In the previous paragraph, I used the term “music industry” on purpose. While I look up to the ideal of music being judged solely on its merits and being a creative process completely free from the constraints of capitalism, we cannot ignore that music as an industry affects what we get to listen to and, on a long enough timeline, affects the kind of music put out. You can’t deny that many people who went into punk bands may not have done so had someone not put the music of The Ramones or The Sex Pistols on vinyl and sold it to aspiring musicians everywhere. In my opinion, this is where most of the problems with Pop music come from. In a perfect capitalist world, the top musical talent should float to the top, but if you believe in capitalism, I have some land in Florida I’d like to sell you.

Since before the advent of Rock and Roll, music has been something that has been commoditized. And Rock and Roll has shady origins when you consider that Alan Freed, one of the most popular early promoters of Rock and Roll, was involved in a payola scandal. So, you can see most of the problems with Pop music from the beginning. For example, after Berry Gordy found success with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, he went on to sign The Temptations and The Four Tops. This is analogous to the millions of dollars Lou Pearlman put behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync after seeing the success of The New Kids On The Block, and then LFO and O-Town, after those groups became successful.

The careful control of appearance has existed in Pop music since the beginning, as well. Berry Gordy used to exercise a great deal of control over his artist’s appearance to make sure that his African-American artists would be considered “safe” for white audiences. Then, it was suits and ties. Today, its ties and chastity rings. This becomes a problem when its the image that creates success and not the talent. Britney Spears always found more success thanks to her paradoxical image as both a virgin and a temptress, but one would be hard pressed to say that she was the most talented of the late 90’s Pop starlets. Christina Aguilera, debatably the most talented of said starlets, only got the notice she deserved when she pushed the temptress image to the extreme in her video for ‘Lady Marmalade’ and her album Stripped.

Though these are only two of the problems with Pop music, they serve as an example of how music is marketed. Marketing is the way companies convince you to buy something despite its faults. And the success of marketing makes it difficult for unmarketed or self-marketed talent to get noticed. So, has Pop music damaged music? Yes. The music industry of today wears the scars of Pop music as unmarketable talented musicians are left on the wayside for the demographic-friendly acts like The Jonas Brothers and Katy Perry. And while your opinion on these acts’ respective talents may vary, their popularity alone makes it hard for a musician who isn’t a parent-friendly teen heartthrob or a walking talking lezploitation film get noticed by those who have the power to deliver their music to audiences around the globe.