I love to listen to pop music all the time and when I read “The Pernicious Rise of Poptimism,” Austerlitz’s article really brought my attention towards pop music.
Poptimism’s main goal is devoted solely to pop idols. Poptimism values authenticity over more comparative or deconstructive styles of criticism. For example. Poptimism allows us to reject music such as Carley Rae Jepsen’s last album, which conveyed an old-fashioned ideal of pop music with a remarkable precision.
Austerlitz believes that music criticism has impacted a great way by telling consumers what to purchase. In a way, I agree with that, but at the same time, I would rather figure out on my own what’s good music instead of having to listen to what others have to say.
People who have enough courage to produce music have a talent that should be respected and not degraded. They are talented in the way they produce a nice-sounding voice that makes them sound unique. Being able to sing in tune and keeping up with the tempo can come easily to some people and to others not as much.
The Grammys, for example, are a good example of how these singers are portrayed as being talented. Out of a million singers, they get chosen to win awards because of the music they produce. Back in 2015, Pharrell Williams ended up winning an award for his song, “Happy,” which was a pretty big hit single after it hit records. It became a song that was never supposed to be released as a single. It shows how something in an age of over-marketing can take on a life of its own and by appeal so many people of all ages.
Critics will right away judge the song by the way they sing without realizing their talent and put them down about their work. By judging their ability to sing, it only lowers their self-esteem and makes them feel like they’re not good enough.
Giving negative feedback does not really do much except spread the word about the flaws about the artist. On social media, I don’t find it necessary to talk bad about someone whom you may or may not know judging them based on their credentials as a singer. My opinion based on the role of criticism in today’s society is that it’s degrading and unprofessional. It definitely gets in the way of what people should think in regards to public entertainment.
Public entertainment is meant to give you options as to what looks good and catches your eye, other than to have negative reviews making you not want to watch it based on their opinion. Critics don’t understand how much hard work and dedication these singers put into their career each and every day.
Depending on what kind of singer they are, a typical workday for them would consist of 8-9 hours practicing. The music world is very competitive, artists are always competing on the music they are producing. To do so they work very hard every single day working on either making a new song or just singing on one song of theirs until it hits perfection.
