Is music conceptual?

[olszewski]

.

[mrba1979]

What does this entail for the casual listener?

Generally your pocket book!

To answer your question I can only give you my likes and dislikes with music, which obviously and redundantly saying is going to be vastly different form any others opinion.  I do not like most music associated with a message (as always there is an occasional exception), but I do like themed music.  Example Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead".  It is a theme of an engraved painting.  There is no message but only a theme.  Or another example Mussorkys "Pictures at an Exhibition".  All based on paintings and a motif of walking through a gallery.

I instantly dislike any music which tries to impress its viewpoints.  Music is not the forum to change my mind on a particular subject.  Yes that means you John Lennon!  I would also say in general I do not like mainstream modern day music because frankly I find it boring, superficial and most is written with the only intention of selling a product. 

I would say for myself I best enjoy music as an art which associates with the world around us but does not implicitly try to form or create a message.

[rc]

If music is developed like another language, isn't this language used to communicate concepts?

There must be some concept behind any expression.

The topic of art is a tricky thing, we've all heard the impossible question "what is art?".  Then there's all that conceptual modern art, that I think often is more controversy than anything.  If the concept is trumping all craftsmanship, then it's not so valuable because anyone can do it.  And sometimes if the craftsmanship is bad, it can be really hard for the average person to divine what concept is trying to be communicated, if there ever was one to begin with...

[aslanov]

i think the answer to this question is based on what one would define as a concept.