How to Create a Pop Star

colorofmoney91 wrote: Yay troll threads. If you hate bad pop, then avoid bad pop and listen to good pop instead, which is still being made today. It's not that hard to find; it's just not being crammed into your face like the flavor of the week Lady Gaga (by whom I still have not heard a single song). I think this thread is focusing mainly on modern electro/synth/bubblegum pop or whatever it's called (I'm no expert), but there is always at least a few artists grouped into any genre that I find enjoyable and that is because I think music always has its merits and nothing is entirely awful (even if I don't like it). I personally think people should be more open minded and willing to understand and enjoy other types of music even if their preconceptions about a genre is kind of negative. Or else I'll start a thread about how people don't have the same tastes as me and defend my stance as the superior music listener, but that sounds like something that everyone might want to avoid.

Yay troll threads.

frippism wrote: OK honestly ABBA??? Come on! It's hard for me to see the difference between ABBA and Lady Gaga. The only difference is that I can enjoy ABBA sort of sometimes. .

Yep, cut the crap, you hear one of ABBA's classic hit singles and you ain't singing it inside your head for weeks thereafter? You're a lying sack of flotsam if you think that type of song is easy to write without stellar talent

frippism wrote: Terrible point. Not one genius in the entire music industry?????? Not even one????? One????????? Uno??????אחד?????? C'mon....

I only said I do not know of.  There may well be one in the fragmented web that is the music industry today but the only geniuses I know of are those who were acknowledged as such long ago and are still working.  I know of many talented musicians who make excellent music but none from the new crop that I could call a genius. 

dtguitarfan wrote: I think I need to clarify something.  I have no problem with a four-chord song, per se.  What I have a problem with is when an artist has an entire collection of nothing BUT four-chord songs that never go anywhere, never add any unique elements, never strive for excellence, and this artist is worshiped by millions of rabid fans, they have multiple mansions on opposite sides of continents, and they win awards - like our society is saying "THIS is the best we have to offer."  I have no problem with finger-painting either - my kids make finger paintings, and they go on my fridge and I see beauty in them.  But if there were an "artist" who made nothing but this type of painting, and made millions of dollars doing it, and appeared on the covers of magazines, and won awards, while millions of teenage fanatics and middle aged women credited this artist as the greatest artist ever while simultaneously saying Leonardo Da Vinci was nothing special, it would infuriate me.

Well, that definition probably fits Bob Dylan nicely, if you take lyrics out of the equation.   It certainly does fit AC DC and they enjoy a lot of goodwill in rock circles too and they don't even write anything as profound as the Zimmerman.  So I will have to disagree with that, I don't think there is any compulsion on artists to progress music or make something new.  They can make what they like; I personally do find derivative music of any kind boring, be it within pop or prog.  And I certainly find it harder to endure  uninspired, by-the-numbers prog epics rather than a short pop song which might at least be catchy while it last, but that's a different story.

The last sentence sort of resonates with me.  I don't have a problem with who they call the greatest as long as they respect my taste.  I don't want to hear about how I am this weirdo or show off just because I am more open minded and adventurous in exploring music than people who listen to nothing but radio hits.  I am not inclined to give courtesy unless it is reciprocated, which is why I generally avoid conversations on music 'offline'.


Edited by rogerthat - June 02 2012 at 08:48

I think I need to clarify something.  I have no problem with a four-chord song, per se.  What I have a problem with is when an artist has an entire collection of nothing BUT four-chord songs that never go anywhere, never add any unique elements, never strive for excellence, and this artist is worshiped by millions of rabid fans, they have multiple mansions on opposite sides of continents, and they win awards - like our society is saying "THIS is the best we have to offer."  I have no problem with finger-painting either - my kids make finger paintings, and they go on my fridge and I see beauty in them.  But if there were an "artist" who made nothing but this type of painting, and made millions of dollars doing it, and appeared on the covers of magazines, and won awards, while millions of teenage fanatics and middle aged women credited this artist as the greatest artist ever while simultaneously saying Leonardo Da Vinci was nothing special, it would infuriate me.

dtguitarfan wrote: Calling a pop musician an artist is like calling someone who can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a chef.

But what if a pop musician made PB&Js like this?

I love good pop music, just as I dislike bad prog music.  And despite what that statement implies, the two are not opposites.

Trouble is that pop is not a genre just a catch all word that encompasses many styles of music.

he doesn't like Foo Fighters either.