In a world where playlists are constantly being shared, viral sounds dominate social media and emerging underground artists are quickly positioned as the next big sensation, music has increasingly become less about shared enjoyment and more about competition.

Gone are the days of casually enjoying a tune for what it is. Now, it’s all about who discovered it first, who knew the artist before they blew up and who can flex their superior taste. But the question is: when did music turn into such a war?

Gatekeeping isn’t a new phenomenon. Music fans have been putting up walls around their favorite bands or artists for decades. But with social media becoming the modern-day music industry, it’s as though everyone has been handed a key to a VIP club they are desperate to keep exclusive. Enter TikTok and Instagram and all those viral trends where people hate to see their favorite artist hit mainstream success.

Geoff Durso, DePaul psychological scientist and assistant professor in marketing, has a theory on why this happens. He argues that fandom is often tied to identity. Fans don’t just love the music, they love how it makes them feel “cool” or “authentic.” 

“Sometimes fandom can translate into a sort of group identity — the supposed ‘real’ fans who self-identify as such,” Durso said. 

Think the infamous Urban Outfitters Nirvana crewnecks or the classic “You don’t really listen to Taylor Swift” conversation. Essentially, it’s not just about enjoying the music; it’s about looking better than others who are just being introduced to the artist. It’s about having the “right” music taste, and I don’t believe that this actually really matters. 

Platforms like TikTok have made it easier than ever for a song to explode overnight. But with new power comes great indignation from the original fan base. According to DePaul student Jerome Dixon, a senior film major, this is where things get murky. 

“I feel like TikTok plays a bit of a role, because TikTok is in direct opposition to everything that people who gatekeep artists want. It allows people to discover the artists they want to keep for themselves,” Dixon said. 

Once an artist goes viral, fans are quick to claim that they’ve “known them first” and suddenly, those new listeners are labeled as “basic.”

In a world where everyone is constantly vying for individuality and self-expression, the concept of being “basic” has become the ultimate faux pas. It’s as if following trends or enjoying something that everyone else enjoys makes you less authentic. 

But here’s the paradox: in a society driven by trends and viral moments, standing out has emerged as its own kind of trend. We want to be seen as different, yet the very act of trying to stand out often leads us to all look the same.

Courtney Wilbur, a DePaul freshman and communications major, agrees. She says that the rise of social media has made music taste even more competitive. People want to prove that their taste is unique, as if liking mainstream music suddenly makes you part of a lesser species. 

“Rather than accepting different tastes existing, people rather compete and prove that they are right in their opinions,” Wilbur said. If we truly want to become our most authentic selves, it’s important that we change this mindset of rivalry and love the music that naturally moves us. 

Instead of enjoying the discovery of new music together, we’re all fighting for social superiority based on the artists we can claim as our own.

For many, music isn’t just an art form, it’s an extension of their personality. Courtney puts it bluntly.

“It has to do with both the fear of judgment and the desire people have to be unique or something that’s just theirs,” she said. 

So, when a song becomes popular, it feels like your little secret has been stolen by the masses, and no one wants to feel like they’re just another cog in the pop culture machine.

Ironically, people don’t even really love the music half the time, they just want the social credit of what it means to be a fan of a certain artist. As Durso points out, fans often flock to certain music not because they genuinely connect with it, but because it’s a social currency. 

“A lot of people end up latching on to these sorts of fandom-based identities because they are popular or are associated with some social perceptions that they like, rather than being fans of the music itself,” Durso said. 

In this sense, music isn’t just about the art — it’s about the bragging rights that come with being the fan who “discovered” it first.

The reality is, music is meant to bring us together, not divide us into exclusive fan factions. The music industry, particularly with the rise of social media, has turned what should be a communal experience into a social battlefield. If we’re not careful, we’ll turn into people who are more concerned with who knows all the unreleased songs of an artist than with simply enjoying their music for what it is.

If we want to reclaim music from these competitive clutches, it might be time to remember that music isn’t a prize to be won. It’s something to share. 

“Fans should perhaps emphasize being enthusiastic about sharing music they love,” Durso said. 

Let’s stop treating music like a game of who’s the coolest and start treating it for what it is: an art form meant to bring people together. Because in the end, music’s true value isn’t about who knew about it first, it’s about how it makes us feel and how we connect through it.

Related Stories:

• Breaking the chain in ‘gatekeeping’ one fandom at a time
• ‘Metal Matinee’: un evento musical en La Villita crea espacio seguro para bandas locales de rock latine

Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories, delivered to your inbox every Monday.