Great choice, Tame Impala is great because he's fantastic but his music is also really catchy so it satisfies the mainstream while still being interesting
I used to work in a v corporate agency type place. I did this exact thing with Tame and got met with “Josh, what is this??”. And then the same generic 25 songs “indie pop” playlist was put back on. Very happy I got out of there.
For me coworker music is those RUclips playlists “Top 100 classic rock songs of all time 🔥🔥’’ or ‘’IBIZA SUMMER MIX 2024 - Best of tropical deep house mix’’
NO SHUT UP because the other day I walked into my job and my coworker had on the speakers the fricking "IBIZA SUMMER MIX 2024" I kid you not 😭😭😭 it was the same 8 songs repeating over and over it was pain
Funniest thing is the mall radio in a non-English speaking country where half or more of the people there don't know or get the lyrics, they're usually playing lots of popular 2000s songs that are obviously about sex
Even inoffensively you gotta love Japanese department stores playing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" followed by "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" from _South Pacific_ . They don't know how to normie.
@@DeutschlandDenDeutschen1848 That's...That's just normal text in italics, not cursive. Cursive is straight up an entirely different style of writting letters, not just "normal letters but we tilted them a little."
I had a coworker that was 27 and exclusively listened to Disney music, like the musical numbers from the movies. She said that other music was inappropriate and vulgar. This is a grown women who regularly takes pride in breaking up marriages by convincing the wife to cheat on the husband with her, after multiple 'no' responses and then getting them drunk most of the time. She was a truly vile person, so glad I never have to see her again.
I worked with a veterinarian like this. In every surgery she would play Disney music, with the exception of Christmas music starting in early November.
That's just you being nice. Most normies truly have no taste in music. I mean, well... If a person actually likes that "happy" song, it's like giving someone shit instead of icecream, and them eating it and honestly saying it tastes great.
i wouldn’t say that but it’s like music that doesn’t have a dedicated fanbase. like taylor swift is super popular, plays on the radio, and i’ve heard a lot of people call her stuff bland, but i probably wouldn’t consider her coworker music cause of how she builds her fanbase. same goes for a lot of female pop singers or rappers
I worked in a supermarket for 7 months. The only music that was playing was this stuff that I can only describe as copyright free music. Always the same "playlist". It was quite literally just background music. So glad I made it out of there.
Yeah I worked at a grocery store once and it was definitely just a single shuffled playlist. OMCs “How Bizarre” and REMs “Shiny Happy People” were the only two songs that didn’t play multiple times a day or really often at all so those two were the only ones that got me through that year
I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to the same generic pops songs on my grocery stores speaker, but I know I’ve definitely listened to the playlist all the way through at least twice against my will God save me
I also work at a grocery store. I haven't seen our store playlist, but whoever put it together had the decency to make it massive (multiple days long) so you never hear the same song twice in a shift. also, most of it is ignorable, but there are some ugly ducklings that are too sonically noisy and command the attention while having nothing to chew on, which I consider the worst kind of music
I’ve been working part time at a supermarket for 2 years, the playlist is just the same recycled songs over and over again. Which is why I bring my earphones with me
My dad works in retail and hes been working there so long sometimes he just doesnt want to listen to songs on the radio anymore since he listened to the song to much.
Thing is. The music isn't bad. It's just so basic, and you hear it everywhere, from the radio in a car, to the speakers in the supermarket and at that little store you go to everyday to grab your cheap beer. That you just go from "Oh that is kinda catchy" to "HOLY FUCK TURN IT OFF, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" in a matter of days, when one of your friends plays it, like they discovered the fucking golden egg of music.
@@RottenHeretic it was basically a pop rock radio that played the same thing for 6 hours per day. And the music were so bad like it was either overplayed songs like « somebody that I used to know » or love song things with whispery vocals that haunt my mind every so often 😭
I am an ADDICT for music, I only listen to artists with ZERO VIEWS, I must be the FIRST PERSON to listen to a track, this is my curse and I will continue to worship my POOPCORE.
The worst part of warehouse work with somebody's bluetooth speaker is that it's the same 15ish tracks on their spotify radio nonstop. And then they shit themselves when you put on something that they aren't familiar with even it's a really well known band like Rush.
I regularly put game music on the aux. I'm just always amused at the range of reactions. If you're a line cook, F-Zero soundtracks work VERY well during a busy rush.
I work at a bodyshop and a guy who works close to me has a speaker on which he plays the same playlist of like 30 of the most popular rock songs. All day. Everyday. If i hear thunder or californication one more time i might blow a fuse...
this makes me thankful that the people i worked with in the auto industry had taste. they were always switching up what they were listening to. one day i’d walk in and hear bluegrass, the next jazz, the next lil peep, the next youngboy. you never knew
@geekstinkbreath its infinitely better than what played on the radio when i worked retail/sales, but even the best music becomes annoying when its constantly on repeat
To me, "coworker music" would be whatever five songs my local adult contemporary "variety" radio station is currently playing on repeat. Most aren't bad songs, they just get annoying after being played constantly.
After being stationed in Texas, Country as a whole genre started becoming coworker music. I know there's some variety, but when half the songs you hear are the same 5 songs from Luke Combs, it gets old.
I like listening to the Diamond City Radio from Fo4 when I drive sometimes, it’s funny to hear the host bugging out over the brotherhood while I’m just chilling in the car
Tht reminds me, I once made the mistake of putting some LA Noire's station songs in the playlists I made for my non-music friends. I put "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" just because it was a bop for me at that time.
The internet has really made people even meaner and more judgmental than before. I feel like everyone has turned into that one angry guy at the bar that always have an explanation for why any topic actually sucks.
@@vSIG_ Nahh, I don't think it's as simple as seething nerd proclaiming what is 'real'. I genuinely believe its a colossal shame that we have such vast amounts of amazing recorded music but due to the way its distributed and the financial incentives, 99% of the time we are pummelled with the 0.01% most popular songs in the world. There is so much great music out there that I believe everyone could benefit from greater exposure to, and its just tragic that it's so hard to make that happen. People aren't dumb NPCs, every 'coworker' with generic taste is capable of having their world expanded. The 'coworker playlist' is a beautiful idea, pushing familiar but new music. If our society at large wasnt so financially driven we would hear a lot broader range of music in general day to day life, I'm sure of it. It's not that it needs to be more 'real', its that it just needs to be more. I support every local music nerd spreading their knowledge in a tactful way that could genuinely enrich someones lives, be the co-worker who shares something valuable even if they cannot reciprocate (ESPECIALLY then!). Maybe that way we can finally slay the five headed Maroon beast and bring peace to the land 👏
I have 2 experiences with folks who play coworker/NPC music. Either their knowledge of music is entirely controlled by the algorithm or they actually have a vast knowledge of music and are chronic people pleasers.
There are many more options though. To come up with only two says a lot already. I reach periods where I can’t endure what I’ve been listening to and I pop the radio on or listen to a playlist somebody else made of music I don’t like at all because I don’t wanna listen to my own music anymore. It happens a lot when I spend a lot of time listening to music and also playing it in the background.
@@imlivelaffluvvson you realize I’m saying in my experience? That doesn’t mean all of reality has to align with my experience. It’s an anecdote, few anecdotes don’t have exceptions.
I heard that until the 1980's low class restaurant menus in America always included pictures of a few items, so the fraction of illiterate patrons could order with dignity. Similarly for the people pleasers, one item on the menu would be circled, with the phrase "most popular!"
It is _so_ refreshing, so _goddamn_ refreshing, to hear someone talk about music tastes without trying to shit all over others to try and feel superior. Like those tik toks about coworker music are just adding to the insecurity people feel about themselves but that comment you read later on finally calls out this behaviour. I really appreciate what you're trying to do here
Well depends because if it is a person that is gonna likely be putting intentionally or terrible nsfw an wreck whatever the bussiness is like to the extent that it costs me a career man nah bruh but I mean fwiw if it is just background noise idk if I woulc care etc. @@meaganolivia
It is amazing how being a hipster has evolved. I remember being 14 and being super proud of my obscure music taste, crystal castles, explosions in the sky, whole catalog of circus records. I just had more time to dive so deep into youtube. That is something that my chronically online teen self did not know. I still try to dig deep here and there,
Being a hipster now it the same but you’re called a poser if you’re not like a level 10 hipster ( i would know because im the one who calls others posers)
@@Flamingbannas hipsters are just pretentious douchebags who always wanted to be popular back in highschool, but were too physically frail and uncoordinated to be jocks and too socially awkward to hang with the "cool kids", so they try to compensate as adults by trying to be "unique", but they always end up looking and acting exactly like all the other hipsters. Go into any urban coffee shop and you'll see what I mean.
Gen Z: coworker music Millennials: coworker music is really npc music Gen X: npc music is really elevator music Boomers: elevator music is really muzak Silent Generation: muzak is really easy-listening
dude stop. Not a single "MiLlEnNiAl" has EVER uttered "NPC" much less "NPC Music". Yall always try too hard for internet points and you don't get far enough in school - but in the end it doesn't even matter.
subgenres of coworker music includes: five below core, dog pageant core, americas got talent core, jeep wrangler commercial core, but we call that stomp clap hey
Oh my God. I made a long-ass comment trying to describe video game trailer music. It's literally Jeep Wrangler core! "A lot of what I would call 'tough' boom clap. A lot of 'whoah-oh'" It pains me 🤣😭
@@Dawnoh506 all talent show rock-- I also agree, the "woah-oh-oh" in stomp clap is literally "I am 1/8th cherokee" in music form and it drives me up a wall. it all sounds like Disney movie trailer music
this happened to me two weeks ago when i put on the prog rock station at my workplace (whoever's working front counter at my work gets to choose the pandora station) and my boss shut it off after like 20 minutes 😭😭 he like NEVER changes the station btw edit: he never switches it when i play the metal station tho lol
I think that there is a paradox in that other people also choose their "safe" music when asked about it at work, which makes everyone experience the coworker music syndrome to some extent. You're going to be thinking 'Whats the least weird music that I can say I listen too' when asked, and it's going to be a song that you heard on the radio or on spotify or youtube, thinking, this isn't so bad after all, but really it doesn't repressent what you listen to at all. You know that a lot of people seem to like it, so you're thinking a guy from work might like it too. I think you're also likely to not recommend the stuff that makes you feel deeper emotions because of how personal those songs may seem to you. Ultimately because you don't want to make yourself seem complicated or excentric, but also because you're not in the mood to get judged about your personal tastes in a social situation that wouldnt exist outside of work. I've done this a bunch of times and you basically only share parts of yourself that are uncommon if you notice a common thread, never unprompted.
For sure, though it's a bit of a pity because I love hearing what music other people like to listen to. It's kind of...weird/cute/sad(?) how self-conscious people (myself included) tend to be of their taste in music lmao
@@sxmvp I think many people have moments that they might not even remember, of showing things to people in their early to late teens, and getting teased, side eyed or worse for it. I'd guess that there are a lot of adults out there that want to share their authentic taste in things, but are unconsciously or consciously thinking about these moments, both when people open up to them (not knowing how to respond positively to someone elses weirdness) and when they want to do it themselves. I think there is an emotional and a habitual part to it. Like when you've gotten over your emotions about things and feel more brave, you still have the habits there and act how you used to after getting teased, unconsciously conditioned to behave in that way. I don't expect anyone to get my ambient black metal phase though, haha! Some things are just difficult to explain, even to kind and open minded people. I feel like we should do that with people we know some times, because since when has anybody that's worth keeping scrutinized you over your authentic self? For coworkers I understand being strategic, but maybe we should practice giving anything authentic, at the very least.
The thing about terms like coworker music is that it isn't supposed to be broken down to what it literally is. It's supposed to paint a picture that a majority of people can instantly relate to with close to no explanation.
I mean, I didn’t know what it was. I don’t get what the internet’s obsession is with making things “not needing an explanation” when we have the internet for seeking out that explanation.
As a young black guy…I’m nervous to use the aux ONLY when I’m around other black people. The balance has to be just right or they WILL say something. And it’s only happened with other black people lol.
As a young white guy I use my aux chances to play the 4+ hour Mouth Experience (Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, Mouth Moods, and Mouth Dreams) but then the lion king song was about to hit during the road trip to Lambert's during the solar eclipse and just decided to pass the aux around each song and listened to some Heavy Metal Mongolian Throat Singing and it was pretty nice.
@@fipo5110 no the guy is just wrong, coworker music is that mainstream, inoffensive music that you play when you dont want to be judged for your music taste of something. its like the music youd play infront of your grandma. at least thats the definition i see used the most
Sounds like the definition is “music that has existed for a little while.” I don’t remember people calling Radiohead “basic” in 2005 and I doubt a lot of people called AC/DC “inoffensive” in 1980. Maybe once we get too used to a certain kind of sound we start to look down on people who still like to hear it.
Part of it definitely is a novelty issue, but there is a limit to the number of times one can hear some songs played literally everywhere before we simply lose total interest in it, especially when it gets tied to things like ads that we hate (or simply loath for being ads with 0 substance).
Yes, in reality it's redundancy. Working 8 hour days, five days a week, for the past five years, I can tell you that I have completely lost any desire to listen to so-called "classic rock". Same station. Same Playlist. Every. Day. That to me is coworker music, or more specifically, employer music.
In 1980 AC/DC was considering hardcore and even offensive, or so I’ve heard. All those played out classic rock songs that I’m so sick of hearing were all once groundbreaking and exciting. Otherwise they wouldn’t have made it out of their time period to have the privilege to be overplayed, used in commercials and sporting events and milked dry until they lose all their bite and just became annoying meaningless background music lol
Look, just because a movie or TV show digs up an absolute classic and then makes it popular on tiktok and the radio doesn't mean thats now shit. It means someone on the production crew has good taste and everyone is getting a reminder, or discovering it for the first time.
I would consider their modern sound a hybrid of hip-hop, electronic, and metal elements. It's not always heavy, but when it is, it really is. I mean, not like deathcore heavy, but firmly under the metal umbrella.
There's a Kroger near my place that plays nothing but 80s new wave, and its a nice little refreshing break from the modern coworker music loop always playing at my job. (If i have to listen to "once i was 7 years old" one more time I'm committing arson)
anime music being considered NPC/coworker music is so hilarious because being caught liking anime at work nowadays is still possibly the death of your social life at corpo, especially with older coworkers
Looking at your profile pic, I'm going to say it probably depends on the anime. The difference between saying "I watch Kill La Kill and Mob Psycho 100" is going to sound different than "I watch Sukiite ii na yo and Oran House Club".
This probably applies to a specific age range. The vast majority of Gen X and older do not know or care about what anime is, and Gen Z people would not care at all if you like anime. A decent amount of millenials would both know what anime is and care that you liked it though.
I hate the NPC meme, or at least what it’s become. Especially in contexts like this where it becomes “haha I consume slightly different stuff then them”
It's not everyone being an npc, it's just a way to rib on people who consume the sort of music where you don't get how they have so fans, but they end up having fans. Even without specifying, I'm sure you have some artists like that.
Honestly if someone is trying to connect with you and you think their music is surface level, you should say thank you and then show them some more interesting stuff that you like. And never be like "oh I bet you haven't heard this" (unless like it's SoundCloud or bandcamp with like 100 plays 40 of which are you) Instead say "have you heard this? I think you'd like it" which makes them feel better like you're respecting their tastes and intelligence rather than coming off like a hipster d-bag
I agree with this, but I also like to see the beauty in what they listen to. For example, the seemingly basic music might have a good bassline or a good piano tone or something like that if you listen closer.
@@uklostwaveblokeyeah exactly you shouldn't be correcting other people's tastes, we should just all be more appreciative of one and other's tastes, then maybe in the process we'll get to share new music with people and discover new music
Yeah there's a difference between popular and generic. NPC music is music that *only* NPCs listen to. But there's plenty of popular music that is good and even people into more niche music can enjoy.
But some people have neither taste buds nor interest in food. I've never witnessed my elderly father put music on in his entire life, nor remark about the music playing anywhere in any context. He knows it exists but has less awareness of it's _character_ or _qualities_ than he's aware of different lawn grass species. He'll ignore it unless it's too loud or too long, when it needs the volume reduced or cut back with the lawnmower.
It's all about social leverage. The thing about NPCs is that since they are not selfaware you can make them feel like they are a minority even though they are the majority.
Love how the internet made people forget that we have a limited time in this world that each person decides to spend it in different ways, like, good that you can spend hours searching for the most underground music that no one ever heard, but I'm not subhuman just because the only time I get to hear new music is in the car radio
I will do the exact opposite of gatekeeping. You must listen to my favorite music. No buts. You will enjoy and love "Aphex Twin". You will enjoy and love "Nurse with Wound". You will enjoy and love "Sunn O)))". You will enjoy and love "Clown Core". You will enjoy and love "Hanatarash". You will enjoy and love "The Gerogerigegege". You will enjoy and love "clipping.".
I don't think people are even really gatekeeping with this label. At least not with the malicious intent people seem to ascribe to this online vocal minority. I think it's painfully isolating to be legitimately interested in something whilst not being able to connect with people through it. Either nobody around you is really as interested in it as you are, or you make that assumption out of your fear that that's the case. This is obviously a problem that is worse now than ever due to the isolating nature of online social circles. For the longest time peoples first experience making friends happened at school where there is a sort of monoculture that forms around your age group and location. That prompts you to try and connect with others that way in the future, but many times that doesn't actually work out. Especially as you get older and individuate yourself more and more through whatever interests catch your fancy. Adult life is almost never a monoculture. That is more true now than ever before, and the label of "Coworker" music comes from a frustration with our inability to connect in the spaces that have been created for us to live and work in, in the same way we were trained to as children. It comes from a lack of clear direction and a profound fear of isolation that many people feel entering adult life unprepared. I think for the majority of people it first happens with their parents. Your parents are old and out of touch with the things kids are interested in and so there is a painful disconnect that makes you see your parents as less than to cope with the fact that they aren't committed enough to you to get legitimately interested in what it is that you like. You don't want to think that the person who is raising you just isn't interested in you at all, so you tell yourself they are just dumb and feeble. "Really they are just incapable of taking an interest!" For every parent that takes that interest and tries to connect with their children, there are much more that try to force their kids to like the things that are familiar to them, or worse yet just neglect that connection entirely. Sometimes parents even feel resentment towards their children because they don't want to be made to feel old and out of touch, and as such purposely let that distance grow as kids become teens as a way of getting back at their own kids. This silent conflict, this cold war between parent and child is happening everywhere and all of the time. It creates adults that are completely unsuited for an adult social life, especially as it *barely* exists today. Some people take their reaction to this whole thing too far and get up their own ass, but it's really just hardcore cope to avoid dealing with the pain of being alone and uncared for. Think about that next time you see someone going to what is most likely the only outlet they have(the internet) to complain about the "Normies".
this is why i have a "socially acceptable" playlist, i put on my normal music with other people in the car once and it was the most awkward experience ever
I love how people are self righteous about what type of sounds they like going in their ears Edit: Maybe I should reword what I said. I’m saying that it’s dumb to be self-righteous for music that you didn’t even compose. You just like listening to it
It’s similar to when they fight with each other about whether a particular person that gets paid money to say things that make people laugh says enough things that they want to laugh at.
Yeah. It’s like, “Oh you listen to those sound waves? Well, lots of people listen to those specific waves, so your waves are not good as my waves that less people listen to.” Like who cares? Listen to your own waves.
This shit is so cyclical, it was the same stuff a decade ago, expect the focus changed. In 2010 it was "look at how good my music taste is, you should look up to me" and now in 2024 it's "look at how awful you taste is, you should feel bad". It's just the same old "mainstream is bad" argument but with added toxicity.
@@JustYourAverageMusicListener there is too much mainstream for that to ever be true. All it says is that you don't branch out. There are 7 billion people on this earth listening to global (and then regional) mainstream. You can find a couple you like.
@@JustYourAverageMusicListener because there's no substance to the critique. The mainstream isn't bad for any clear, discernible reason, its bad cuz its mainstream and mainstream is bad cuz its mainstream! its just edgy young adult yapping. there is nothing more ordinary than the desire to be different.
That's because mainstream is indeed bad. When you cater to everyone, you please no one. Corporates have gotten incredibly good at catering to everyone, which means they've also gotten incredibly good at pleasing no one.
The definition and Radiohead as example totally relates to me. Just yesterday when I played music through the speaker, No Surprises started playing. Suddenly my coworker shazam it and said " I never knew you liked this type of song". I guess my music taste is coworker music for my coworkers.
I don't care what anybody says. Radiohead made some of the best and most creative music out there. Calling it anything close to generic ass pop playing on the radio, which is what npc music really is, is about the hottest of hot takes imaginable. Yes Radiohead was popular. So were the beatles, so was pink floyd, so was any other GREAT musician and band. So was freaking Mozart in his day. There's a reason for that. But that doesn't mean what they wrote was pop, nor that they made "npc music". It's all about creativity and what you do with your art. Generic pop for the masses is generic because it isn't daring, sounds the same as every other pop song, hops on trends, and has absolutely nothing valuable to say in terms of lyrics or is blatantly sexually manipulative. It's melodies are a variant of every other pop song's melody. The chords are likely just 3 chords on repeat. There is a massive focus on singing, not on musical direction, and in the same vein, a massive focus on bodily attractivity of said singer. It relies heavily on "kicks" and "drops" that you've heard 3 billion times already, and it will be forgotten and irrelevant about 5 years from now when a billion other similar songs came out. THAT'S supposed to be npc music. The generic trash. The miley cyruses and Taylor swifts, every mumble rapper ever in existence, dubstep, electro, techno. That shit. Doesn't matter if it's "edgy" or not, it's still extraordinarily generic.
@@RedFloyd469 Who cares. You are not better than others just because you dont like pop music. You are actually dumber because you shit on electronic music when radiohead...surprise...used electronic music as their inspiration! I just hope you are 14 lol.
@@DeutschlandDenDeutschen1848 When I hear people talk about anime music they lean closer to YOASOBI, Kotonohouse or Aiobahn, because a lot of anime music just fits into ordinary genres and doesn't need their own genre. Even Cruel Angel's Thesis isn't really "anime music" as much as it is "Japanese song that played as the OP to an anime". I also hear "anime music" used to refer to J-Pop as well, which is just wrong imo as half the time those have no association to anime.
I think snobbery and elitism and gatekeeping do have their use cases. Otherwise we'd be getting musicians like TX2. Hell, even in other things, like cars, we have teslas and shit. Some people shouldn't be allowed into the scene and those two are examples of people that shouldn't've been invited.
@@J.PC.Designs especially in the car world, where idiots with a 20 year old civic with 2 spoilers and a cheap, fake bodykit wants to be praised just as much as a guy with a hypercar
@@J.PC.DesignsI don't know if I necessarily agree with that man. That sort of things I think happens anyway no matter if you gatekeep or not gatekeep it. I feel like that's just an excuse to justify being pretentious about how great you are in your music taste. People who uninvitedly do things like that are rare but it's something that just happens no matter what. Like back then when hip-hop was new, do you think people gatekeeping hip-hop from white rappers or white people even stopped corny white rappers from coming up into the scene? No, it's just something that's always gonna happen.
i work at a grocery store overnight and they dont shut off the pa system even at night when only 4 employees are in the store. even my manager told me the music is awful. tell me that isnt corporate trying to brainwash us. i get it during the day almost but overnight? it makes no sense. it is the same 40 garbage songs interspersed with the same 5 ads regarding in store services and specials. legitimate psychological torture. can we get a quick moment of silence for all of our brothers out there being forced to listen to brainwashing autotuned corporate filth just trying to get through their shift and not snap? I previously didnt work retail and didnt realize how much of a blessing it is to not have this music playing. Noticing a legitimate degrade in my mental health since hearing this crap constantly. Also to my nonamerican friends, is this the case in your country as well? Stay strong my friends.
@@rowanweaver3241 Though I agree, the same can be said for something like black metal. People who get to the point of listening to Mayhem tend to go out of their way to make that story their entire personality. Obscure music can be just as cringe. It's not about whether the music is obscure enough, it should be about the actual artistic integrity of the music.
@@rowanweaver3241 no one should be shamed for anything they like, especially if it means something to them. I like listening to Imagine dragons every now and then cause it reminds me of my mom and our time spent together.
anime music being included by that one guy is wild. if i played hawatari nioku centi i think most people in my vicinity would be terrified at the genre switchups
i tihnk he means openers and shit, i have a friend that listens to that one song from one piece that goes like "yohohohooo yo ho ho hoooo," its right after the 1pc intro song on his playlist and it drives me up the fucking WALL!!!
Coworker music to me sounds like, turning on the radio: Listening to the same top hits 50 times in an 8hr shift. Simply, why I dont listen to the radio anymore.
Radio was the only thing on in the shop at my school I used to go to. This radio station is known for playing pretty much the same top 50 rock songs of the last 40-50 years. Queue Tom Sawyer playing every 20 minutes and I grew an insane resentment for it.
Because sometimes their brand of music is objectively bad and actively malicious to the creative space of music making in general. It's like telling people "everyone has their own interests when it comes to business :D" when your friend specifically advances corporate monopoly interests Some peoples tastes genuinely make the world a more awful place.
It's just banter at the end of the day. Hugely popular music (regardless of how bad their music is) will continue to sell out stadiums and have huge fanbases. As long as no one takes the criticism too seriously, we'll all be fine.
Probably because they have nothing to be proud about in life, nothing of value they create, so they delude themselves that the content they consume makes them special and superior.
"What matters is everyone is trying to connect on that little level" I think is the most important quote from the video. I've definitely had coworkers be like "Oh dude I heard you like metal. Check out this song!" and it's some super entry-level metal song like, Idk Bodies by Drowning Pool, or I imagine if I had a coworker that liked rap and I was like "Oh you like Rap? Dude check out THIS song" and showed them some B-Side from Eminem they'd roll their eyes... BUT BUUTT These coworkers are going out of their way to connect with you. They found something that they liked that they know you liked, and they shared it with you because they want you to see them as more than just some random person you work with, they're your friend. I send my friends songs I like. My friends send me songs I like. And if my coworker who only listens to jazz and gospel music is like "Hey I heard you like deathcore, idk what that means but this Imagine Dragons song is really heavy :)" it means they're thinking of you. And that's cool.
You’re a millennial (or an OG) if your lofi is “adult swim music.” Feel so sorry for people who weren’t introduced to lofi until 2018 or later. 08-2016 is where it’s at (plus 90s jdilla, RIP).
For some reason I’m starting to think “npc-” or “coworkermusic” are just alternative terms for “Popular music I don’t like, because I’m not like other girls.” Like, I listen to stuff from electro swing to punk rock. But I also really like Imagine Dragons. I know it’s a term describing people JUST listening to mainstream songs, but geez.
There are some people who just use it to refer to anything popular. IMO an NPC is specifically someone who never really engages with the world at all and only consumes media on the absolute surface level. The type of person who only realizes they wasted their life when on their deathbed.
i don't think we can pull the "taste is personal" card all the time anymore, music has essentially been turned into a market pumping out the most generic soulless stuff by design, it is a cultural thing that you get to experience, turned into a product that you can easily digest
That’s true it’s very nuanced, I have a coworker that’s a music enciclopedia and knows about shoegaze and post punk all the way to posthardcore and electroclash. But we also have the ones into regional mexicano and corridos tumbados, so it’s not really a genre, but more than a derogatory term to downplay someone’s taste in mainstream music
as a barista, there’s a type of music that has a stronger presence than coworker music with a bit more nuance to it: indie vibes / chill cafe music go into a third wave coffee shop for 30 minutes and tell me you don’t hear one of the following: Clairo, Chappell Roan, Mitski, Men I Trust, The Marias, boygenius, Cigs After Sex, maybe Tame Impala. there’s also the “stomp-clap” residual that’s still circulating
TRUE i've seen a few cafes like this. was pleasantly surprised to hear tame impala in the wild, breath of fresh air in a country town which plays the usual country pop type thing
I’ve been a DJ for my local college radio station for about 2 years now. We have a big set of party speakers that we are asked to bring out to school event and normally I’m the guy in charge of setting them up and picking a playlist. Without fail I will always get people who call the playlist middle school dance music then request I play Kanye West, and I tell them I can’t go play anything explicit, then they asked for the clean version and I tell them we don’t do the clean version because normally half the song is buzzed out, then finally they make a request and it is something already on my playlist. I think the issue is a lot the time that if you are putting on music for everyone at a party it does have to be generic or, “coworker music.” where it’s almost impossible to play a song everyone loves so you have to settle for one that no one hates. Personally the best success I have found is trying to cycle between top of the iceberg songs from different genres like some Queen, Miley Cyrus and Earth Wind and Fire, where people who like the genre feel included but people who don’t aren’t getting blasted with music they hate. And before you ask, professors bring their kids to school events so i can’t play anything with profanity.
“The next time you call something coworker music, I want you to remember one thing. You’re also a coworker. And ya not the main character!” Aha! Jokes on you, you’ve got that wrong! I don’t listen to coworker music because I’m not some coworker! I’m unemployed!
Frankly pal music has no language. You shouldn’t need to know the lyrics to the song in order to vibe. Can you sing along? No. But you can still dance (or do a jig).
Our corporate office supply store decided to spice up the playlist 4 months ago, this included the song 'Unholy'. A majority of the older workers are Christian and absolutely despised the change because of this one song, to the point of emailing corporate to remove it. They ended up reverting it to the old playlist.
The avenged sevenfold song? Yeah I can see why they’d want to change that during work hours, irregardless of the name. Sick riff but it’s THE metalcore riff, it’s been in like 300 songs
My cannon of coworker music, from personal experience: - Pump up the Jams (It was a bizarre experience watching my 46 year old white ass truckdriving Albertan coworkers rap "get your booty on the floor tonight" for the first time) - Queen. Everything they ever made. Peak coworker music. - ABBA. Once me and my boss and a few coworkers had to restock first aid kits, and it took like three hours, and I had a speaker with me. My boss said I should turn it on. I asked "what do we want to listen to?", which was a smart move because I was listening to Xiu Xiu before this, and my boss said, without hesitation "ABBA. I love ABBA." - Linkin Park. This is my personal coworker music. I want my coworkers to think of me as a Linkin Park enjoyer.
Queen and ABBA are popular for a reason though. But songs like Don't Stop Me Now And Bohemian Rhapsody I can totally understand, because they've been overplayed and memed on to death.
I was at a concert of Messiaen's Livre Du Saint Sacrament a couple days ago and... holy shit, it was the most incredible musical experiences I've ever had
Spotify thinks I LOVE RHCP, tho It's not something I seek out and I get too into my work to swap the station, and my coworkers have noticed, expressing their love for the band, o no. I am just fighting that algo with Spotify lately, it thinks I LOVE a handful of artists I don't dislike enough to block the song, but were never things I sought out and are certainly not staples for me. Stuff like Gwen Stefani, whom I love from afar for what her music meany for folks back in the day, but never really a fan other than her purses in yonder years. Gdi, Spotify I like retro SOUNDING pop. My ass had too much internalized misogyny in the 00's to enjoy actual retro pop outside of quite rare occasions.
Used to work at a french deli with one of my best friends for about six months. We used to blast pantera and death grips when we were closing to ward off the end of day people who were just there for the 1+1 on the croissants. Then we'd get to keep all the croissants to ourselves. Good times.
I enjoy listening to Japanese music, and by extension anime songs. People like to tell me "they listen to anything", but they always raise an eyebrow to anything in Japanese, assuming that it is tied to an overly sexualized animated kids show. Thus, I keep one playlist with the "regular" music for when i get passed the aux. To me, the existence of "socially acceptable non-npc music" is ironic. People dont want to be the NPC so badly they try to distance themselves from it in the exact same way as everyone else.
By anime music, do you mean like soundtracks? Because I’ve noticed that people who listen to OSTs from shows or video games are usually seen as below coworker music on this music hierarchy from what I’ve seen.
No they think youre weird bc you're listening to music in a language you don't speak, which is entirely fine to do, a large amount of the music I like is Japanese, but normie people don't listen to foreign music and would likely have the same reaction if you showed them a song in literally any other language
@@bigcorgi i will never understand anime fans and by that extension japanase music fans. whats the point of buying into these stuff if youre never gonna truly appreciate deeper meaning of them unless youre trying to learn the language. so i'd say they are on par with coworker music, if not worse.
As a musician/artist, I 100% agree😂 But hey, only if you put yourself in those lame circles. Most folks in the music world are willing and able to find something to relate with one another on, and the music glues it all together ❤️ 🎶
When I tell people my favourite artist is the weeknd, they automatically assume that Im a shallow person and that my music taste is pretty mainstream. It's not, just that I've been listening to him since day one 14 years ago, and he just stuck with me since.
I think the term coworker music was created because coworkers are often people that you spend a lot of time with regularly but may not share much in common with. They may be very different from you and have very different music taste, hence the coining of the term due to this commonly shared experience of being mystified by a coworkers unique and foreign music taste
I often get nervous people won’t like what I like while sharing music, so I usually prefer to share mainstream “coworker” music so we can make fun of it together and just take it less seriously because it’s less personal. There are a lot of good mainstream songs as well I found out, not by any means genius lyrically but just nice to listen to which is the whole point of music to most people.
nah on twitter it meant something like music youre only comfortable sharing with someone youre forced to keep an arms length of intimacy with, such as a co worker
Worked at a surf shop for a year and when it wasn’t surf movies playing on the tv they played music. Shouts out to my homie who never stopped playing primus and Alice In Chains along with his own music he made in his band. Dude had anything but coworker music taste
Here's the distinction though: NPC music can be dirty. Gen X NPC music includes NWA and Ice Cube (hehe, so naughty to play Fuck tha Police), Millennial NPC music includes 50 Cent and Eminem (ooh, I'm such an edgelord playing a song about having a BBC). But Coworker music? Even if you play the clean versions of these songs, you get sent to HR with a warning. So Coworker music ends up becoming ultra-Adult Contemporary.
the big issue is, due to our current social structure, people believe that more obscure, less popular things are cool. People like it when someone has unique interests, and I think the idea is similar to that of how teenagers start breaking rules and starting new trends, and therefore everyone does the same. With every new generation comes more unique things we’ve never seen before. Another thing to add to the teenager example is, a lot of the time a child can mock an adult and the adult will more commonly feel insecure about themselves, feeling they’ve peaked in life, while these teenagers are about to reach their peak. It’s an interesting dynamic, really. Sadly, we’ve normalized mocking people for interest that are totally fine, despite the fact that commercially we’re told to embrace our differences. but meh, all of that’s coming from a person barely entering their adolescence.
well I think to most, this supposed social structure doesn't even exist, it's a construct created by the nerds and chronically online I think it's worth mentioning that if you're in a circle that primarily listens to say...fiona apple, then the person that listens to imagine dragons is always going to be singled out lol.
It's not about embracing differences, it's about people who don't even have a proper taste to be different. Like if I like DnB and you like bluegrass that's chill. But if all you listen to is the most generic cynical corporate shit made to appeal to the lowest common denominator then you're just uncultured.
Its related to how no one can comfortably be themselves despite everyone being told to appreciate each others differences without judgement despite that being impossible by nature.
Mainstream commodification ruins art and always has, for millennia now. I will die on this hill. It’s been shown time and time again that SOLEY pursuing financial gain RUINS art. It’s not just music either, but everything from architecture to painting to sculpture. It’s simple really. When there is less financial incentive within any given art form, the creatives that art form attracts will be in it for the passion and mastery. Products need to be marketed to a mass audience to widen revenue streams and therefore will appeal to the lowest common denominator, or risk losing investments. For music in our era, this can mean losing radio time, losing performance slots at shows, DJs won’t play your stuff at events, big playlists won’t add your new song, ad agencies won’t reach out for a background track etc etc. To write this increasing trend of the commodification of art in all forms as some sort of teenage rebellion is very ignorant. I don’t see how your point about younger generations breaking trends is even relevant here since all mainstream music has been derivative for at least a decade now. Bland, safe, mass appeal NPC music is everywhere now because there is a massive financial incentive for it. This attracts businessmen, NOT artists. And businessmen don’t take risks like passionate artists do, they have much more to lose. This is also why every other movie coming out is a remake or reboot of something people once loved. The same reason why popular music has been derivative for over a decade now.
Mainstream commodification ruins art and always has, for millennia now. I will die on this hill. It’s been shown time and time again that SOLEY pursuing financial gain RUINS art. It’s not just music either, but everything from architecture to painting to sculpture. It’s simple really. When there is less financial incentive within any given art form, the creatives that art form attracts will be in it for the passion and mastery. Products need to be marketed to a mass audience to widen revenue streams and therefore will appeal to the lowest common denominator, or risk losing investments. For music in our era, this can mean losing radio time, losing performance slots at shows, DJs won’t play your stuff at events, big playlists won’t add your new song, ad agencies won’t reach out for a background track etc etc. To write this increasing trend of the commodification of art in all forms as some sort of teenage rebellion is very ignorant. I don’t see how your point about younger generations breaking trends is even relevant here since all mainstream music has been derivative for at least a decade now. Bland, safe, mass appeal NPC music is everywhere now because there is a massive financial incentive for it. This attracts businessmen, NOT artists. And businessmen don’t take risks like passionate artists do, they have much more to lose. This is also why every other movie coming out is a remake or reboot of something people once loved. The same reason why popular music has been derivative for over a decade now.
i used to work at an eye doctor’s office and our music was spotify. as the front desk person, my coworkers decided i was the one in charge of music 😭 i made a lot of different playlists for different moods, genres, vibes, etc. and it’s actually SO hard making playlists that are long and have no inappropriate lyrics and no cursing
These people are probably showing you the inoffensive music because they're too scared to expose their inner FREAK
Meanwhile the radio at my shaws:
"SEX IN THE AIR I DON'T CARE I LOVE THE SMELL OF IT" I'm not kiddong lmao
@@ghoulishgoober3122 LMAO AWESOME
FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME
If your coworkers won’t share their slut pop with you, that’s a violation of the very essence of slut.
@@ghoulishgoober3122Man, I haven't listened to Rihanna in a while.
they gave me the aux at the office *once* and I panicked and chose Tame Impala because I figured everyone could get down to it. I was right
LMAO
@@chaotic.content good choice
Great choice, Tame Impala is great because he's fantastic but his music is also really catchy so it satisfies the mainstream while still being interesting
I used to work in a v corporate agency type place. I did this exact thing with Tame and got met with “Josh, what is this??”. And then the same generic 25 songs “indie pop” playlist was put back on.
Very happy I got out of there.
I'd probably just put on Queen. Who hates Freddie's voice? Even the boring songs are pleasant to listen to.
For me coworker music is those RUclips playlists “Top 100 classic rock songs of all time 🔥🔥’’ or ‘’IBIZA SUMMER MIX 2024 - Best of tropical deep house mix’’
“Top 100 classic rock songs of all time’’ That video is gonna have the custody battle of the century with how litigious old labels are.
Totally
@@UndarZironically it’ll be fine since Content ID breaks when multiple parties claim the same video.
I came over to my uncles house once and he was just straight up listening to that Ibiza summer mix RUclips playlist on his tv 😭
NO SHUT UP because the other day I walked into my job and my coworker had on the speakers the fricking "IBIZA SUMMER MIX 2024" I kid you not 😭😭😭 it was the same 8 songs repeating over and over it was pain
Funniest thing is the mall radio in a non-English speaking country where half or more of the people there don't know or get the lyrics, they're usually playing lots of popular 2000s songs that are obviously about sex
Even inoffensively you gotta love Japanese department stores playing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" followed by "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" from _South Pacific_ . They don't know how to normie.
If it's eastern europe they probably know it's about sex, and that's why they like
@@pong9000"They don't know how to normie." I'll take it from someone that uses cursive in youtube comment.
@@DeutschlandDenDeutschen1848 That's...That's just normal text in italics, not cursive. Cursive is straight up an entirely different style of writting letters, not just "normal letters but we tilted them a little."
@@NuniaBiznaz Thanks^^
I had a coworker that was 27 and exclusively listened to Disney music, like the musical numbers from the movies. She said that other music was inappropriate and vulgar. This is a grown women who regularly takes pride in breaking up marriages by convincing the wife to cheat on the husband with her, after multiple 'no' responses and then getting them drunk most of the time. She was a truly vile person, so glad I never have to see her again.
Gaston IRL
that woman is a sociopath how do you do something like that and not see anything wrong with yourself??
and the cheating thing too I guess
Tbh, there's probably less people that regularly listne to Disney soundtracks like that than whatever you like, maybe YOU are the normie.
this actually made mad
I worked with a veterinarian like this. In every surgery she would play Disney music, with the exception of Christmas music starting in early November.
We all put on the most digestible tip of the iceberg of our music when we're handed the aux, but never seem to realise that others do the same
Precisely
You want me to put on heavy metal? * Puts on Metallica or system of a down.... Deep down inside. I want to put on the heaviest death metal I can.
Do it. I appreciate when people let their more daring tastes play. Sometimes you'll have similar tastes.@@johnnymarin5035
That's just you being nice. Most normies truly have no taste in music. I mean, well... If a person actually likes that "happy" song, it's like giving someone shit instead of icecream, and them eating it and honestly saying it tastes great.
Not always. A lot of people pretty much just listen to what's on the radio. And that's actually fine. I think that was the point of the video.
If my coworkers or the customers can't handle my taste for bluegrass infused death metal then that's their problem, not mine
Ngl I’m intrigued and I’m gonna need some recs immediately
You got my attention... xD
wait, go on mate
Please please please share with the class🥺 I am intrigued and interested
I prefer post-industrial techno country myself.
fuck it, mommy comforts you asmr, full volume, at work
"Awww who's mommy's good boy~ "
I support your chaos 🤟🔥
G.O.A.T.
True....
With the video streamed directly to every TV in the electronics department, of course. Like a true chad.
*mommy with big milkers
Some mf always brings a big JBL speaker to work and today I heard him play a bohemian rhapsody dubstep remix. Worst thing I’ve heard in a while.
Lmao
That sound hilarious I’d love if somebody played that
That is criminal AND elite NPC behavior! 😋
What’s the artist called lmao
I found it and it’s the Claudinho
Brasil & Harmonika Remix
So less just popular music but more popular music that is corny and not liked by people who are heavier into music
pretty much so, i don't think the weeknd is coworker music cause i respect him as an artist and i like what he does
i wouldn’t say that but it’s like music that doesn’t have a dedicated fanbase. like taylor swift is super popular, plays on the radio, and i’ve heard a lot of people call her stuff bland, but i probably wouldn’t consider her coworker music cause of how she builds her fanbase. same goes for a lot of female pop singers or rappers
@@misu73373Also, I’d argue at least some of his songs are hard to digest, some Trilogy tracks especially.
So what artists make popular music that is not corny and well liked by people, who are heavier into music? Something slightly wierd like Hozier?
@@samuelschonenberger so probably alternative artists that have made the top of the pop charts like Billie Eilish, Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan?
I worked in a supermarket for 7 months. The only music that was playing was this stuff that I can only describe as copyright free music. Always the same "playlist". It was quite literally just background music.
So glad I made it out of there.
Yeah I worked at a grocery store once and it was definitely just a single shuffled playlist. OMCs “How Bizarre” and REMs “Shiny Happy People” were the only two songs that didn’t play multiple times a day or really often at all so those two were the only ones that got me through that year
I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to the same generic pops songs on my grocery stores speaker, but I know I’ve definitely listened to the playlist all the way through at least twice against my will
God save me
I also work at a grocery store. I haven't seen our store playlist, but whoever put it together had the decency to make it massive (multiple days long) so you never hear the same song twice in a shift. also, most of it is ignorable, but there are some ugly ducklings that are too sonically noisy and command the attention while having nothing to chew on, which I consider the worst kind of music
I’ve been working part time at a supermarket for 2 years, the playlist is just the same recycled songs over and over again. Which is why I bring my earphones with me
My dad works in retail and hes been working there so long sometimes he just doesnt want to listen to songs on the radio anymore since he listened to the song to much.
them: 'hey you're a music guy. put on some music'
me: 'no i'd really rather not'
Them: "Educate me"
Me: "Ignorance is bliss"
"you always say you want the aux"
"I do, but you don't want to give it to me, believe me"
No balls. Put on "Was It Weird That Listened to 'I'm God' by Clams Casino When I Lost My My Virginity" by Sewerslvt.
@@mittensbro cute that you think that's inaccessible.
@StuartHetzler Nobody said anything about inaccessible, big guy. Passenger of Sh*t is inaccessible, it's just also sh*t.
Thing is. The music isn't bad. It's just so basic, and you hear it everywhere, from the radio in a car, to the speakers in the supermarket and at that little store you go to everyday to grab your cheap beer. That you just go from "Oh that is kinda catchy" to "HOLY FUCK TURN IT OFF, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" in a matter of days, when one of your friends plays it, like they discovered the fucking golden egg of music.
I get PTSD from music that played in my former workplace 💀
@@Theguywhowanders that must've been an awful workplace
@@RottenHeretic it was basically a pop rock radio that played the same thing for 6 hours per day. And the music were so bad like it was either overplayed songs like « somebody that I used to know » or love song things with whispery vocals that haunt my mind every so often 😭
Similar to Christmas music (I worked at a grocery store and I had to hear it for 3 months straight. November-January)
@@littypug Oh yeah, I hate christmas music.
I am an ADDICT for music, I only listen to artists with ZERO VIEWS, I must be the FIRST PERSON to listen to a track, this is my curse and I will continue to worship my POOPCORE.
Beyond based.
It's him. It's the playable character
I'd like to get into poopcore but I just don't think I'm hip enough
@@treelineresearch3387 get into it just to spite him and listen to it before he does
Wanna be like u when I grow up🥺
It’s safe to say that coworker music is just the ‘top 40’ from the last 40 years
But none of the “edgy stuff”. Radio stations that syndicate Delilah kinda stuff
Yeah coworker music is just well known music without explicit lyrics. I can't imagine anybody only listening to it, but nothing wrong with liking it
The worst part of warehouse work with somebody's bluetooth speaker is that it's the same 15ish tracks on their spotify radio nonstop. And then they shit themselves when you put on something that they aren't familiar with even it's a really well known band like Rush.
Usually it's also from like 2016 and before though
@@user-nb8yt2il2rexactly fwiw so true
Imagine if your coworker got the aux and started blasting Bob Omb Battlefield
I do this type of shit at work all the time.
It better be the Chaos Edition remix.
based but Dire Dire Docks better
@@syloui Nah nah nah, if it's Dire Dire Docks you want then it has to be the Luke Saward cover.
I regularly put game music on the aux. I'm just always amused at the range of reactions.
If you're a line cook, F-Zero soundtracks work VERY well during a busy rush.
I work at a bodyshop and a guy who works close to me has a speaker on which he plays the same playlist of like 30 of the most popular rock songs. All day. Everyday. If i hear thunder or californication one more time i might blow a fuse...
this might seem crazy but you're pretty lucky 😭 californication is honestly a good song
@@geekstinkbreathnot 5 times a day it isn't
@@DanDD1 lmao true but its better than shake it off or something along those lines
this makes me thankful that the people i worked with in the auto industry had taste. they were always switching up what they were listening to. one day i’d walk in and hear bluegrass, the next jazz, the next lil peep, the next youngboy. you never knew
@geekstinkbreath its infinitely better than what played on the radio when i worked retail/sales, but even the best music becomes annoying when its constantly on repeat
To me, "coworker music" would be whatever five songs my local adult contemporary "variety" radio station is currently playing on repeat. Most aren't bad songs, they just get annoying after being played constantly.
God I have PTSD from my office job, I don't know what was worse, the same songs repeating 3 times in an 8 hour shift, or the adverts
After being stationed in Texas, Country as a whole genre started becoming coworker music. I know there's some variety, but when half the songs you hear are the same 5 songs from Luke Combs, it gets old.
@@Squaretable22 Nah, the ads are still worse. Some things are just simply intolerable.
@@米空軍パイロット they aint got the balls to play uneasy rider
This is why I go with the GTA radio stations. It's the perfect balance of sharing niche interests,playing actual normal songs and humor.
I love the greater Toronto area
I like listening to the Diamond City Radio from Fo4 when I drive sometimes, it’s funny to hear the host bugging out over the brotherhood while I’m just chilling in the car
Tht reminds me, I once made the mistake of putting some LA Noire's station songs in the playlists I made for my non-music friends. I put "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" just because it was a bop for me at that time.
This is Master Sounds FM, with your host Johnny, the Love Giant. "Ayy baby height is just a number, when we lay down we gon' be the same size"
If the police can't stop you, you must be on... The Dust.
I remember when my Highschool randomly blasted "Happy" during lunch and I was so unhappy at the time that hearing that song gave me physical pain.
It's ridiculous how much I hate that song. It makes me want to commit violent acts.
same but with hey there delilah
@@drmegamanthat sounds so depressing
The internet has really made people even meaner and more judgmental than before. I feel like everyone has turned into that one angry guy at the bar that always have an explanation for why any topic actually sucks.
This topic sucks hypothetically.
this is unfathomably true in so many levels
Yeah tbh. This whole thing just kinda reeks of "These people and thier dumb tastes. Don't they listen to REAL MUSIC??"
@itisyerdad Good!
@@vSIG_ Nahh, I don't think it's as simple as seething nerd proclaiming what is 'real'. I genuinely believe its a colossal shame that we have such vast amounts of amazing recorded music but due to the way its distributed and the financial incentives, 99% of the time we are pummelled with the 0.01% most popular songs in the world. There is so much great music out there that I believe everyone could benefit from greater exposure to, and its just tragic that it's so hard to make that happen. People aren't dumb NPCs, every 'coworker' with generic taste is capable of having their world expanded. The 'coworker playlist' is a beautiful idea, pushing familiar but new music.
If our society at large wasnt so financially driven we would hear a lot broader range of music in general day to day life, I'm sure of it. It's not that it needs to be more 'real', its that it just needs to be more.
I support every local music nerd spreading their knowledge in a tactful way that could genuinely enrich someones lives, be the co-worker who shares something valuable even if they cannot reciprocate (ESPECIALLY then!).
Maybe that way we can finally slay the five headed Maroon beast and bring peace to the land 👏
Imagine walking into an ice cream shop with your family and are blessed to hear the melodic tune known as “Hot Head” by Death Grips
Sounds like dogshit, and this is coming from someone who listens to goregrind and harsh noise
One time i played ex military at the end of a shift everyone but one dude covered in tattoos hated it
Heard jordan ward in a fudge shop. Pleasant surprise
Thats anything but a blessing death grips is wack as fuck
@@bryanthatsall5869 We've found the hipster, omg, what's your favorite obscure band?
I have 2 experiences with folks who play coworker/NPC music. Either their knowledge of music is entirely controlled by the algorithm or they actually have a vast knowledge of music and are chronic people pleasers.
I am a chronic people pleaser i dont play my shit for anyone
chronic people pleaser is definitely one way to say it 🤣 i like to think i'm just horribly, unavoidably self conscious
There are many more options though. To come up with only two says a lot already. I reach periods where I can’t endure what I’ve been listening to and I pop the radio on or listen to a playlist somebody else made of music I don’t like at all because I don’t wanna listen to my own music anymore. It happens a lot when I spend a lot of time listening to music and also playing it in the background.
@@imlivelaffluvvson you realize I’m saying in my experience? That doesn’t mean all of reality has to align with my experience. It’s an anecdote, few anecdotes don’t have exceptions.
I heard that until the 1980's low class restaurant menus in America always included pictures of a few items, so the fraction of illiterate patrons could order with dignity. Similarly for the people pleasers, one item on the menu would be circled, with the phrase "most popular!"
It is _so_ refreshing, so _goddamn_ refreshing, to hear someone talk about music tastes without trying to shit all over others to try and feel superior. Like those tik toks about coworker music are just adding to the insecurity people feel about themselves but that comment you read later on finally calls out this behaviour. I really appreciate what you're trying to do here
Relinquishing the aux at work is how I feel mothers feel giving their children to a babysitter. I only expect the worst
"do you really want to forfeit ownership of the aux cord?"
Well depends because if it is a person that is gonna likely be putting intentionally or terrible nsfw an wreck whatever the bussiness is like to the extent that it costs me a career man nah bruh but I mean fwiw if it is just background noise idk if I woulc care etc. @@meaganolivia
If I was boss I would literally let them take turns with the speakers for my own personal amusement
It is amazing how being a hipster has evolved. I remember being 14 and being super proud of my obscure music taste, crystal castles, explosions in the sky, whole catalog of circus records. I just had more time to dive so deep into youtube. That is something that my chronically online teen self did not know. I still try to dig deep here and there,
Explosions in the sky is so peak though
Being a hipster now it the same but you’re called a poser if you’re not like a level 10 hipster ( i would know because im the one who calls others posers)
@@godimready2go Are hipsters a cross between hippies and gangsters?
@@Flamingbannas hipsters are just pretentious douchebags who always wanted to be popular back in highschool, but were too physically frail and uncoordinated to be jocks and too socially awkward to hang with the "cool kids", so they try to compensate as adults by trying to be "unique", but they always end up looking and acting exactly like all the other hipsters. Go into any urban coffee shop and you'll see what I mean.
@@godimready2gothat’s a you problem dude
Gen Z: coworker music
Millennials: coworker music is really npc music
Gen X: npc music is really elevator music
Boomers: elevator music is really muzak
Silent Generation: muzak is really easy-listening
Accurate
Lol the whole time i was thinking “so it’s wallpaper music?”
Tbf “elevator music” is mostly Bossa Nova which was a popular thing in itself when it was first in the ‘60s
@@JanuarySummer-musicExactly I feel like elevator music is slow, bossa nova esque instrumentals of pop songs. Totally different thing.
dude stop.
Not a single "MiLlEnNiAl" has EVER uttered "NPC" much less "NPC Music".
Yall always try too hard for internet points and you don't get far enough in school - but in the end it doesn't even matter.
subgenres of coworker music includes: five below core, dog pageant core, americas got talent core, jeep wrangler commercial core, but we call that stomp clap hey
Music is not real 😂
Oh my God. I made a long-ass comment trying to describe video game trailer music. It's literally Jeep Wrangler core! "A lot of what I would call 'tough' boom clap. A lot of 'whoah-oh'" It pains me 🤣😭
@@Dawnoh506 all talent show rock-- I also agree, the "woah-oh-oh" in stomp clap is literally "I am 1/8th cherokee" in music form and it drives me up a wall. it all sounds like Disney movie trailer music
electro swing for crust folk
Bro but you haven't heard of its summer season at dodge dealerships core?
We were allowed to choose the music at our restaurant, and I remember my supervisor specifically coming to the back to switch off my playlist.
Wtf were you playing lol
Let us see the playlist
this happened to me two weeks ago when i put on the prog rock station at my workplace (whoever's working front counter at my work gets to choose the pandora station) and my boss shut it off after like 20 minutes 😭😭 he like NEVER changes the station btw
edit: he never switches it when i play the metal station tho lol
Lil bro was blasting AJR on the aux frfr 😭🙏
@@miguelcamacho105 specifically looping Thirsty especially lmao
All I got to say is I can never escape Bruno Mar's "Uptown funk". It always plays somewhere out of the blue.
Ngl it is kinda fire tho
It’s Mark Ronson, actually. Bruno Mars is just a feature on the song 🤓👆
@@miimasterCharlie t. The Coworker
@@miimasterCharlieok coworker.
@@cryo2156 there's a little bit of coworker in all of us
I think that there is a paradox in that other people also choose their "safe" music when asked about it at work, which makes everyone experience the coworker music syndrome to some extent. You're going to be thinking 'Whats the least weird music that I can say I listen too' when asked, and it's going to be a song that you heard on the radio or on spotify or youtube, thinking, this isn't so bad after all, but really it doesn't repressent what you listen to at all. You know that a lot of people seem to like it, so you're thinking a guy from work might like it too. I think you're also likely to not recommend the stuff that makes you feel deeper emotions because of how personal those songs may seem to you. Ultimately because you don't want to make yourself seem complicated or excentric, but also because you're not in the mood to get judged about your personal tastes in a social situation that wouldnt exist outside of work. I've done this a bunch of times and you basically only share parts of yourself that are uncommon if you notice a common thread, never unprompted.
That's a very good point. The coworker asking if you've heard of a popular band might be deliberately choosing something well-known.
Yes yes yes this is an important comment!
For sure, though it's a bit of a pity because I love hearing what music other people like to listen to. It's kind of...weird/cute/sad(?) how self-conscious people (myself included) tend to be of their taste in music lmao
@@sxmvp I think many people have moments that they might not even remember, of showing things to people in their early to late teens, and getting teased, side eyed or worse for it. I'd guess that there are a lot of adults out there that want to share their authentic taste in things, but are unconsciously or consciously thinking about these moments, both when people open up to them (not knowing how to respond positively to someone elses weirdness) and when they want to do it themselves. I think there is an emotional and a habitual part to it. Like when you've gotten over your emotions about things and feel more brave, you still have the habits there and act how you used to after getting teased, unconsciously conditioned to behave in that way.
I don't expect anyone to get my ambient black metal phase though, haha! Some things are just difficult to explain, even to kind and open minded people. I feel like we should do that with people we know some times, because since when has anybody that's worth keeping scrutinized you over your authentic self? For coworkers I understand being strategic, but maybe we should practice giving anything authentic, at the very least.
@@sxmvp I'm not self-conscious about my music taste, I'm just not risking another write-up for listening to "Echoes of Decimation" at 8:30 AM
For anybody wondering, the second song in the beginning at 0:08 is called "Lights Out" by Mass of Man.
why would anyone be wondering
@@womp47 at the very least, 47 people were wondering.
@@womp47 because some people don't know the name of every single song ever made
@@buddeman27 why would you WANT to know more about that song though, are you a masochist?
The thing about terms like coworker music is that it isn't supposed to be broken down to what it literally is. It's supposed to paint a picture that a majority of people can instantly relate to with close to no explanation.
EXACTLY
It's all about the vibe that if you get it immediately you do, even if it's not exactly what the other person meant
Everybody wants to make content now. Everyone wants to explain everything now
Older people in particular don't get that, like ironic things, modern kitsch culture
but how will analysis channels make their nut?
I mean, I didn’t know what it was. I don’t get what the internet’s obsession is with making things “not needing an explanation” when we have the internet for seeking out that explanation.
“coworker music” we used to call it normie music and we were a proper country back then
We used to scream at these people to get off our discussion boards, smh...
'ate imagine dragons
'ate 21 pilots
simple as
coworker music is just as valid a name
@@maxwellkazemba229921 pilots is normie music now? Weren’t everyone calling them emo or something like that?
@@lioli6961 not inherently but emo is somewhat more normie now
As a young black guy…I’m nervous to use the aux ONLY when I’m around other black people. The balance has to be just right or they WILL say something. And it’s only happened with other black people lol.
Nah bruh just put on Barbie Girl and u good.
@@johngddr5288 nah deadass it’s just about doin it confidently. either they shit on the song and you can play it off as a joke or you found good dudes
I just put on Twisted and everyone loves me
As a young white guy I use my aux chances to play the 4+ hour Mouth Experience (Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, Mouth Moods, and Mouth Dreams) but then the lion king song was about to hit during the road trip to Lambert's during the solar eclipse and just decided to pass the aux around each song and listened to some Heavy Metal Mongolian Throat Singing and it was pretty nice.
@@tailnowag8753 If you're talking about mouth sounds, I would've put Crash Twinsanity's OST.
Coworker Music = Music you don't personally listen to. It's that simple.
I mean I don't listen to death metal at all so would that be classified as coworker music?
@@fipo5110 no the guy is just wrong, coworker music is that mainstream, inoffensive music that you play when you dont want to be judged for your music taste of something. its like the music youd play infront of your grandma. at least thats the definition i see used the most
@@fipo5110 no, that implies metalheads are cooperative in work. We are not coworkers, we are competition
@@symptomofsouls Two wolves ass one liner
@@womp47realest thing here
Sounds like the definition is “music that has existed for a little while.” I don’t remember people calling Radiohead “basic” in 2005 and I doubt a lot of people called AC/DC “inoffensive” in 1980. Maybe once we get too used to a certain kind of sound we start to look down on people who still like to hear it.
Yeah, it's literally just making fun of stuff for being popular.
Part of it definitely is a novelty issue, but there is a limit to the number of times one can hear some songs played literally everywhere before we simply lose total interest in it, especially when it gets tied to things like ads that we hate (or simply loath for being ads with 0 substance).
Yeah I remember when Imagine Dragons was considered a cool new band, so it’s interesting to see it’s now thought of as cringe lol.
Yes, in reality it's redundancy. Working 8 hour days, five days a week, for the past five years, I can tell you that I have completely lost any desire to listen to so-called "classic rock". Same station. Same Playlist. Every. Day.
That to me is coworker music, or more specifically, employer music.
In 1980 AC/DC was considering hardcore and even offensive, or so I’ve heard. All those played out classic rock songs that I’m so sick of hearing were all once groundbreaking and exciting. Otherwise they wouldn’t have made it out of their time period to have the privilege to be overplayed, used in commercials and sporting events and milked dry until they lose all their bite and just became annoying meaningless background music lol
I once had a 19 year old coworker ask me if I knew who System of a Down were. I also had a coworker ask is I knew who the killers were.
Lmfaoo
SOAD is very good tho
THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD A PRISON THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD A PRISON THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD A PRISON THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD A PRISON
Those are good questions though, because you can say "yes" and jam tf out with them
@@10sansariFOR YOU AND ME TO LIVE IN
Look, just because a movie or TV show digs up an absolute classic and then makes it popular on tiktok and the radio doesn't mean thats now shit. It means someone on the production crew has good taste and everyone is getting a reminder, or discovering it for the first time.
You saw that "AC/DC is npc taste" too and thought it was dumb, right?
@@pandagamer-hg5be all acdc songs sound the same bro
@@radiocuco yup, and theyre honest honest about it too, it's theyre whole shtick; not to say i dislike it though
I'm guessing you're talking about what happens whenever Stranger Things has a new season
@@radiocuco no?, like, they have a distinctive sound, but its not like they copy-pasted every song
The 'guy plays falling in reverse when you say you like metal' is 100% true lol
I would consider their modern sound a hybrid of hip-hop, electronic, and metal elements. It's not always heavy, but when it is, it really is. I mean, not like deathcore heavy, but firmly under the metal umbrella.
There's a Kroger near my place that plays nothing but 80s new wave, and its a nice little refreshing break from the modern coworker music loop always playing at my job.
(If i have to listen to "once i was 7 years old" one more time I'm committing arson)
I LOVEEEE 80s new wave ❤
New wave is sick 🦋
Omg that’s awesome
I fucking hate that song
I love kroger the one in my shutdown rip
anime music being considered NPC/coworker music is so hilarious because being caught liking anime at work nowadays is still possibly the death of your social life at corpo, especially with older coworkers
how come lol
Looking at your profile pic, I'm going to say it probably depends on the anime. The difference between saying "I watch Kill La Kill and Mob Psycho 100" is going to sound different than "I watch Sukiite ii na yo and Oran House Club".
This probably applies to a specific age range. The vast majority of Gen X and older do not know or care about what anime is, and Gen Z people would not care at all if you like anime. A decent amount of millenials would both know what anime is and care that you liked it though.
@@theholypopechodeii4367 Gen Z here and most gen z i know never watch anime/consider it very cringe
Unironically listening to anime music is equivalent to a Japanese guy unironically listening to the family guy intro song
People really have main character syndrome so bad they think everyone around them is an NPC? Wow
That's not really what the npc meme is about though.
I hate the NPC meme, or at least what it’s become. Especially in contexts like this where it becomes “haha I consume slightly different stuff then them”
It's more of a way to be an asshole to people you don't even know.
It's not everyone being an npc, it's just a way to rib on people who consume the sort of music where you don't get how they have so fans, but they end up having fans. Even without specifying, I'm sure you have some artists like that.
Yep. Welcome to America in 2024. This is individualism to the max
yall gonna get mad but "not like us" is probably considered coworker music at this point
Honestly if someone is trying to connect with you and you think their music is surface level, you should say thank you and then show them some more interesting stuff that you like.
And never be like "oh I bet you haven't heard this" (unless like it's SoundCloud or bandcamp with like 100 plays 40 of which are you)
Instead say "have you heard this? I think you'd like it" which makes them feel better like you're respecting their tastes and intelligence rather than coming off like a hipster d-bag
I agree with this, but I also like to see the beauty in what they listen to. For example, the seemingly basic music might have a good bassline or a good piano tone or something like that if you listen closer.
@@uklostwaveblokeyeah exactly you shouldn't be correcting other people's tastes, we should just all be more appreciative of one and other's tastes, then maybe in the process we'll get to share new music with people and discover new music
Can't wait for a slowed + reverb version of this video, i feel like it would be much better
It's just sad knowing that you can make good music that becomes "tasteless and generic" the moment it gets too famous or sth
Its not that its popular, i think most people are reffering to bad music that also is popular
Car ads
@@tudytudy3316yeah but then there’s some people in this comment section calling nwa and ice cube npc music
Yeah there's a difference between popular and generic.
NPC music is music that *only* NPCs listen to. But there's plenty of popular music that is good and even people into more niche music can enjoy.
Thing is tho 90% of popular music nowadays is just terrible musicians with amazing production quality that all sound the exact same
Saying somebody has a bad music taste is like saying somebody has a bad taste in food. It's entirely subjective.
But some people have neither taste buds nor interest in food.
I've never witnessed my elderly father put music on in his entire life, nor remark about the music playing anywhere in any context. He knows it exists but has less awareness of it's _character_ or _qualities_ than he's aware of different lawn grass species. He'll ignore it unless it's too loud or too long, when it needs the volume reduced or cut back with the lawnmower.
Exactly!
It's all about social leverage. The thing about NPCs is that since they are not selfaware you can make them feel like they are a minority even though they are the majority.
Enlightened centrist moment
Some people like the flavour of Feces
Sorry coworkers, I exclusively listen to mongolian throat singing
Mongolian deep throating.
my husband also like The Hu
Based
Why does throat singing always have to be the go-to for "weird/obscure music"?
@@writteninthestars02 I see he is also a man of culture
Love how the internet made people forget that we have a limited time in this world that each person decides to spend it in different ways, like, good that you can spend hours searching for the most underground music that no one ever heard, but I'm not subhuman just because the only time I get to hear new music is in the car radio
You should at least try ffs
Yeah true, this is kind of annoying. Along with people gatekeep bands music so it doesn't get overplayed or popular
@@deedeeramone34some people don't care about music at all. Why make them do it?
@@deedeeramone34Why bother with such a meaningless and inane activity? Just to make terminally online losers feel better about themselves?
@@deedeeramone34no they shouldn’t. they’ll only do it cuz they want to
I will do the exact opposite of gatekeeping.
You must listen to my favorite music. No buts.
You will enjoy and love "Aphex Twin".
You will enjoy and love "Nurse with Wound".
You will enjoy and love "Sunn O)))".
You will enjoy and love "Clown Core".
You will enjoy and love "Hanatarash".
You will enjoy and love "The Gerogerigegege".
You will enjoy and love "clipping.".
Clowncore is a good litmus test
"Why has my office introduced a new "no loudspeakers" rule!?"
Exactly, I love when people discover the music I like
I don't think people are even really gatekeeping with this label. At least not with the malicious intent people seem to ascribe to this online vocal minority. I think it's painfully isolating to be legitimately interested in something whilst not being able to connect with people through it. Either nobody around you is really as interested in it as you are, or you make that assumption out of your fear that that's the case. This is obviously a problem that is worse now than ever due to the isolating nature of online social circles. For the longest time peoples first experience making friends happened at school where there is a sort of monoculture that forms around your age group and location. That prompts you to try and connect with others that way in the future, but many times that doesn't actually work out. Especially as you get older and individuate yourself more and more through whatever interests catch your fancy. Adult life is almost never a monoculture. That is more true now than ever before, and the label of "Coworker" music comes from a frustration with our inability to connect in the spaces that have been created for us to live and work in, in the same way we were trained to as children. It comes from a lack of clear direction and a profound fear of isolation that many people feel entering adult life unprepared. I think for the majority of people it first happens with their parents. Your parents are old and out of touch with the things kids are interested in and so there is a painful disconnect that makes you see your parents as less than to cope with the fact that they aren't committed enough to you to get legitimately interested in what it is that you like. You don't want to think that the person who is raising you just isn't interested in you at all, so you tell yourself they are just dumb and feeble. "Really they are just incapable of taking an interest!" For every parent that takes that interest and tries to connect with their children, there are much more that try to force their kids to like the things that are familiar to them, or worse yet just neglect that connection entirely. Sometimes parents even feel resentment towards their children because they don't want to be made to feel old and out of touch, and as such purposely let that distance grow as kids become teens as a way of getting back at their own kids. This silent conflict, this cold war between parent and child is happening everywhere and all of the time. It creates adults that are completely unsuited for an adult social life, especially as it *barely* exists today. Some people take their reaction to this whole thing too far and get up their own ass, but it's really just hardcore cope to avoid dealing with the pain of being alone and uncared for. Think about that next time you see someone going to what is most likely the only outlet they have(the internet) to complain about the "Normies".
Aphex Twin is amazing
this is why i have a "socially acceptable" playlist, i put on my normal music with other people in the car once and it was the most awkward experience ever
There's also the coworker who actually has a playlist, and the coworker that literally googles "top 5 probably rock-pop songs from when I was 17-28"
I love how people are self righteous about what type of sounds they like going in their ears
Edit: Maybe I should reword what I said. I’m saying that it’s dumb to be self-righteous for music that you didn’t even compose. You just like listening to it
It’s similar to when they fight with each other about whether a particular person that gets paid money to say things that make people laugh says enough things that they want to laugh at.
or when someone prepetuates some chud that never touches grass as the "type of person" that calls another an NPC lol
having standards is a good thing.
Yeah. It’s like, “Oh you listen to those sound waves? Well, lots of people listen to those specific waves, so your waves are not good as my waves that less people listen to.” Like who cares? Listen to your own waves.
ikr
This shit is so cyclical, it was the same stuff a decade ago, expect the focus changed. In 2010 it was "look at how good my music taste is, you should look up to me" and now in 2024 it's "look at how awful you taste is, you should feel bad".
It's just the same old "mainstream is bad" argument but with added toxicity.
What’s wrong with saying mainstream is bad though?
@@JustYourAverageMusicListener there is too much mainstream for that to ever be true. All it says is that you don't branch out. There are 7 billion people on this earth listening to global (and then regional) mainstream. You can find a couple you like.
@@JustYourAverageMusicListener because there's no substance to the critique. The mainstream isn't bad for any clear, discernible reason, its bad cuz its mainstream and mainstream is bad cuz its mainstream! its just edgy young adult yapping. there is nothing more ordinary than the desire to be different.
That's because mainstream is indeed bad. When you cater to everyone, you please no one. Corporates have gotten incredibly good at catering to everyone, which means they've also gotten incredibly good at pleasing no one.
@@GodplayGamerZulul You don't know what mainstream means
Loving the funny bits. Also, the editing and yeah. Subbed!
The definition and Radiohead as example totally relates to me. Just yesterday when I played music through the speaker, No Surprises started playing. Suddenly my coworker shazam it and said " I never knew you liked this type of song". I guess my music taste is coworker music for my coworkers.
My eye sight is shit I thought you typed out “cowboy music for my coworkers”
@@Elloitslimegoat yes, I'm a cowboy and my coworker is a cow
I don't care what anybody says. Radiohead made some of the best and most creative music out there. Calling it anything close to generic ass pop playing on the radio, which is what npc music really is, is about the hottest of hot takes imaginable.
Yes Radiohead was popular. So were the beatles, so was pink floyd, so was any other GREAT musician and band. So was freaking Mozart in his day. There's a reason for that. But that doesn't mean what they wrote was pop, nor that they made "npc music".
It's all about creativity and what you do with your art. Generic pop for the masses is generic because it isn't daring, sounds the same as every other pop song, hops on trends, and has absolutely nothing valuable to say in terms of lyrics or is blatantly sexually manipulative. It's melodies are a variant of every other pop song's melody. The chords are likely just 3 chords on repeat. There is a massive focus on singing, not on musical direction, and in the same vein, a massive focus on bodily attractivity of said singer. It relies heavily on "kicks" and "drops" that you've heard 3 billion times already, and it will be forgotten and irrelevant about 5 years from now when a billion other similar songs came out.
THAT'S supposed to be npc music. The generic trash. The miley cyruses and Taylor swifts, every mumble rapper ever in existence, dubstep, electro, techno. That shit. Doesn't matter if it's "edgy" or not, it's still extraordinarily generic.
@@RedFloyd469 Who cares. You are not better than others just because you dont like pop music. You are actually dumber because you shit on electronic music when radiohead...surprise...used electronic music as their inspiration! I just hope you are 14 lol.
I fkn love Radiohead idc
Saying anime music is NPC music is wild to me. How times have changed
What even is anime music? Cruel Angels Thesis?
@@DeutschlandDenDeutschen1848 We gettin old fam, we're gettin old
@@DeutschlandDenDeutschen1848 When I hear people talk about anime music they lean closer to YOASOBI, Kotonohouse or Aiobahn, because a lot of anime music just fits into ordinary genres and doesn't need their own genre. Even Cruel Angel's Thesis isn't really "anime music" as much as it is "Japanese song that played as the OP to an anime". I also hear "anime music" used to refer to J-Pop as well, which is just wrong imo as half the time those have no association to anime.
Yep
It used to be like really closed community (not in asia ofc)
And now its NPC lmao
Oh, im so happy. Despite the english barrier and reliance on flats, anime music is the best music. They even got a Bjork cover in Gits sac.
i’m really hoping that you single-handedly end music snobbery
me too 😤
@@blustreNOOOO I LOVE BEING PRETENTIOUS
I think snobbery and elitism and gatekeeping do have their use cases. Otherwise we'd be getting musicians like TX2. Hell, even in other things, like cars, we have teslas and shit. Some people shouldn't be allowed into the scene and those two are examples of people that shouldn't've been invited.
@@J.PC.Designs especially in the car world, where idiots with a 20 year old civic with 2 spoilers and a cheap, fake bodykit wants to be praised just as much as a guy with a hypercar
@@J.PC.DesignsI don't know if I necessarily agree with that man. That sort of things I think happens anyway no matter if you gatekeep or not gatekeep it. I feel like that's just an excuse to justify being pretentious about how great you are in your music taste. People who uninvitedly do things like that are rare but it's something that just happens no matter what. Like back then when hip-hop was new, do you think people gatekeeping hip-hop from white rappers or white people even stopped corny white rappers from coming up into the scene? No, it's just something that's always gonna happen.
i work at a grocery store overnight and they dont shut off the pa system even at night when only 4 employees are in the store. even my manager told me the music is awful. tell me that isnt corporate trying to brainwash us. i get it during the day almost but overnight? it makes no sense.
it is the same 40 garbage songs interspersed with the same 5 ads regarding in store services and specials. legitimate psychological torture. can we get a quick moment of silence for all of our brothers out there being forced to listen to brainwashing autotuned corporate filth just trying to get through their shift and not snap?
I previously didnt work retail and didnt realize how much of a blessing it is to not have this music playing. Noticing a legitimate degrade in my mental health since hearing this crap constantly. Also to my nonamerican friends, is this the case in your country as well?
Stay strong my friends.
This is as cringe as a girl saying "I'm not like the other girls". Its just people thinking they're better for listening to more obscure music.
I'd agree but bro unironically listening to imagine dragons past the age of 14 should be shamed.
Incorrect opinion spotted 😋
@@rowanweaver3241 Though I agree, the same can be said for something like black metal. People who get to the point of listening to Mayhem tend to go out of their way to make that story their entire personality. Obscure music can be just as cringe. It's not about whether the music is obscure enough, it should be about the actual artistic integrity of the music.
@@rowanweaver3241 nah they have a few good song (maybe 4-5 but better than nothing)
@@rowanweaver3241 no one should be shamed for anything they like, especially if it means something to them. I like listening to Imagine dragons every now and then cause it reminds me of my mom and our time spent together.
anime music being included by that one guy is wild. if i played hawatari nioku centi i think most people in my vicinity would be terrified at the genre switchups
i tihnk he means openers and shit, i have a friend that listens to that one song from one piece that goes like "yohohohooo yo ho ho hoooo," its right after the 1pc intro song on his playlist and it drives me up the fucking WALL!!!
you think toro inoue fucks w chainsaw man
@@Sasparilla_ that makes a bit more sense lol, sure theres exceptions there too though
@@pancakeman2070 for sure
hi toro
my coworkers like rock covers of pop/disney songs
is it our last night
?????
I mean, pop goes punk bops sometimes
@@ambarcastaneda4763 Indeed
@@ambarcastaneda4763The Punkification of Pop music has to be studied 'cause it slaps
"What type of music do you listen to?"
Me: starting with a slow chuckle leading into a chaotic cackle before responding with "yes"
LOLLL
Bro probably listens to mommy asmr
Coworker music to me sounds like, turning on the radio: Listening to the same top hits 50 times in an 8hr shift. Simply, why I dont listen to the radio anymore.
Radio was the only thing on in the shop at my school I used to go to. This radio station is known for playing pretty much the same top 50 rock songs of the last 40-50 years.
Queue Tom Sawyer playing every 20 minutes and I grew an insane resentment for it.
I swear to god they've been playing Harry Style's As it Was everyday since it came out.
I've never really understood why people feel like they need to put others down for their taste in music
Because we love to find reasons to pretend we are better than others
Because sometimes their brand of music is objectively bad and actively malicious to the creative space of music making in general.
It's like telling people "everyone has their own interests when it comes to business :D" when your friend specifically advances corporate monopoly interests
Some peoples tastes genuinely make the world a more awful place.
It's just banter at the end of the day. Hugely popular music (regardless of how bad their music is) will continue to sell out stadiums and have huge fanbases. As long as no one takes the criticism too seriously, we'll all be fine.
Probably because they have nothing to be proud about in life, nothing of value they create, so they delude themselves that the content they consume makes them special and superior.
@@MrFrankEastBro you can't be talking like this when your playlists are public 💀
If my coworkers can't handle me at my playlist of Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Persona and Linkin Park music then they don't deserve me at my best
based
Neckbeard ass playlist 😭
and of course Touhou!
@@azkryvll is it prounounced, "toe-hoe" or "tao-how"
also in the running: "Toe-who"?
I don't know most music in this list, but Linkin Park is mainstream, they used to be all over the radio.
1:12 the cop choose to beat only the red sweter dude for a reason... just saying
"What matters is everyone is trying to connect on that little level" I think is the most important quote from the video. I've definitely had coworkers be like "Oh dude I heard you like metal. Check out this song!" and it's some super entry-level metal song like, Idk Bodies by Drowning Pool, or I imagine if I had a coworker that liked rap and I was like "Oh you like Rap? Dude check out THIS song" and showed them some B-Side from Eminem they'd roll their eyes... BUT
BUUTT
These coworkers are going out of their way to connect with you. They found something that they liked that they know you liked, and they shared it with you because they want you to see them as more than just some random person you work with, they're your friend. I send my friends songs I like. My friends send me songs I like. And if my coworker who only listens to jazz and gospel music is like "Hey I heard you like deathcore, idk what that means but this Imagine Dragons song is really heavy :)" it means they're thinking of you. And that's cool.
Lo-fi hip hop beats you can chill/study/game/relax to 24/7 is the definition of wallpaper music to me
Lofi-hip hop got me through college.
That’s why it’s perfect to have on while you’re working or studying
Stopp, I remember when it was revolutionary and new
It's important to me
That was my start though, I can't treat it too harshly. Everyone starts somewhere.
You’re a millennial (or an OG) if your lofi is “adult swim music.” Feel so sorry for people who weren’t introduced to lofi until 2018 or later. 08-2016 is where it’s at (plus 90s jdilla, RIP).
just listen to what you like
Exactly thissss!!
Can't, it's playing at work
what if what my coworker likes sucks ass
💯
I once asked my teacher to play “Brick by Brick” from Lego Island in class and I don’t regret it.
For some reason I’m starting to think “npc-” or “coworkermusic” are just alternative terms for “Popular music I don’t like, because I’m not like other girls.” Like, I listen to stuff from electro swing to punk rock. But I also really like Imagine Dragons. I know it’s a term describing people JUST listening to mainstream songs, but geez.
Zoomers talk about the dumbest shit. This video is a waste of time and shouldn't be on YT. I came here to learn shit not brain rot zoomer trash
Na if you like imagine dragons you're an npc I'm sorry to inform you
There are some people who just use it to refer to anything popular. IMO an NPC is specifically someone who never really engages with the world at all and only consumes media on the absolute surface level. The type of person who only realizes they wasted their life when on their deathbed.
@@theodorejenkins6066 fr fr
i don't think we can pull the "taste is personal" card all the time anymore, music has essentially been turned into a market pumping out the most generic soulless stuff by design, it is a cultural thing that you get to experience, turned into a product that you can easily digest
That’s true it’s very nuanced, I have a coworker that’s a music enciclopedia and knows about shoegaze and post punk all the way to posthardcore and electroclash. But we also have the ones into regional mexicano and corridos tumbados, so it’s not really a genre, but more than a derogatory term to downplay someone’s taste in mainstream music
as a barista, there’s a type of music that has a stronger presence than coworker music with a bit more nuance to it: indie vibes / chill cafe music
go into a third wave coffee shop for 30 minutes and tell me you don’t hear one of the following: Clairo, Chappell Roan, Mitski, Men I Trust, The Marias, boygenius, Cigs After Sex, maybe Tame Impala.
there’s also the “stomp-clap” residual that’s still circulating
Those are all great artists, would love to sip coffee to that music
TRUE i've seen a few cafes like this. was pleasantly surprised to hear tame impala in the wild, breath of fresh air in a country town which plays the usual country pop type thing
all of the artists mentioned except Cigs After Sex are amazing though.
I’ve been a DJ for my local college radio station for about 2 years now. We have a big set of party speakers that we are asked to bring out to school event and normally I’m the guy in charge of setting them up and picking a playlist. Without fail I will always get people who call the playlist middle school dance music then request I play Kanye West, and I tell them I can’t go play anything explicit, then they asked for the clean version and I tell them we don’t do the clean version because normally half the song is buzzed out, then finally they make a request and it is something already on my playlist. I think the issue is a lot the time that if you are putting on music for everyone at a party it does have to be generic or, “coworker music.” where it’s almost impossible to play a song everyone loves so you have to settle for one that no one hates. Personally the best success I have found is trying to cycle between top of the iceberg songs from different genres like some Queen, Miley Cyrus and Earth Wind and Fire, where people who like the genre feel included but people who don’t aren’t getting blasted with music they hate.
And before you ask, professors bring their kids to school events so i can’t play anything with profanity.
“The next time you call something coworker music, I want you to remember one thing. You’re also a coworker. And ya not the main character!”
Aha! Jokes on you, you’ve got that wrong! I don’t listen to coworker music because I’m not some coworker!
I’m unemployed!
Based and redpilled
i read that last bit in a strong new yorker accent, completely unintentionally, it just happened
For me it is Albanian pop, I am the only one at my minimum wage job who does not speak Albanian and cannot vibe
That’s so insanely specific I love it
So? Learn Albanian, what are you a quitter?
Frankly pal music has no language. You shouldn’t need to know the lyrics to the song in order to vibe. Can you sing along? No. But you can still dance (or do a jig).
@@blakecook9266 music in of itself is a language though
as an Albanian that is so fucking funny
Everyone’s taste is “coworker music” to someone else. I like leaving people alone and letting them enjoy things.
nuh uh
Nah bro this is the internet we're bitter and miserable losers
The terminally online lowlifes will disagree with you.
But that's fine. It is what it is.
I enjoy being a hater
@@AlpacaEmperor 😂
If my coworkers can't handle my Playlist go from Infectious Jelqing to King Von to California Girls, then they can't handle me
Our corporate office supply store decided to spice up the playlist 4 months ago, this included the song 'Unholy'. A majority of the older workers are Christian and absolutely despised the change because of this one song, to the point of emailing corporate to remove it. They ended up reverting it to the old playlist.
Solid
The avenged sevenfold song? Yeah I can see why they’d want to change that during work hours, irregardless of the name. Sick riff but it’s THE metalcore riff, it’s been in like 300 songs
@@anon2427 man I wish, it was the Sam Smith song. :(
My cannon of coworker music, from personal experience:
- Pump up the Jams (It was a bizarre experience watching my 46 year old white ass truckdriving Albertan coworkers rap "get your booty on the floor tonight" for the first time)
- Queen. Everything they ever made. Peak coworker music.
- ABBA. Once me and my boss and a few coworkers had to restock first aid kits, and it took like three hours, and I had a speaker with me. My boss said I should turn it on. I asked "what do we want to listen to?", which was a smart move because I was listening to Xiu Xiu before this, and my boss said, without hesitation "ABBA. I love ABBA."
- Linkin Park. This is my personal coworker music. I want my coworkers to think of me as a Linkin Park enjoyer.
Queen and ABBA are popular for a reason though. But songs like Don't Stop Me Now And Bohemian Rhapsody I can totally understand, because they've been overplayed and memed on to death.
Do not slander ABBA. People know them ONLY because Lay Your Love on Me and Jojo edits
@@Regigigas_YT have we forgotten about mamma mia???
@@plantenthusiast1010 and what about Gimme Gimme Gimme. ABBA were the banger machines of their time.
Linkin Park slander is crazy
Classical music has some bangers
I was at a concert of Messiaen's Livre Du Saint Sacrament a couple days ago and... holy shit, it was the most incredible musical experiences I've ever had
Debussy
Classical music only has bangers
Sometimes you need that dramatic somber violin going off in the background
Bach is king. BWV 582 is objectively the best song
Not the gta cop targeting the black guy and ignoring the white one 😂
As much as I hate to admit it, red hot chili peppers is coworker music (even tho they are perfect)
NOOO YOU CAN'T SAY THAT
@@dalemurman I mean let's face it. Tons of big songs that are played everywhere. I heard black summer in a KFC, if that's not proof then idk what is
Spotify thinks I LOVE RHCP, tho It's not something I seek out and I get too into my work to swap the station, and my coworkers have noticed, expressing their love for the band, o no.
I am just fighting that algo with Spotify lately, it thinks I LOVE a handful of artists I don't dislike enough to block the song, but were never things I sought out and are certainly not staples for me. Stuff like Gwen Stefani, whom I love from afar for what her music meany for folks back in the day, but never really a fan other than her purses in yonder years.
Gdi, Spotify I like retro SOUNDING pop. My ass had too much internalized misogyny in the 00's to enjoy actual retro pop outside of quite rare occasions.
@@ShesquatchPiney Spotify think I love RHCP because I do. They are peak
only the popular songs, most red hot chili pepper songs would get you weird looks
Used to work at a french deli with one of my best friends for about six months. We used to blast pantera and death grips when we were closing to ward off the end of day people who were just there for the 1+1 on the croissants. Then we'd get to keep all the croissants to ourselves. Good times.
I hate this so much, why does tiktok always invent new words of random shit just so they have something to hate on
Idk, tbh. I also find it annoying when people do that (e.g. TikTok coining the term “poor people lighting” a few months ago. WTF?)
Same, people on Tik Tok just love to hate
This isn't just tiktok this has been pretty much all social media forever.
@@Litiocandic I NEED whatever the hell they were doing to get rid of TikTok approved ASAP. Not to be that guy, but TT is a disease.
This isn’t new, people have been doing this since the dawn if time
8:08 - that's some nice computer glitch gabber!
I enjoy listening to Japanese music, and by extension anime songs. People like to tell me "they listen to anything", but they always raise an eyebrow to anything in Japanese, assuming that it is tied to an overly sexualized animated kids show.
Thus, I keep one playlist with the "regular" music for when i get passed the aux. To me, the existence of "socially acceptable non-npc music" is ironic. People dont want to be the NPC so badly they try to distance themselves from it in the exact same way as everyone else.
Mfs turns into npcs by trying to not be an Npc
By anime music, do you mean like soundtracks? Because I’ve noticed that people who listen to OSTs from shows or video games are usually seen as below coworker music on this music hierarchy from what I’ve seen.
No they think youre weird bc you're listening to music in a language you don't speak, which is entirely fine to do, a large amount of the music I like is Japanese, but normie people don't listen to foreign music and would likely have the same reaction if you showed them a song in literally any other language
@@solgaleo3533 yeah that kind of thing is only generally accepted at game stores and the like, now that you mention it
@@bigcorgi i will never understand anime fans and by that extension japanase music fans. whats the point of buying into these stuff if youre never gonna truly appreciate deeper meaning of them unless youre trying to learn the language. so i'd say they are on par with coworker music, if not worse.
Music snobs are 100 times more obnoxious than film snobs
As a musician/artist, I 100% agree😂
But hey, only if you put yourself in those lame circles. Most folks in the music world are willing and able to find something to relate with one another on, and the music glues it all together ❤️ 🎶
Being snobbish and being forced to listen to loud shitty music in work for hours are 2 different things
I have a right to be snobbish because what I like is the best, actually
@@maxismills this guy gets it.
@@maxismills "i have a right to think I'm always right because i said so, and I'm always right."
When I tell people my favourite artist is the weeknd, they automatically assume that Im a shallow person and that my music taste is pretty mainstream. It's not, just that I've been listening to him since day one 14 years ago, and he just stuck with me since.
^this
I think the term coworker music was created because coworkers are often people that you spend a lot of time with regularly but may not share much in common with. They may be very different from you and have very different music taste, hence the coining of the term due to this commonly shared experience of being mystified by a coworkers unique and foreign music taste
I often get nervous people won’t like what I like while sharing music, so I usually prefer to share mainstream “coworker” music so we can make fun of it together and just take it less seriously because it’s less personal. There are a lot of good mainstream songs as well I found out, not by any means genius lyrically but just nice to listen to which is the whole point of music to most people.
thank you john lennon
I love you
@@Acro_YT i see you as more of a friend
imagine all the dragons
@@jenconvertiblesF
nah on twitter it meant something like music youre only comfortable sharing with someone youre forced to keep an arms length of intimacy with, such as a co worker
Worked at a surf shop for a year and when it wasn’t surf movies playing on the tv they played music. Shouts out to my homie who never stopped playing primus and Alice In Chains along with his own music he made in his band. Dude had anything but coworker music taste
Haha sick!
What does Syd jam out to?
Here's the distinction though: NPC music can be dirty. Gen X NPC music includes NWA and Ice Cube (hehe, so naughty to play Fuck tha Police), Millennial NPC music includes 50 Cent and Eminem (ooh, I'm such an edgelord playing a song about having a BBC). But Coworker music? Even if you play the clean versions of these songs, you get sent to HR with a warning. So Coworker music ends up becoming ultra-Adult Contemporary.
I identify as a millennial NPC music fan
Don’t ever say NWA is NPC music again. How dare you. How absolutely dare you.
-but I like NWA and Ice Cube!
NWA is absolutely NPC music tho
No ones playing eminem in a mall
I can’t tell if 0:06 is Skyrim reference or not.
Yes, it is
what else would it be
Like farming ass comment smh, do better
@@mithras666literally
the big issue is, due to our current social structure, people believe that more obscure, less popular things are cool. People like it when someone has unique interests, and I think the idea is similar to that of how teenagers start breaking rules and starting new trends, and therefore everyone does the same. With every new generation comes more unique things we’ve never seen before. Another thing to add to the teenager example is, a lot of the time a child can mock an adult and the adult will more commonly feel insecure about themselves, feeling they’ve peaked in life, while these teenagers are about to reach their peak. It’s an interesting dynamic, really. Sadly, we’ve normalized mocking people for interest that are totally fine, despite the fact that commercially we’re told to embrace our differences. but meh, all of that’s coming from a person barely entering their adolescence.
well I think to most, this supposed social structure doesn't even exist, it's a construct created by the nerds and chronically online
I think it's worth mentioning that if you're in a circle that primarily listens to say...fiona apple, then the person that listens to imagine dragons is always going to be singled out lol.
It's not about embracing differences, it's about people who don't even have a proper taste to be different.
Like if I like DnB and you like bluegrass that's chill. But if all you listen to is the most generic cynical corporate shit made to appeal to the lowest common denominator then you're just uncultured.
Its related to how no one can comfortably be themselves despite everyone being told to appreciate each others differences without judgement despite that being impossible by nature.
Mainstream commodification ruins art and always has, for millennia now. I will die on this hill. It’s been shown time and time again that SOLEY pursuing financial gain RUINS art. It’s not just music either, but everything from architecture to painting to sculpture.
It’s simple really. When there is less financial incentive within any given art form, the creatives that art form attracts will be in it for the passion and mastery. Products need to be marketed to a mass audience to widen revenue streams and therefore will appeal to the lowest common denominator, or risk losing investments. For music in our era, this can mean losing radio time, losing performance slots at shows, DJs won’t play your stuff at events, big playlists won’t add your new song, ad agencies won’t reach out for a background track etc etc. To write this increasing trend of the commodification of art in all forms as some sort of teenage rebellion is very ignorant. I don’t see how your point about younger generations breaking trends is even relevant here since all mainstream music has been derivative for at least a decade now.
Bland, safe, mass appeal NPC music is everywhere now because there is a massive financial incentive for it. This attracts businessmen, NOT artists. And businessmen don’t take risks like passionate artists do, they have much more to lose. This is also why every other movie coming out is a remake or reboot of something people once loved. The same reason why popular music has been derivative for over a decade now.
Mainstream commodification ruins art and always has, for millennia now. I will die on this hill. It’s been shown time and time again that SOLEY pursuing financial gain RUINS art. It’s not just music either, but everything from architecture to painting to sculpture.
It’s simple really. When there is less financial incentive within any given art form, the creatives that art form attracts will be in it for the passion and mastery. Products need to be marketed to a mass audience to widen revenue streams and therefore will appeal to the lowest common denominator, or risk losing investments. For music in our era, this can mean losing radio time, losing performance slots at shows, DJs won’t play your stuff at events, big playlists won’t add your new song, ad agencies won’t reach out for a background track etc etc. To write this increasing trend of the commodification of art in all forms as some sort of teenage rebellion is very ignorant. I don’t see how your point about younger generations breaking trends is even relevant here since all mainstream music has been derivative for at least a decade now.
Bland, safe, mass appeal NPC music is everywhere now because there is a massive financial incentive for it. This attracts businessmen, NOT artists. And businessmen don’t take risks like passionate artists do, they have much more to lose. This is also why every other movie coming out is a remake or reboot of something people once loved. The same reason why popular music has been derivative for over a decade now.
i used to work at an eye doctor’s office and our music was spotify. as the front desk person, my coworkers decided i was the one in charge of music 😭 i made a lot of different playlists for different moods, genres, vibes, etc. and it’s actually SO hard making playlists that are long and have no inappropriate lyrics and no cursing