Writers like us, who've devoted years to becoming culturally knowledgeable, are losing jobs to unpaid bloggers, and peer-to-peer recommendation on streaming services eliminates the need for radio disc jockeys and record clerks. Authority has lost its mojo.
PART TWO: Why Do People Have Beef With Poptimism? Because It's Winning
I have to call what we're hearing from the anti-pop authors a backlash, sour grapes from people just noticing that a cultural battle is over and they "lost."
PART THREE: Five Rules For New Pop Criticism
1. Don't insist that pop be hip. 2. Understand that selling records is the point. 3. Acknowledge that the assembly line is a cornerstone of pop. 4. Physically connect with the mainstream, but don't presume you know what its different corners are all about.
5. Go beyond Beyonce.
PART FOUR: Don't Front
At the same time it is important in exploring unfamiliar genres and fan communities to alwaysbe yourself.
In pop, after all, there are only two constants — change and resistance to change. Rock fans right now are in denial that rock's becoming a vintage, heritage music, just like jazz, blues, soul, funk and other period forms. Even rap might be heading the same way. That doesn't mean great work can't be done there, but it will face the puzzle of how to honor its inheritance while speaking to new circumstances. It may never again be where the main cultural heat is, except as a hybrid ingredient. But there's no shame in that.
PART FIVE: Music We All Love Has Done Way More Harm Than Miley Ever Will
But the great thing about popular music, I think, is that it connects so deeply with our bodies that it can move us in new directions. For every time music has been used to promote misunderstanding and oppression, there are many more when it's lifted people up, making them feel better within themselves and helping them better understand others whose differences they feared. I know that on one level, music is abstract — like a thought, as you say. But it's also like a feeling, a real sensual and emotional pull. Music can make you feel like a room without a roof. When that's happening, all the categories we build as thinkers recede, and whatever sound made it happen is glorious.
Last edited by troutman; 04-15-2014 at 09:44 AM.
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We fight about pop for the same reason we fight about anything - people have a really hard time accepting that others don't share their opinions and ideals.
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I feel like there's a bit of a backlash that the post-major-label world never materialized the way it seemed it might a decade ago. There was a lot of looking at the new technologies and theorizing about how it was going to decentralize the whole industry, but really things are more or less the same as they were a decade ago or twenty years ago in that regard. So there's a realization that the reason that pop music was popular wasn't because it was being foisted on us by the industry, but because it actually resonates with people.
But really, the reason we fight about music in a way that we don't fight about any other artistic medium is that it's ingrained in our lives in a very different way than any other medium. We listen to music so much that it feels much more a part of who we are, and so when someone disses our favorite musician, it's a much deeper attack than dissing our favorite filmmaker or author.
Me, I like my singer-songwriter stuff and have become increasingly curmudgeonly about pop music. I'm also totally out of touch, partly by choice. I'm aware that Miley Cyrus is a big deal, that she spawned countless pop-culture references about twerking, and that she's got some song about a wrecking ball, but I don't think I'd recognize any song by her if I heard it. Is that a point of pride for me? Maybe a little. But I'm also conscious of how strong music resonates with people; there's just no real value in deriding popular music (or even unpopular music) because such criticisms often end up seeming being received as personal attacks.
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Pop is finally alining with my taste in music (EDM). I never thought I'd hear a song like "Animals" on the radio. It's awesome.
EDM is getting huge right now. Many producers have switched over from Rap to EDM just for the "show money". I can see more south asian influence starting to make headway as well. I think people just get bored of the same sound and will latch on to something main stream that sounds different.
when we talk about vintage or heritage music, it's important to note that pop music wasn't really very old 40 years ago or 20 years ago for that matter. We still regard pop as a frontier art-form where new things are always happening. This just isn't the case, the format has been set and is largely conformed to, which is fine. Just like story telling, or painting, the extremes of the structure of pop as an art form, have been felt out in the dark, and exist as boundaries. most of us, myself included cannot marry the idea of boundaries with what i grew up to understand as a fresh way to express myself. It just seems like it's hard for an artist to create a sense of wonder in a listener anymore, the audience is too savvy and it creates cynicism.
It would be like if magic shows were pioneered in the 50's and became the dominant cultural art-form. after 65 years of going to magic shows you wouldn't be very impressed anymore, and innovations in the medium would be much slower coming than the crowds waning appreciation for the art in general.
I feel like there's a bit of a backlash that the post-major-label world never materialized the way it seemed it might a decade ago. There was a lot of looking at the new technologies and theorizing about how it was going to decentralize the whole industry, but really things are more or less the same as they were a decade ago or twenty years ago in that regard. So there's a realization that the reason that pop music was popular wasn't because it was being foisted on us by the industry, but because it actually resonates with people.
I would argue that it's actually quite the opposite. Marketing defines people's taste's even more than it used, and generally people have even less idea that there is something outside the mainstream that is actually different from what they're used to.
That's partially because the mainstream has eaten everything up.
When the artists don't make money off music anyway, and most would be happy to just have somebody listen to them, there's not a lot of people out there anymore who actually take time and effort to try and stand out of the crowd, to do their own thing, to innovate and break the mold. Why the heck would you? Music is not a special thing to do anymore, it's not art, not a statement and hardly even an extension of your personality, even if you're the one making it. It's just a hobby or just a job.
I would argue that it's actually quite the opposite. Marketing defines people's taste's even more than it used, and generally people have even less idea that there is something outside the mainstream that is actually different from what they're used to.
That's partially because the mainstream has eaten everything up.
When the artists don't make money off music anyway, and most would be happy to just have somebody listen to them, there's not a lot of people out there anymore who actually take time and effort to try and stand out of the crowd, to do their own thing, to innovate and break the mold. Why the heck would you? Music is not a special thing to do anymore, it's not art, not a statement and hardly even an extension of your personality, even if you're the one making it. It's just a hobby or just a job.
I kinda agree with you here...hardly anyone takes the time anymore to craft a song let alone an entire album. Most are just looking for a quick viral hit to make a buck off single song downloads so these days we get so many "novelty" type songs
what does the fox say, gangnam style, let me take a selfie ect.
there is "good" music out there but you have to look for it and of course its a matter of opinion. I don't see as many kds out there learning to play instruments as there used to be, kids are too lazy, they can do it all on a computer without having to do any "work"
as for why we fight about it? its our nature, we fight about everyting
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Why We Fight About Pop Music
