skyrefuge
Member
I believe my statement is an accurate depiction of Pop, not a generalization.
You say Mitch is changing *his* argument, and then you claim history's first-ever non-disparaging use of the phrase "lowest common denominator" outside of a mathematical context? C'mon!
Actually through this whole thread I think one of the difficulties is that you've never really defined what you mean by "pop music". Is it purely a popularity-based definition for you? Or is it possible for an artist to play "pop music" and not be popular?
I've been getting a vague notion that popularity itself biases you negatively...though of course I think all of us music/metal snobs are affected to some degree by that. But is it actually useful to generalize? These days it's pretty easy to check out whatever music you want and judge it independent of its popularity, so your inverse-relationship rule doesn't seem too helpful. In the metal world, look at bands like Opeth, Mastodon, or even Dream Theater...they're quite popular, but far less "pop" or "lowest common denominator" than many other less-popular bands, so they break the rule. Or is metal exempted from that one?
If they were combining elite songwriters with the finest singers, to create the best possible art, I'd have no issue with it. However, are you prepared to argue that when Sony pairs Britney Spears with a team of well paid songwriters, high art is the goal?
Well, "the best possible art" is subjective. Wouldn't "interests the most people" be one reasonable metric to use to measure "the best possible art"? If the songwriters/producers know that vocal talent isn't especially integral to the whole equation they're working on, then it's smart of them to get someone who is (was!) nice to look at and knows how to dance!
My comment wasn't intended to link the artists with American Idol, only to speak to the preferences of our American Idol culture.
Yeah, my point was that those driving the American Idol culture are happy to promote the "talented"/"respectable" pop stars too (well, to be fair I guess they'd be happy to promote my toenail clippings if I gave 'em enough money for it!)
Neil