Nobody likes someone who uses their strengths to punch down at others’ weaknesses, but there can be a positive side to music snobbery.

Another sign spring is right around the corner? The warm weather music festivals are starting to roll out their lineups. And none are more eager than Boston Calling, our local monument to blue-chip billboard pablum.

The inaugural edition of a two-day We Black Folk music festival sold out in short order despite a legacy that is often underreported by the history books. Also: How to remember Jimmy Flynn, longtime promoter of the Boston hardcore scene.

Music lovers who don’t play an instrument can nonetheless get their start as musicians in a punk-aesthetic night of creative experiments.

There’s a lot of talk about the future impacts of the artificial intelligence boom. Industries – and, more importantly, the humans who work in them – are already experiencing those impacts. That’s true of local musicians, too, who need humans to perform for.

Present day Union Square is alive with pleasure – nightlife, bike lanes, a T stop and a restaurant serving spaetzle. In 2019 a club joined the party: The Jungle.

We talked to Heather Timmons of Tiny Oak Booking to learn a little about what the local music scene is like from her point of view: acorns on stage that might grow into something amazing

Streaming platforms exploit musicians. Until that changes, vote with your heart, mind and wallet by getting more CDs, tapes and vinyl into your music rotation.

If you really want to impress your fellow New Year’s revelers a little after midnight, throw in a few Scottish phrases. And if you’re stuck for New Year’s plans or just looking for a good show, there are spots to “tak’ a right gude-willie waught” before the ball drops.

Artists that drop music in the last quarter of the year are left out of “best of” lists – but not here, where we’re listening to works from October onward.