There is this guy that wrote these compositions in baroque times that in his life were looked down on as being simplistic, and all the attention was given to the popular guys.
Today we all recognize Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and can’t name any of the popular guys.
That being said, Taylor Swift is a genius lyricist. She can capture the emotion an express it so it’s easily accessible. I don’t like her music, but I recognize her talent.
Now Olivia Rodrigo…
Instant fan here.
I went from “who the hell is she?” To “wow, I dig this” in an instant.
Van Gogh died penniless with his greatness and influence on the art world unrecognized in his time. History views his work quite differently.
An artist’s popularity in his/her lifetime could be a harbinger of enduring esteem and influence on art, but not necessarily, since the judgment of history determines what the culture values most highly. As always, time will tell.
I have a Polish friend who calls Baroque music “music for the pork chop”, meaning muzak to be played in the background at dinner.
for 
I went to see Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed by the Acadamy of Ancient Music, on old instruments from his day, and it was one of the more memorable concerts I’ve attended. Apparently Vivaldi didn’t compose the guitar parts, he put down notations and let them improvise. It was a great night
Sounds amazing. Would have liked to have heard that.
Truth^^^
Well, to quote my favourite TV character Vince Noir; The Human League invented music. Everything else before was just ‘tuning up’ 
I’m not poor.
I invest in commodity markets…
Lumber
Steel
Brass
Me, I just take notes.
Genius is never really recognized at the moment, i think…
Taylor swift may seem like radio pop star fluff, i think history will decide that-
But remember, nikola tesla got laughed at by his whole community of peers, and died penniless.
The contribution Everyone scorned?
Alternating current.
To be fully comprehensive on the topic, there aren’t many Tesla and there are many crackpots… So “being a contrarian” is not a sign of being right by itself. New breakthroughs require daring thinkers but recall another complex figure like Newton who was able to see further because he was on the shoulders of giants.
The problem with modern day pop music is not being “different” from the past, it’s due to it being formulaic, a trite répétition of comforting clichés and autotuned vocals, often sung by oversexualized performers who are “sold” to the bland taste of the audience.
I will try to make an example relating to me and not to any pop star: I am such a beginner that I am only able to play the most basic 12 bar blues. It sounds nice but “I don’t know why”, I am merely parroting what the greats discovered.
Of course I am a beginner and beginners should practice on and on… But even if the V-IV-I passage sounds so satisfying I know that I am not “doing anything special” because I am just retreading over and over a well worn path (which of course I need to do and I don’t tire of it because I need to improve my dexterity, my muting skills, my rhythm, …)
Someone said that they find modern pop “shallow” and I think that’s the reason. It’s almost like a continuous repetition of the same recipe, over and over…
Yes, because that’s what makes people want to shake it, and it gets play
Poor drummer, this is sad! 
I may be too old …but when I see the prevalence of “good looks” Vs actual musical skills I don’t even think it’s about “dancing appeal” any more, it’s just marketing. And the words by Bill Hicks come to mind…
I mean, artists have always had flashy attires and a taste for being excessive, but in the 70s and 80s (and part of the 90s) they could play the role… But they could also play the music.
As an example, in Italy we have a tradition of singers that my mother’s generation used to enjoy (which could be exemplified by the San Remo competition). Maybe they are not to *my" taste, but surely they could sing a note! While modern day ‘singers’… Often, they bare themselves, for sure, but when it comes to actual singing and playing it’s quite a different matter!
OK, so here’s a train of thought that’s been simmering for a while: I have a friend who is a community organizer here in DC. She works non-stop on bringing together groups of people to discuss inequity in the city, and speaking up for people whose voices are often ignored because of race. She also has a family, and is invested in raising her kids to be good citizens. She got her law degree from Columbia University in New York. She is super-smart and the opposite of shallow.
But when she has some free time to herself, you know what she reads? PEOPLE magazine. The first time I saw a stack of PEOPLE magazine in their house, she said that when she has time to relax, she wants brain candy. She doesn’t have bandwidth for complexity 24/7, nor does she want to. She wants to enjoy something easy. PEOPLE magazine fits that bill.
There are a lot of people at all levels of social strata that work hard. Some are lawyers, some are people who work two jobs in retail and/or fast food. This country demands that people prioritize and devote their lives to WORK (which is crazy and awful. work should only be one of many important things in our lives).
Music is a balm for some people. Listening helps relieve stress, takes people away from whatever is making their lives hard. Not everyone has the time, energy, or, most importantly the desire to sit and analyze a piece of complex music. That’s not what they need music for.
You know who does devote time, energy, and desire to enjoying complex music? People for whom that activity brings pleasure and/or stress relief. And that’s cool, because a lot of the time those people also want to make music, so it makes sense that they would want to take time to pull it apart and analyze it.
But it doesn’t mean that we are any better than people who want brain candy music. We just use music differently. I’m not any less than someone who relaxes by coding or watching sports or fixing up cars; those things just don’t do anything for me.
So the problem isn’t people who use music differently than us music nerds. The problem is us music nerds looking down on people because they don’t approach music the same way we do. It’s not “sad” that brain candy music is so popular; it’s sad that we’re all being worked to death. Even if we weren’t, there are always going to be a majority of people for whom the potential complexity of music is simply not ever going to be interesting. They just want to feel good when they hear it. And that’s not a bad thing.
Hey, sorry if I gave this impression! I didn’t mean to pass a judgment on listeners. I don’t know that magazine, but surely I have my silly pleasures, too. In music, in books, in comics.
My wife and my family don’t listen to the same music that I enjoy, and vice versa of course!
So I don’t mean to “shit” on anyone at all (neither listeners or performers!) I don’t even have the credentials to be a “music nerd” (well, maybe just a bit, if you think that enjoying Mahler, Zappa and Schonberg qualify me for that…)
But I can reflect on what I find a sad state of the “music industry” which used to give us acts like Queen, Abba, pink Floyd (notice that I only used super successful groups of different genres and styles, which I think we can agree that they show a mastery of showbiz together with a level of musical “depth”). Where are those kinds acts now? Almost completely drowned by an endless offer of “shallowness”…
