Talk:List of music considered the worst

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Albums

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Songs

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Alexis Kleinman, Maxwell Strachan (14 January 2015). "The 49 Most Entertaining Wikipedia Entries Ever Created". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
Mike Vago (12 November 2017). "Cover your ears! It's the worst music of all time!". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 12 November 2017.

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Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Technical Writing

This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 January 2025 and 17 May 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): AE2025 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by AE2025 (talk) 23:33, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Owl City - Fireflies

This song was included on this list a long time ago but was removed without consensus as far as I'm aware, despite having two qualifying sources. Here's the two sources:

Consequence ranked the song #1 in their list of the worst no. 1 pop songs.

Was called the "worst song ever" by Joplin Globe.

In addition, there's a third source that was published recently by Far Out, where they interviewed a band called The Pale White, and during the interview The Pale White called Fireflies the "worst song in the world".

Let me know whether or not it should be added back to the list. -Seewater514 (talk) 02:25, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

My answer is “no”. To me, this feels like another ‘’Sgt. Pepper’’ situation where someone is pushing for its inclusion despite not being universally considered bad/being well-received critically. I lament that any attempts to narrow/change the inclusion criteria to only allow songs and albums that are “notable for negative reception” have been met with resistance, because as demonstrated, any crackpot can add a critically acclaimed musical work if at least one reputable source calls it “the worst”. The Grand Delusion^{(Send a message)} 06:28, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

None of that really addresses their question or the specific song. Sergecross73 msg me 10:41, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The question was “Should Fireflies (Owl City song) be re-added (based on three sources calling it “the worst” - despite the article saying “"Fireflies" was generally well received by music critics.”, with listed review scores being 4/5 from About.com, 61% from AltSounds, and 4.5/5 from Billboard)?” My answer was “No.” The Grand Delusion^{(Send a message)} 11:47, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Your response read more like a diatribe against the article's current inclusion criteria rather than commentary on the song itself. The article's current inclusion criteria doesn't factor in whether or not "also it got good reviews too". Your original response didn't even address the song. You could have written that entry about any song. Sergecross73 msg me 12:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The inclusion criteria is something I have valid concerns about. Allowing a song or album to be included simply because it was named "the worst" by at least one source, regardless of the work's critical consensus, means that there's low standards as to what qualifies for inclusion; and this minimal criteria for inclusion can be, and has been, taken advantage of by bad-faith editors, as was demonstrated with the Sgt. Pepper debacle. While I'm gonna go ahead and assume good faith on Seewater514's part, I can't see "Fireflies"'s potential inclusion ending well. The Grand Delusion^{(Send a message)} 14:56, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Then get a consensus to change the inclusion criteria. Sergecross73 msg me 14:58, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel like that would be a losing battle, especially when all previous attempts to do so have failed or have been met with resistance. The Grand Delusion^{(Send a message)} 15:04, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, then we're stuck with the process we have... Sergecross73 msg me 15:26, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

On second thought... we should take a look at Talk:List of music considered the worst/Archive 7#Criteria for inclusion (pre-RFC discussion), Talk:List of music considered the worst/Archive 7#Pre-RFC for Inclusion Criteria, and Talk:List of music considered the worst/Archive 9#RFC for album inclusion, and formulate a new proposal for inclusion criteria based on criticism of the original proposal, so as not to repeat the same mistakes that were made six years ago (it's been THAT long already?). The Grand Delusion^{(Send a message)} 15:34, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if/why it was removed before, but I believe the Consequence source is enough to satisfy the inclusion criteria. It's usable per WP:RSMUSIC and directly refers to the song as the worst in some capacity. I feel like there's content that could be pulled from that source that could be used to write an entry.

I'm not familiar with Joplin Globe, so I'd have to research that one more before commenting on its use.

Far Out is actively considered unusable/unreliable per WP:NOTRSMUSIC, and it doesn't appear "The Pale White" is anotable band anyways, so that commentary wouldn't be usable. Sergecross73 msg me 12:57, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel that "worst #1 pop song" is already too specific. It implies that if the song had stalled at #2 it wouldn't have made the list at all. 2003:D4:DF41:D978:C095:11B0:3D90:7668 (talk) 20:02, 4 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"Thick of It" by KSI

I feel like this should be added as people hate on this song a lot to the point where people call it the worst YouTube video ever. 110.150.88.30 (talk) 00:49, 2 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We need reliable sources that make the statement though. Sources like those seen at WP:RSMUSIC. Do you have anything like that? Sergecross73 msg me 00:55, 2 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]