Elitist music?

Not really. A non-metal elitist is likely to find little to no quality in extreme metal, and vice versa. Like this guy for instance. Just read some of his reviews:

http://rateyourmusic.com/~Lizardlips
My impression of him is less "elitist" than an overly sensitive Jesus freak who pretty much wants to be offended.

Dumbass said:
God doesn't hate us, in fact he loves us so much he allowed His Son Jesus to suffer a cruel and unjust death WILLINGLY to pay for your sin.

Admit your a sinner (easy) ask Jesus to forgive your sins, thank him for dying on the cross and invite Him into your life as Lord and Saviour.
He will touch your life and set you free.
What have you got to lose except your pride, hate and ignorance.

Taste and see, Or are you too scared of sunday school Jesus?
Too frightened to let go of your hate and pain

I think he's scared of the big mean metalheads who steal his lunch money. Also, the thought of the "victim" of a "crime" sacrificing for the redemption of the perpetrators is an incredibly ass-backwards concept that I have always found ridiculous and illogical. It would make more sense if Jesus was sacrificed to redeem God for all the disgusting shit in the Old Testament, but that would undermine the foundation of Christianity, which is a worldwide collective guilt trip.
 
My impression of him is less "elitist" than an overly sensitive Jesus freak who pretty much wants to be offended.

It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference since every subculture spawns their own kind of high-horse jockeys.
He makes no distinction between Death, Agalloch, Opeth, Metalica,Atheist, Esoteric, Immolation, Darkthrone, etc. It's all soulless juvenile garbage to him.
 
Great thread, every thing's been said pretty much, but id like to point out one very obvious and therefore usually overlooked form of elitism. Pop music! Have you ever tried telling a (lets say) Beyonce fan that you dont find her latest single the best music ever made? Go and try it out...

If elitism is defined by the amount of close-mindedness and paranoia demonstrated by "aficionados" of a certain genre/artist, then pop music likely takes the first place. I spent some amount of time trying to defend those "stars" from common accusations that they "cant sing" or "have no talent", but, there came a moment when i realized that theres more than enough casual people taking their side with bias! Everything is ok with those people. You can sign a multi million contract with mass-murder corporation, or ally with some notorious politician, or have a private island and pretend to be a "philanthropist", or abuse your body to "market" your music, or even use auto-tune if you will, do anything that is ethically questionable, its still being "modern" and up do date with latest fads and trends to those people.

So, even though i developed my own brand of animosity towards classical/jazz/metal elitism, i would say that, surprisingly or not, "casual people", with their inclination to defend their "stars", and with their "with or against us" attitude represent the most widespread, aggressive and oppressive breed of elitism. Furthermore, i even feel as though afore mentioned elitisms are more than justified by reasonable desire to distance themselves from this stupid world of hypocrisy, demagogy, and popular taste that rules "mtv" realm.
 
He was a huge classic rock elitist. I remember that whole argument about how he said death growls were antimusical.

I think what makes a genre have an elitist fanbase is it being hated or not being popular. But I wouldn't say that is always the case because I've never seen anyone say stuff like "Traditional Indian music is the greatest! All other music is shit!"
 
I'd say progressive and classical music are both elitist, considering that they display a level of musicianship that aspires beyond that of more commerical music such as hard rock, blues, or modern pop rock. Furthermore, it takes patience on the listener's part to grow accustomed to and eventually appreciate the music (usually).

Agreed with this post.

But I think, "elitist", is the wrong word here because, in this context, it's sort of loaded. Progressive and Classical are simply styles of music that have higher aspirations, at least musically. I don't find that in itself elitist. Maybe someone who is threatened by it, would find it elitist.
 
I think what makes a genre have an elitist fanbase is it being hated or not being popular. But I wouldn't say that is always the case because I've never seen anyone say stuff like "Traditional Indian music is the greatest! All other music is shit!"

I'm sure traditional Indian music is plenty popular. There's a billion fucking people in that country.
 
Wow, I just googled it because I thought China was the only country with a population over one billion. This is mind blowing.

China - 1,321,851,888 (July, 2007 est.)
India - 1,123,866,154 (July, 2007 est.)

These people really need to keep it in their pants (ironically, I'm currently trying to get into a Chinese girl's pants :lol:).
 
Not really. A non-metal elitist is likely to find little to no quality in extreme metal, and vice versa. Like this guy for instance. Just read some of his reviews:

http://rateyourmusic.com/~Lizardlips

That moron might be the biggest idiot on the planet. If he rates EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING metal 1/2-1 star & EVERYTHING non-metal 4-5 stars he's much worse than any metal elitist I've ever seen. The guy has horrible taste. If you hate metal so much why fucking listen to it!!!??? :err: