Reply #125: So that's what you're after

[jpgray]

I suggest that's a dead end as well. Just as fans of popular artists (particularly the ones "snobs" like to bash) aren't a monolithic bloc drawn in for wholly simplistic and contemptible reasons, snobs who bash those artists aren't a monolithic bloc who bash for wholly simplistic and contemptible reasons either. In other words while it's too simplistic for a snob to say "those idiotic BRC fans are just led about by marketing and promotion--if only they'd heard of obscure country star x!" it's also too simplistic for you to say "those idiotic snobs are reacting against BRC fans simply because of his popularity--when they bash him, their motivation isn't like or dislike but a desire to separate themselves from the majority because they feel that act of separation gives them identity and makes them unique/cool/whatever."

Authenticity is a tough thing to measure. I agree you can argue that an artist who sells out without pretense is more authentic than one whose only unique identity is the pretense of refusing to sell out, but isn't authenticity only a part of what makes art enjoyable? And doesn't it follow that people's ideas about what constitutes authenticity and how important it is will be just as thoroughly subjective as their ideas about what constitutes good art? In other words, neither the snobs nor the "popular music isn't bad because it's popular" people should have any reason to bash each other, and they should realize that their views are an oversimplification of what each school of thought is about.

Worse, people tend to lump someone into these overgeneralized groups based on their like or dislike of a single artist, whereas no music fan I've ever heard of is wholly elitist snob or wholly egalitarian commercial pop defender--there is always a significant blending. The funny thing that comes with that problem is that people can just as easily write the same person off as elitist that others would write off as egalitarian, depending on which artist is being discussed.

I think people who react against what's popular just because it's popular are just as silly as those who react against something snobs love because snobs love it. People should like what they like, without trying to fit those who disagree into an all-encompassing simplistic sociological system.