What's So Embarrassing?

As you can probably tell music is a huge part of my life. My friends and I talk about new, old, good, bad, funny, amazing music all the time. With Me being the competitive person that I am, I see finding new music as a competition (one that I never win). My best friend from childhood, Michael defiantly wins the title of finding the most unique music. He's very critical of every type of music which is perfectly fine, and in most cases good because it opens everyone else up to something new. Sometimes this stubborness he has for finding "good" music can lead to tension between my friends and myself. Mike, who defiantly wins the title of finding the "radio" music, usually doesn't like Michael's taste in music (not saying they never agree on anything but the tastes are just different). I personally am a fan of both of their (for lack of a better word) music types'. Sometimes I need something with a little more substance (which I get from Michael) and other times I just want to sing as loud as I can and dance around to something fun and upbeat (which is where Mike comes in). I'm not the only one who meets in the middle of their types. My best friend, Amanda, also listens to both of them. Amanda, who is new to the whole "finding music" thing my friends and I do, is in the same position I'm in. When I download a new song or artist that I'm really excited about I tell Michael about it. He has never failed to already know that new song plus another 10 amazing songs by that artist (I am determined to someday find something/somebody that he doesn't already know).

We all share music and generally enjoy the same stuff. However, Mike tends to be a target for "bad" music. Unlike Michael he doesn't spend hours everyday researching the latest artist, he just turns on the radio and chooses from there. Normally when I enjoy something that Mike tells me about I find myself saying "I know it's embarrassing but I still love it". That's what I don't understand. If I enjoy the music I'm listening to then why am I embarrassed by it? The artist who made it obliviously felt some connection to the song when making it so who am I to say it's "bad" and I'm "embarrassed" to listen to it? A perfect example of this is one of my favorite artist, Sara Bareilles. I was introduced to her hit single "Love Song" while I was at Regionals for dance team this January. It was playing throughout the Mall of America the whole time I was there. Once I arrived home I downloaded it and loved it. Mike later made me a CD with the rest of her album on it, I absolutely love all of her songs (in fact "Gravity" has jumped to my number two spot on my iTunes with 144 plays in just two months). For some reason Michael doesn't like Sara Bareilles. I for some reason feel that he is the world's best judge for good music, so when I'm around him I find myself constantly saying something like "I love Sara Bareilles, even if she is embarrassing". Why do I do this? I do not know. Now that I've made myself aware of this I hope I to stop being embarrassed by my favorite music and just enjoy it because that's what it was made for.