A lot of people claim they have strong passion in music, but do you really? If you think you have true passion in music here are several things you must think about. These are the things that shows people that you have your true passion. Lets look at it now.

You don’t really have true passion in music if:

• you only listen to mainstream and popular music. People think they have passion in music if you listen to only stuff you see in the Billboard Top 200 and stuff on the radio. I know some people like this. The type of people who refuses to listen to old school music or refuses to listen to underrated bands/artists they’ve never heard of. You try to talk them into listening to other stuff, but they don’t. Some folks would only listen to popular stuff and it’s very strange to me, in my opinion.
• you don’t play an instrument or even sing. In my eyes, if someone wants to show true passion in music they must play an instrument or sing or something. They don’t have to be good. Just play or do something. Any instrument, it can even be a harmonica or a flute. Doesn’t matter.
• you never listened to the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Ac/Dc, Neil Young or any legendary classic rock band – Any music lover who has never listened to any legendary classic rock band is not an actual music lover, in my opinion.
• don’t go to live concerts on a regular basis – Whether you go to local concerts or go see national bands at arenas, it’s all good. This is a fine way to show your true passion.
• you don’t see music as your #1 priority in life – A lot of famous musicians in the music industry got where they are today ’cause they all saw music as their #1 priority. Music is all these guys do. Family and life outside of music maybe more important, yes, but according to actual music lovers, they would place music as #1 than anything else.  If you place music as #2, and place life/family first… sorry, you don’t have true love for music.
• you can’t pick your own favorite albums instead of songs – Many music listeners would pick a certain song to listen to off an album instead of listening through the entire album. I notice some people would skip certain songs they don’t like and go to the next to listen to that they do like. This isn’t what actual music lovers do. They listen through an entire album like a piece of art. Many true music lovers are never picky with songs they don’t like, most I know would love an album all the way through. I’m the same way. People don’t listen to records like that anymore and it’s really sad.
• you don’t know a lot about your favorite music artist or band – I find some music fans if they like a certain band or artist, they know nothing about ’em. Don’t know their music history, don’t know their discography, don’t memorize their lyrics, how they play their live shows, what kind of guitars or instruments they play, or whatever. A true music lover would KNOW EVERYTHING about their favorite music artist or band. I think it’s very important to know as much information about your favorite music artist as you possibly can. For example, I know a lot about Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, David Bowie, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, etc.
• you don’t understand what it’s like being a musician – It is difficult talking about music to people who aren’t musicians. If you talk guitars, amps or music theory to non-musicians, they would be like, ‘eh, whatever”, but when you talk to other musicians about this stuff, they would understand what you’re talking about.
• you don’t read about music – People would listen to music, but a lot of them don’t read anything about it. Reading books, magazines, etc. about the industry. A real music lover would do these things. Keep up to date of what’s going on in the world of music is important.
• you only listen to one genre – I hate this question, “what kind of music do you listen to” for many reasons. It annoys me. A lot of folks out there would only listen to one genre, a certain genre that you like. A real music lover would listen to pretty much everything. Rock n’ roll, metal, country, pop, R&B, classical, blues, jazz, etc. I don’t listen to one genre, I pretty much listen to everything if you’ve noticed. I understand people’s taste in music and people are entitled to their own opinions, but there’s plenty of music out there. Listening to other stuff won’t hurt ’cause I think if I listen to one genre all the time, it would bore me.

Enjoy.

Kev