i don't think the bolded is true for most; but definitely some. i think these three things are true for most mainstream (by which i mean music featured on popular TV and radio programmes) music listeners:

- they have generally conservative tastes (no musical extremes) and mainstream music is probably the least extreme in musical aspects.
- they do not grow bored of what they like as often/quickly, and mainstream music provides more than enough fodder presented in slightly different styles for them to occupy themselves with.
- they are either not motivated to find (or are not interested in finding) new artists.

of course, these three things are not dependent on one another.

this doesn't mean they are more interested in fitting in with their peers necessarily, -though that may be the case for some- just that they have no interest, no internal reason to expand their musical tastes. which is fine, who cares? i think that applies more to most mainstream music fans than mainstream the group you mean, who have externally caused reasons for listening to music, such as to gain approval, impress others, fit into a group, etc. this is more appropriately contemptible, but not true for the majority of mainstream listeners, i think.

Pop music and it's appreciators automatically (possibly subconciously) deserve less respect because it's so easy. You don't have to do much, for example you don't have to discover it on your own, you're not required to make an effort to learn about music and it probably doesn't have to grow on you much before it sticks. It's handed to you and all you have to do is accept it. I think this is why people who are genuinely interested in music think less of it and that the actual quality of pop is less important.

To those who say pop is safe and does nothing new, I don't fully agree. Granted, some of pop does that, example Michael Bublè (my impression). Still, I think the most popular hits, like those of Lady Gaga these days or Britney Spears' "Toxic", have just about the right blend of old familiarity with a good dose of freshness. It gives people enough of the same old while piquing their interest with something new. I think if you buy the album and start listening to the songs which are not hit singles, that's probably where it starts to get really unimaginative.

I think many pop songwriters are very good at doing what they do and do find that right blend of familiar and fresh. It's probably not an easy thing to do either. Still, I can't quite find it in me to spend time on these hits .. :p:


Mark Knopfler's latest was probably less imaginative than Lady Gaga's debut, but I'll get Knopfler's album.

I think the the problem is that, in order to appeal to the maximum number of people, music has to be kind of lowest common denominator. That's not to say all mainstream music is bad really but it's almost always very safe.

Are you guys talking about "Not Afraid"? I just watched the video on YouTube because of this thread and I have to say I thought it was pretty weak. It's not even close to the same level as his late 90s/early00s stuff.

His new look cracks me up though. Looks like he should be the singer for some NYC hardcore band back in the day.

Sometimes I wonder if posters 'play' the clueless when asking this question, as I've heard this question answered probably a 1000 times and, for the most part, it's the same general response. I'm sure others have already said what's been said many a times before, so I won't continue on like a broken record because *shock and awe* I happen to like some mainstream music.

I'll leave you with Jay-Z's awesome song from last year, which spent 5 weeks at #1 on Billboard:

I agree there's plenty of good mainstream music out there. But that Jay-Z song is exactly the type of thing that leaves me wondering how in the world such a bland song could ever get so huge.

What didn't you like about it? The song had a good beat, Keys' vocal contributions were stellar, and the lyrics were great (and served as a perfect opposition to Nas' N.Y. State of Mind). :thumb:

I think the dislike towards mainstream music is a little offensive in that it's so rash and generalized and near automated. I also think the qualities of mainstream pop is often underestimated (read my last post). Still, I myself don't listen to the latest pop music. However, I do occasionally listen to pop music from previous decades which was just as commercial and fake or pretty much whatever else you think pop is as what comes out today. I just don't really make an effort to stay updated with music today as I tend to dig in the past.

Sometimes, people will bash what comes out today for being too commercial while they still love pop hits from the 80s f.ex which can be seen as slightly hypocritical.

I agree to the fullest extent, I see the people who criticize today's music trying to bring Journey back (and I'm talking about people my age in their teens who thought music was so great back in the day), etc.

Mainstream music today may not be breathtakingly original or groundbreaking, but if it sounds good then I'm down with it. I'm not insecure about the "pop" label like so many others seem to be.

Reinventing the wheel.

There's a good David Tibet quote on the subject, but seeing as I can't seem to find it anywhere, the gist of what he was saying was that pop music (ie. the generic kind, not the stuff that is genuinely original/interesting) is listened to by people who use music for hollow, shallow, petty reasons, not to truly enjoy it. That is all you need to know. If you want to listen to music because you love it and not because the sound of a computer engine running annoys you and you want to mask it, then you can easily find good music out there. The Internet is a fabulous tool for such a thing.

An example: I heard Ke$ha for the first time yesterday. Only because a friend said 'You have to hear how bad this is.' I don't have to hear the bad music, and it doesn't have hear me. It's easily avoidable. Not everybody is interested in music, as some just use it for, as I said, petty/pathetic/boring reasons. That's why a lot of it is pretty bad, and seeing as most people feel that way nowadays, it's popular.