Why is it so wrong to like pop music?

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I think people should like what they like regardless of whether it's mainstream or not, or if they "should" like it or not. As for being in line with the "mainstream culture"... who wants to do that? For the most part, it is extremely moronic. You shouldn't be listening to something just because the radio and MTV tells you it's what is good. Use your own head and think for yourself. Following the crowd will get you no where in life.

This.

I think some of the other pop singers are good too, though.

But why should one want to integrate into mainstream society? especially if their experience with it has been mostly negative? Besides I like whatever music I like I don't really care if its mainstream or not, it just so happens most mainstream music of today makes me cringe so I avoid the radio except classic rock and refuse to watch MTV for any length of time.

Eh, if it makes you feel good. I think his reasoning is "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down." I don't think it's "good" either, that thought process, but hey, it's easy and smooth, which is why most people do it.

Anyway, though, I have this problem of the OP. Much different artists, though, I'm OK with some Lady Gaga songs, and there's some mainstream pop songs in general from today that I do like, however, my problem with most of it, is it's simply too raunchy and filled with stuff about sex and partying. However, most 80s American pop I feel is better in this regard, and foreign pop I think only in the last few years is really really picking up on this American trend, so I usually like foreign pop more.

But for me, I listen to almost exclusively pop music now. A great deal of it is foreign, though, which is a bit weird, but what makes it weirder to my friends is that it's almost all pop music. It's one thing I guess if you listen to like...X Japan or Dir En Gray all day, it becomes just weird when you're a male and listening to girly jpop for hours at a time. It was a transition, though. In high school, I had an identity crisis of sorts going on. I discovered eurobeat and eurodance music, and jpop, and just loved that stuff to death, but I'd more or less only listen in secret. I listened to lots of metal and stuff to help me fit in better at school, but then after I got expelled, that changed. More pop music, albeit mostly eurobeat and techno and the like. Then, my life got worse, and I realized I don't wanna hear all kinds of negative stuff in my music, and I liked my music as an escape. I don't need life's badness affirmed by my music I listen to. So now, very little metal/rap/punk like I used to listen to.

I don't know, it's harder as a guy, I think, as guys are expected to like...listen to Metallica all the time or something. Or Tool. I like electronic music a LOT, but my musical tastes there are offputting to lots of people, as I mostly listen to like, girly house music. It seems most electronic music junkies like...minimalist progressive glitchcore drum and bass...or something. I had a neighbor, who at first we hit it off good, as we had a commonality of liking electronic music, but he just hated my 90s eurodance, happy hardcore, eurobeat, clubbier house music, etc. I feel like house music here in USA is where like, "traditional" pop music goes here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaAzRm5MfY8 Like take that, to me that's more just "normal" pop music. I try not to be like, bigoted in what I listen to, I admit in the past I was a lot more closeminded, but now not so much. Good music is good music, and it's very bad to make blanket statements about whole genres and stuff, just my reason for not liking most American pop is more lyrical content and raunchiness. There's some stuff I do like, more individual songs, like Vanessa Carlton's "1000 Miles" is probably one of the best songs that will be made in this century. For real. Just, my general pop tastes are a bit more varied and worldly than your average pop listener.

I especially like in pop music, like...the romanticness of it. It gets the romantic...chivalrous...parts of me going, I guess. To me, I'm not very well in touch with my emotions, and I have severe troubles understanding such abstract concepts like love and whatnot, and to me, pop music gives me a window into it. Well, good pop music does, bad pop music is....bad in that regard. Also, religion has a broad influence in my musical tastes, after I became more seriously Christian, I wanted more "light" music, if that makes any sense. I didn't like hearing like, angry stuff anymore. However, the trend in contemporary Christian music is lame, though, as the trend now for Christian music is to be "contemporary" and almost nobody makes....happy Christian music. It's always just emo music with Jesus thrown in. So lame. I find most gospel music much more tolerable to listen to than the Christian emo or Christian Disturbed type groups coming out now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wckZcVFLU24[/youtube]
This scene from the movie Macross Do You Remember Love really is so neat, and I think explains why pop music is important in the first place. I don't think I need to type much more, that scene there I think explains why I like pop music so much. When it's good, it's amazing and just the coolest stuff ever.

That said, one of my friends said it could be my NVLD/Aspergers, cuz he originally brought up that most of what I listened to was pop music. He said it's probably due to my emotional maturity. He said pop music appeals to the "base" emotions, and not the complexer ones. So basically he said I was emotionally immature. This was before I was taking my DX seriously, so I found this sort of a shock. He, on the other hand, listens to stuff like Rise Against, which to me is just like "GRR I'M MAD AT STUFF" and I really don't see how it's considered psychologically more emotionally mature to listen to such things. Whatever.

Last edited by 1000Knives on 12 Mar 2012, 5:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This is very much like the so called muslims in England who belong to the Wahabi/Salafi sect, who stay in their own cultural ghetto and refuse to intergrate to Western society (Note: I am not talikng about all Muslims, I am talking about the so called Muslims who belong to the bigoted Wahabi sect of Islam).

Nonsense. It's nothing like that at all and you are very seriously mistaken if you actually believe that liking pop music is any indication of someone's integration into a society.

I have an entirely classical music background and current pop music holds no interest for me whatever, because none of the elements I understand, appreciate and enjoy are present - so, remind me again why I should compromise what I know with lightweight, unstructured ephemera?
You expect me to pretend I like it so I can (in your opinion) appear "more integrated"?

That is a terrible comparison.....not to mention I did not choose to be born in this society, nor did I choose not to have the means to leave therefore I have no obligation to conform to it.

I like to combine the heavy metal lyrics with Pop music.

Nothing wrong with liking it.
I've never met anyone who wasn't criticised for their music tastes, though.

I'd like to know how simply not enjoying popular music makes one resemble a muslim extremist in europe or whatever.

It's not that I don't like heavy metal it is just that I have a hard time getting along with that crowd because they pick on me.

There are hidden gems in mainstream pop. I like pop music that I can actually tell apart from other songs on the radio.

Britney Spears is an artist I dislike because her auto-tuned voice really bothers me. It must be really bad if they did so much work on it.

However, Lady Gaga I don't mind so much, because she actually sounds human. She's also extremely quirky and not afraid to show it. That takes true pride in one's self.

I listen to mostly alternative and folk songs (and several foreign ones). That's the way I am.

Much of what I listen to can be considered pop, and some of the artists are probably more directed toward a female audience..but I stick to my guns and make no apologies for it.

Let me tell you how i integrated to mainstream music. My interest in different cultures led me into liking Latin Pop and postars like Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee and many more. then I have began to like mainstream artists whom these singers have worked with like The Black Eyed Peas, Wyclef Jean and many more. I still listen to non mainstream music.

So what you're saying is that because I have no interest in any of 'em, I cannot therefore be integrated into society?
But I am well integrated into a society having the same musical interests as mine - so what does that mean, if anything?

Yes, quite.
It seems a little heavy-handed...