History FandomRivalry / Music

* Music/BackstreetBoys vs. Music/{{NSYNC}} was one for the ages. How bad did it get? When the Backstreet Boys' 1999 album ''Millennium'' went Platinum in its first week and became the fastest-selling album in history, NSYNC fans were determined to beat that record by buying multiple copies of their next album ''No Strings Attached''. Even to this day there are fans on the internet arguing over which group was better. What made this such a classic rivalry is that the two groups were similar enough to appeal to the same demographic (teenage girls), but different enough that listeners strongly preferred one over the other; the Backstreet Boys are more soft rock while NSYNC was more urban. Ironically, the two bands were anything ''but'' rivals in real life. Not only are they all friends, but they were signed to the same record label, had the same management, and worked with many of the same producers. In fact, they ''wanted'' to work together but the label kept them apart and milked their "feud" for all it was worth. After all, idiot teenagers were willing to buy [[MoneyDearBoy three copies of the same album just to break an arbitrary sales record]].

* Underground Music/{{emo}} (Music/RitesOfSpring, Music/SunnyDayRealEstate, etc.) fans vs. mainstream 'emo' fans. This one also tends to overlap with UnknownRival, as the genre's mainstream fan base are very often [[OlderThanTheyThink unaware of its actual history]]. Meanwhile, fans of underground emo tend to view most mainstream emo as essentially [[TheThemeParkVersion bastardizing a respected indie/punk scene]] into an obnoxious commercialized fad for overly trendy Hot Topic-loving teenagers. It doesn't help that, even after the mainstream wave eventually came and went and the genre's indie days have been getting a decent amount of attention in TheNew10s and [[TheNew20s New '20s]], the emo image of the mid-to-late 2000s is still [[AudienceColoringAdaptation deeply entrenched into the general public's idea of what emo is]].
** Generally, fans of underground emo don't even consider most mainstream 'emo' to really be emo at all because it's perceived to be so far removed from it sonically. Other titles, like PopPunk and PostHardcore, are more often used (that is, if they're not calling it by the much more derogatory 'mall emo'). The same debate rages on about the "screamo" subgenre. On the one hand, you have bands like Circle Takes the Square, Saetia, and Hot Cross. On the other, Underoath and (at least) early Hawthorne Heights.

* Any female popstar's fanbase will inevitably be at odds with another's.

* Music/AphexTwin vs. Music/{{Skrillex}}, which is odd because Skrillex is a ''huge'' fan of '''and''' influenced by Aphex Twin, who has also recently stated that he respects and enjoys the more mainstream side of electronic music.

** Metalheads vs. progheads (progressive rock fans) more recently, with both parties arguing over which genre requires and features the most instrumental and songwriting talent (both genres are known for the extremely intricate complexity of the music).

* Recently, Music/LanaDelRey fans vs. Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine fans. Which seems quite odd since the two are friends and Florence even defended Lana's style and music in an interview, stating she loved it as well as the song "Video Games".

** Another X one that started recently sprouted from the BrokenBase that happened as a result of 2008 Cancelwank. A small contingent of enraged X fans suddenly hated Yoshiki and began to bash him, instead announcing their support for ex-bassist Taiji and saying the band ended in 1992, [[MisaimedFandom who they held up as some kind of hero of rock and roll who "knew how bad Yoshiki was all along."]]. Unfortunately, these fans forgot that Taiji and Yoshiki have somewhat reconciled. This one has gotten a fresh shot of gasoline due to NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead related to Taiji.

* Fans of Music/TheAgonist versus fans of Alissa White-Gluz. Fans of Alissa see her old bandmates as fairweather friends who threw her under the bus the minute that she became inconvenient and then attempted to sully her name with a heavily revised retelling of events as retaliation for her calling them out, while fans of The Agonist see her as a pompous, egomaniacal asshole who treated the band like it was a solo project, used it as a ticket to personal gain, firmly showed where her priorities were when she hopped on the gravy train that was Music/ArchEnemy and then decided that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too in a way that jeopardized The Agonist's survival, and then had the nerve to play the victim when her old bandmates cut her loose for the sake of their own survival.

* Music/FKATwigs fans vs. Music/{{Banks}} fans play both this trope and FriendlyFandoms. While it's easy to find people who like both artists within their fandoms, it really isn't a good idea asking them who's better between the two. Twigs fans accuse Banks of [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks essentially being a dumbed-down copy of Twigs]], while Banks fans think that [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible Twigs' material can be far too difficult for first-time listeners to understand]].

* Music/{{Radiohead}} fans vs. Music/{{Muse}} fans vs. Music/{{Coldplay}} fans, one of the most famous tri-rivalries that still goes on after over twenty years. Radiohead fans think that both of the other groups are only famous because they copied the two poles of Radiohead's pre-''Kid A'' style (Muse copying the rockier songs, Coldplay the ballads) after Radiohead stopped making mainstream rock. Some fans of Muse dislike the slowness of many Coldplay and Radiohead songs, while some Coldplay fans dislike the metally heaviness of many Radiohead and Muse songs. Finding a person who admits to liking all three bands is almost like finding a needle in a haystack.

** Metalheads vs. pop fans. The former claim pop is way too trendy, while pop fans claim metal is full of satanic bands.

* Music/{{Gojira}} vs. Music/{{Meshuggah}}. The "Metallica vs. Megadeth" of technical death metal.

* Underground Music/{{emo}} (Music/RitesOfSpring, Music/SunnyDayRealEstate, etc.) fans vs. mainstream 'emo' fans. This one also tends to overlap with UnknownRival, as the genre's mainstream fan base are very often [[OlderThanTheyThink unaware of it's actual history]]. Meanwhile, fans of underground emo tend to view most mainstream emo as essentially [[TheThemeParkVersion bastardizing a respected indie/punk scene]] into an obnoxious fad for overly trendy Hot Topic-loving teenagers. It doesn't help that, even after the mainstream wave eventually came and went and the genre's indie days have been getting a decent amount of attention in TheNew10s and [[TheNew20s New '20s]], the emo image of the mid-to-late 2000s is still [[AudienceColoringAdaptation deeply entrenched into the general public's idea of what emo is]].