Up And Down Of Music: History Of The CD:

At its core, this series was about two things. The first is making a distinction between "great" music and "important" music. Critics often make the mistake of conflating the former with the latter. But while "great" music is impossible to define on a mass scale because it's obviously rooted in subjective judgment, I think "important" music can be measured objectively. I made the (mildly controversial) assertion that Nirvana will always be more important than Pixies, Killing Joke, and all the other bands that influenced them because "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached exponentially more people than those groups ever did.At its core, this series was about two things. The first is making a distinction between "great" music and "important" music. Critics often make the mistake of conflating the former with the latter. But while "great" music is impossible to define on a mass scale because it's obviously rooted in subjective judgment, I think "important" music can be measured objectively. I made the (mildly controversial) assertion that Nirvana will always be more important than Pixies, Killing Joke, and all the other bands that influenced them because "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached exponentially more people than those groups ever did.