I agree that commercial is a better term then pop for the type of music people in this thread and on this site feel vitriol towards. Well surmised observation Brad Stengel.

Agreed completely

Well to be fair, the vast majority of what is usually categorized as "pop" is commercial. The only real exception nowadays are sugary hook-oriented pop forms of indie music (which, suffice to say, are not commercial in the slightest).

If the question in that case is: "is commercial music corporate garbage or does it have its merits?" - I'd answer that most of it probably is creatively and artistically bankrupt, overly processed and manufactured tripe. But then, even commercial chart music has its good moments. There have been enough songs this year that I've liked. Dizzee's "Dance Wiv Me", for one.

Perhaps the truth is something closer to "Not all pop is mainstream contemporary chart music, but all contemporary chart music has elements of pop?". Or perhaps not.

I do, however, find it interesting that some magazines/reviewing forums out there tend to elevate R&B, various kinds of rap and generic hip-hop and pop music while trivializing musicians who emphasize their instrumental capabilities as "pretentious". Maybe its what people seem to be valuing inherently in a lot of contemporary chart and "alternative" music that's flawed, rather than their taste/choice in music specifically. Hmn.

Wikipedia's definition of pop seems to be spot on though in any case...

This is a really terrible thread...

A lot of artists that are linked to the genre aren't really popstars in the classical sense. At least not to me. I mean, a song with catchy lyrics is already classified as pop by some people despite some alternative/indie songs being very catchy, too. I guess you could say that pop is the kind of music one can easily make money with because it appeals to a lot of people. And that isn't due to attractive artists or anything of the kind but to a melody that sticks in people's heads, also by being played on the radio a lot.

Well **** off out of it before I ban you for spamming it then.

Dude.