Gafoo’s Blog

I cannot understand why pop music is so damn “popular.” What is it about the teenage mind that makes you just go out and buy what everyone else is buying and listening to what the corporate rock machine tells you to listen to. Before I go on I must say that I was once a part of this mentality as were most of us since we were all once teenagers. I was big into it though and I will explain more of that later. Back to ranting…I can’t understand the mind of teens who would listen to pop music and think it is not pop. Case in point: Avril Lavigne. She is just as pop as Brittney Spears. She is no different. Her demeanor might differ than that of Brittney Spears but that is only skin deep. Of course musically she is not that far off, but let me disseminate one more point. She is not “punk.” She is pop punkish, or the phrase my good friend Randy coined “power pop.” I have a hard time accepting anything on the radio that claims to be punk. If punk really were on the radio then droves of people would stop listening to the radio. I have nothing against punk rock but true punk rock is not popular music. It was a whole revolution about music and politics that today’s teens don’t care about. It was about playing music that wasn’t pretty but was very in your face. The lyrics were about breaking down fascism and oppression. Today teens aren’t oppressed and can’t see outside their 14 year old bubble gum pop world to even know that things like that still go on today.Another example that will get slammed by my friends and colleagues. System of a Down is just as pop as Brittney Spears. Sit there and let that sink just a bit. Now lets go on…Pop music is popular. That is a given. But why exactly is it popular. Want to here my answer? Because pop music is selling an image. Much as it pains me to say it, there was no golden age in the music industry where the music was pure. As long as there has been a “music industry” there have been people making money from music and musicians. Of course now-a-days it is easy. We can make money off of music and don’t have to take into account any musicians. There are an endless supply of Brittney Spears wanna-bes that the record company can throw some sexy clothes on teach to dance (cough, cough). The requirement of music talent is now optional.Take any industry. The goal of that industry is to create and market product at low cost to them and turn a profit. Of course this is where my problem comes in. Aren’t we taught to assume that music in any form is art? This is not art, it is a product, just like any other product you can buy at the corner store. I am sorry to say to anyone who is taking offense to all of this but, THERE IS NOTHING ARTISTIC ABOUT BRITTNEY SPEARS!!! Of course this is all a subjective medium anyway. I would say the same thing to just about any so-called “atist” on the radio. Don’t even get me started about music videos. That is a subject for another time…So, to get back to my original topic (what is really original anymore, anyway?), pop music I believe is popular because of the very reason I hate it: It is selling an image. Of course like I said earlier, I fell hard for pop music when I was a wee lad (gosh it seems so long ago). I was hard into the grunge era and I would like to say it was about the music for me but sadly it was the image. It was the image of being a depressed teenager wearing flannel shirts that my parents spent 40 dollars for at Sears. I was a poser but I was happy with the image that “they” had created for me. At that age, identity is everything and when an industry hands you an identity, no matter what the price, you will pay for it.