Former A&R person here. Please feel free to tell me -- and let's stress this important detail -- how shite certain 'pop machine' individuals / artists / etc. are based on your personal experience or empirically true info.
Because, to be blunt, a lot of you have simply regurgitated tired tropes that got their origin from some bad bar band's resentment that they're not rich and famous and taking their pick of groupies.
So, please tell me in verifiable detail how you know who is exactly writing what in Taylor Swift's songs.
I've known / been around plenty of very successful artists and producers (Grammies, platinum sales ... remember those?), and it's simply a joke how naysayers simply project their own neuroses on to situations. As an example, I have an ex-girlfriend who is one of the nicest, most generous people I know, and every now and then I encounter scenesters talking about what a bitch / greedy jerk / etc. she is. Well, see, no she's not. That's just your fantasy of her.
Even more transparent and hideous are those who pretend that their exalted tastes, as supposedly informed as they are, somehow represent some objective truth about music.
Here is the objective truth about music: it's a mode of communication. Don't mean to harm the fragile egos, but there's no intrinsic value whatsoever in a 'tasteful, technically proficient' solo. It's how you make people feel. Some folks have it, some don't. Don't kid yourself that something's 'better' outside of your own personal preference.
Then, of course, there's the idea of making money from music. Seems people have a need to crap all over those who did better at it than they did.
I'm a music fanatic and would have been musician (got a little degree and everything). My personal experience is the countless hours I've spent listening to all types of music. But I never pursued music as a career. I have absolutely no neuroses regarding music and the success of artists, just a lack of appreciation for the artistic merit of modern popular music and the how the industry churns it out and has taken so much of artistry out of the process. It's overly calculated and processed, there's very little that's natural about it. And my ears have not appreciated it...and this is important, my ears didn't enjoy it before I knew anything about the modern process. I find the most of the hugely popular music of the last decade (+) soulless.
As to the empirical notion, it was partially tongue-in-cheek and partially about how much time i've spent listening and thinking about the music. Not dissecting it so much as actively listening and noting what I do and don't like. I keep my ears open and realize that as a fan/listener there is no formula that makes me like or dislike music...it's the sound in the moment. And generally once I really like something, it stays liked.
As for any notion that any of us have exalted tastes that somehow represent any objective truth...talk about projecting neuroses.
We are the consumers of the product you've had a hand in creating. Some of the folks here are even creators! We get to have opinions and they are no more of less valid than yours. You should obviously have a certain perspective on the industry, but that doesn't make your judgement or assumptions anything other that judgements and assumptions.
So as I've done since as long as I can remember, back to being a little wee little tike, I will freely express my thoughts and feelings about the art I ingest. It's part of the greatness (at times) of this country...we all get to have and share our opinions. I look at music as more than just a mode of communication. It's art, not a text or tweet or email or telegram. I don't care if it's a Daniel Johnston or Mozart, the Beatles or a local bar band, street musicians busking or a show at an arena (or anywhere in between), if it's live or listening while I commute, cook, work, exercise, or whatever. Technical or primitive, female or male, how it
's categorized or really even how it's produced...I just like how some of it sounds. It is the closest thing I have to what others have described as a "religious" experience. There's a larger fraction that I do
n't like the sound of regardless of how it's produced or the skill level of the musicians.
I haven't seen a single post in this thread saying anything was better, just what we like or don't.
The whole jealousy angle is so 13 year-old Harmony Central trolls. I'm not jealous of Beyonce or Swift, but I am hugely envious of Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks. I find Chris Thile to be inspirational whenever he plays or sings a note. However, I am, as clearly stated, sad and sometimes angry about how so many believe Taylor Swift and the like to be amazing, but folks like The Nudes couldn't even sustain their career despite being incredibly talented. Of course I understand that it's all just a crap shoot, as even the most well-planned artist can fail. But I'm not deluded enough believe their is any direct correlation between popularity and sales and quality...and this extends to all art.
Like I said, I'll keep having discussing my constantly evolving and changing opinions with a cool bunch of folks that I've met (initially at HC, but virtually bonded with) here. Sorry if that isn't to your liking...actually, I'm not as it's not my problem.
All that said, it's cool.
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