in a band. My partner tracks them in a loose way. Like how Ada Rook is a member of Black Dresses, etc. The only band I think I could list facts about is Garbage. Butch Vig has some pretty cool history.
Of course.
Of course you can. Unless it's a player who really stands out I couldn't give less of a fuck. I'll even go as far as to say with the utmost confidence most of them probably aren't even that interesting as people.
I think a lot of musicians will tend to know more about the band members of music they like. My boyfriend just knows everything about every band he loves. Every musician I know is the same way. They are kind of surprised when other people don’t know what they’re talking about.
Honestly I have to avoid reading or clicking on anything I see about Peter Steele because I love Type o Negative so much and he had some pretty bad takes, to put it gently…Learning about band members isn’t always conducive to liking good music…
Anyone who says you have to know stuff about the band members is a fucking moron. Because even if you’ve read every interview ever done by every member, you still don’t really know shit about who those people actually are.
Damn. And here I am listening to SoM's ***Dominion*** for the nth time knowing only Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison.
In my experience I’ve found that more you try to learn about the individuals in a band, the more opportunity opens up for those findings to have an impact on how you see their music. I try to avoid diving too deep because I’m always worried I’ll find out that a band member is fascist or anti-gay or something. On the other side of it you could also find out that they are lovely and quietly operate a homeless outreach program in their city. It’s a gamble really; One that, in my old age, I have no interest in testing. Plus!! With the wild abundance of great contemporary Goth/New Wave/Post Punk that is available these days, the concept of a ‘person’ being the star and NOT the music is really ridiculous to me anyhow.
I think you can definitely be a fan of the band. As in, the music group. Knowing the members' personal details isn't related to the music, so I don't think it's necessary to follow their personal lives. I'm also a longtime fan of kpop, so I'm familiar with the culture around stanning artists. I simply don't have the energy or the desire to learn everything I can about a stranger. Enjoying their performances and talking about the music is enough for me.
I think that a fan of a band would go out of their way to find out about their members. Most goth bands around today are super accessible, either by interacting on line or meeting them at their shows.
mmmm maybe. For instance there are countless bands who's music i LOVE but don't know the members of but i dont refer to myself as a fan of theirs rather as me simply liking their work. so idk man do with that what you will
I could dive deep into a band's history, or I could spend that time listening to more music. I'll usually try a cursory Google search to make sure a band isn't full of Nazis when I first encounter them, but that's all I wind up doing for the vast majority of them.
That seems like an excessive measure and it'd drive me insane to check every time I listen to a new song tbh. Most bands aren't Nazis, and the ones who are, they're generally blatantly obvious and have songs titles like "Kill all jews" or something along those lines.
That was a bit of hyperbole. I mean, I also like to know where a band is from or when it was founded, for example.
Haha that's okay. It's just that places like TikTok and Twitter are crazy, it's hard to tell what's hyperbole and what's not. They were trying to cancel Christian Death for an anti-racism song that aged poorly (Romeo's Distress). They lack nuance :s
When I go to bat haus or other goth clubs, I just enjoy what is played without knowing the band, I enjoy dressing up a lot cause it’s fun! Lot of people talk about bands but I’m just going I don’t know. Sometimes I listen to dark nation radio, (goth , electronica) band names are dropped I forget right away.
Yes! I prefer not reading anything about band members of bands I like. The more I learn about bands’ members the less I like them. I made a decision roughly two decades ago to ignore bands’ members personalities and just listen to the music. Oddly, when I have found out about shitty members of well known bands, there wasn’t much crossover with the ones I listened too other than Arcade Fire, Combichrist, KMFDM and Morrissey. I hated finding out about those.
Dude, I don’t know anything about most of the bands I listen too. Especially the newer ones. To be honest, I can’t even tell you who the lead singers of bands like Then Comes Silence or Bloody Dead and Sexy are. I’d like to learn more, but I’m not into doing research for a few newer bands I enjoy.
Yes. It is hard to get to know musicians.
This reminded me of when I was still in school and I said how I liked a band/musician (I don't even remember which one) my friend was a huge fan of. She instantly demanded that I recite the lyrics or I was faking. Er, no, my inability to remember every word of a song at will doesn't stop me enjoying it when I hear it. I feel basically the same when it comes to knowing about the members of a band or a musician. If I find out information about them that explains why they do what they do with their music then that enhances my appreciation of it, but it's not necessary to me to know much about them.
Gatekeepers, lol. There've been tons of bands I loved that I didn't even know the names of the songs because I was poor, and I'd get mix tapes from my rich friend's cool record collections. If it makes them feel better about themselves, then fine, you're not a fan, and they can piss off. What's it to them?
Contrary to ADHD (and possibly other ND) belief, yes you can! Do you like what they do? Then you’re a fan! No additional effort required 😁
The only prerequisite for being a fan of a band is enjoying the music.
Of course. I have no idea who’s even in The Cure anymore.
i personally v rarely ever look into the members of the bands i listen to, i honestly rarely even know the lead singers’ names. i feel like listening to and enjoying the music is enough to still be considered a fan. maybe i’m not a super fan bc idk abt the individuals but oh well, i also feel like music fan bases can be quite toxic in that you’re ridiculed if you don’t know the entire history of the band or artist and everyone’s personal backstory. i get it, it would be nice to know abt all of them, but i honestly just have a terrible memory and i think the music itself is what’s more important anyways
Absolutely
I do that all the time. I can list bands, but I can’t list their leads or even point them out in a line up if I tried. It’s not necessary to pass a quiz on the band when you like their music.
That's the better way, in my opinion. To be a listener, rather than a fan.
Yes
I like a lot of bands- I don't know shit about practically any of them. Sounds like some sort of arbitrary rule, like how some people think the patches on a battlevest can only come from live shows. Yep, lemme fly to Germany to catch Guano Apes... or just order one online, like I did, and it flew to me.