I'll admit it. I'm beyond guilty of this. I've referenced Ed Sheeran once and Gaslight Anthem multiple times.
You seem so incredibly dated and ridiculous. In ten years, if someone reads The Killers Girl and sees my Ed Sheeran reference, they won't know who I'm talking about. It makes it so much less timeless.
Also, don't even talk about emo bands. I'm serious. Don't. As much as I do love stuff like Black Veil Brides (well, they're less emo and more kiss impersonators in my opinion), Pierce the Veil, and Sleeping with Sirens, don't fucking do it. I'm serious. I'm watching you.
Creepypasta fans are already stereotyped enough as emo teenage girls. We don't need a worse reputation than we already have. There's nothing wrong with being emo (a good chunk of my friends are), but we need to break stereotypes to bring people into the fandom.
Look, if you want your character to go to a concert, that's fine. Or, if you want them to wear a band shirt, that is also quite fine if I am allowed to say so. But do not ever specify what they are listening to on their IPod or phones. Don't mention it every chapter.
Don't have the creepypastas themselves listen to music, either. There's just something... Off about it.
And soundtracks don't count either. I saw a soundtrack in a few different stories and I thought it was a cool concept: a song for the type of tone at the moment. Nice idea. I like it a lot. I even started a soundtrack in one of my stories.
Rule of thumb: mention their favorite band once, and be done with it. If they know your characters choice of music better than they know yours, there is an issue.
