In Defense of Pop Music

Written by Minnah Zaheer

Photo courtesy of David Roemer for Marie Claire Magazine

Think about your favorite song in the whole world. Now think about a song that makes you dance and allows you to truly cut loose from the pressure of the rest of the world. Are they the same song? Are you at all ashamed of the fact that they aren’t?

Seasoned veterans of local music scenes tend to turn up their noses at the thought of enjoying music that’s considered popular and trendy. As a result, we tend to place more value on music that seems more “unique.” Such a narrow-minded perspective actively combats what’s considered to be easily marketable or “generic,” a dirty word in many music circles.

Pop artists like Britney Spears often make up the punch line of music critics’ jokes because their music is perceived to lack depth. Despite the fact that Britney Spears has remained a culturally relevant artist for nearly three decades due to the mass appeal of her music, the stigma around her has persisted throughout her entire career, particularly in the last few years.

And she’s not the only example of this phenomenon. Think of other artists like Selena Gomez, Maroon 5, Fifth Harmony, and Charlie Puth. All of these artists make songs that are wildly popular from a commercial standpoint but are still dismissed as not being “real” music.

The genre of pop music is difficult to define. There is no universally agreed-upon sound of pop, since the word “pop” simply means “popular.” Still, most people know what stereotypical pop music sounds like, if nothing else. Especially in the context of current pop, it consists of simple chord progressions, electronic music, and repetition. So why do so many people act like enjoying what’s popular is a bad thing?

Perhaps the answer is simpler than we think. As music enthusiasts, we take pride in not only what we create, but also in what we consume. Therefore, it makes sense that we might have a superiority complex about the music we listen to, or at least about the music we admit to others that we listen to. But letting go of that superiority complex and simply enjoying music for music — not for who else is listening to it — is incredibly freeing.

As someone who used to be picky about what artists I did and didn’t tell people I enjoyed, I’ve found this way of looking at music consumption is extremely limiting. During my middle and high school years, I was surprisingly pretentious about my knowledge of music, to the point where I’d often find myself dismissing others who listened to artists I deemed below my own personal standards.

However, as I started to become more confident in myself, I realized that at the end of the day, the music I enjoy doesn’t have to define me, and radio-friendly music is actually really fun to listen to. Of course, I still appreciate the alt-rock artists I made myself like when I was a gawky preteen, but expanding my lens helped me realize that the music world is much larger than the  music I felt was worthy of my appreciation.

Independently listening to artists like One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Lady Gaga opened up a new world of music that I could mindlessly dance around to. Listening to music purely for my own enjoyment instead of feeling obligated to ingrain myself in the culture surrounding the band was remarkably liberating. Letting go of the preconceptions in our heads surrounding commercialized pop music can make the world brighter, happier, and easier to live in.

So next time you think about the song that makes you the happiest, don’t hesitate to think inside the box.