EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA - Are you a music snob? Teens with the rep say they just want something new and different

Brianna Zani, an 18-year-old from North Reading and a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, doesn't mince words when giving her opinion about pop music: "I don't want to be that obnoxious fan who constantly needs to remind everyone that 'I liked them before you did,' but I get really angry sometimes. Lots of new fans don't know that a band has older material because it wasn't fed to them directly by MTV.

" Maxwell Meyer, a 16-year-old from South Dakota who is also a student at Phillips Academy, agrees. "Mass media rarely publicizes anything more significant than Jessica Simpson's new hairdo." Meyer and Zani are members of a small but increasingly vocal segment of the teen listening market bound together by the pride of discovering unknown talent.

Commonly termed "music snobs," they often shun traditional music sources, preferring instead to search out, and then champion, upcoming artists on their own. "I'm not even trying to be snobby when I say that most radio rock bores me to tears, so I do lose a little respect for people who just turn on the radio and listen to whatever is playing," Zani said. She does admit that her strict preferences can sometimes have an impact her group of friends.

"I don't stop being friends with someone because they admit to listening to Hilary Duff. But I can't listen to it," Zani said. "So I don't let people play bad music anywhere I'm going to have to be hanging out for a long time.

And if that means I have to spend most of the night playing DJ, that's fine." As a self-appointed critic, 17-year-old Phillips student and Marblehead resident Victoria Glynn has found diverse ways to discover new music without relying on the radio. She describes the music scene as very incestuous.

"Once you get into a few bands, there are six degrees of separation from most other acts," Glynn said. "I listened to Something Corporate in middle school; Andrew McMahon, formerly of Something Corporate, is now fronting Jack's Mannequin, who just opened for Panic! at the Disco, who are on the same label as Gym Class Heroes, who played on Warped Tour along with The Sounds, whom I almost missed because I was across the venue listening to the Saves the Day acoustic set.

" Thanks to her daily Internet activity, specifically on sites like Absolutepunk.net and Purevolume.com, and her constant monitoring of tour dates and record labels such as Fueled By Ramen and Vagrant Records, Glynn finds that she can "catch on early to whatever's coming out next.

" All three teens agree that, by definition, a music snob must look past homogeneity. "To be fair, I think that music snobs aren't necessarily people with better taste in music than everybody else but who care more about music than the average person does," Zani said. "The average person is just looking for something catchy, something with a good hook.

It doesn't have to be a sincere expression of how the artist feels; it doesn't even have to be written by the artist. It just has to be fun to listen to. Almost every music snob I know is looking for something with more soul and more substance.

" "I am willing to go beyond my personal biases and appreciate talent, even though it may not appeal (initially) to my tastes," he said. "I am always trying to find new music, not because I'm afraid that I will lose cred for being too mainstream, but because the scene changes so fast and I know that there are always new boundaries being expanded and new sub-genres being created, and I just want to be there when all that happens," she said. "I want to be on the pulse of what's going on in great new music.

" * Go to shows. If a band you like is headlining, the opener is likely to be something in the same genre, and you might enjoy their set and then go on the Internet later to download more of their songs. * Join online music forums.

If a new band is mentioned, check it out and decide if you like it. * Keep an eye on labels that put out albums by your favorite band. They may bring out other artists you like.

Last.fm: A free service that allows you to listen to music and then provides you with recommendations, personalized radio stations, users with similar tastes, and other fun tools based upon your listening history. Purevolume.

com: The link between the artists and the audience, Purevolume allows record labels and individual bands to promote themselves through downloads, videos and an updated list of tours and shows. Myspace.com: Thanks to a growing directory of artists and the sheer number of band profiles on the site, users can search for their favorites, join music forums, search for a show or "friend" their favorite performer.

Absolutepunk.net: Anything and everything dealing with alternative music. Keeps users up-to-date on news about the industry and allows access to interviews, album reviews and extensive forums.