In the 2010s, a major consensus shift took over music. Everyone started to take pop music far more seriously, with the term ‘poptimist’ springing forth to signal this shift.
At the time, it was needed. The rock-centric critical eye had become long dated, and there was now space to openly elevate and praise the significance, talent, and culture of popstars and the pop song. The pop world was now haute couture, rich in depth and worthy of endless discussion.
The results were encouraging initially. Figures from pop history saw a critical reappraisal and re-examining, with successful mainstream artists seldom taken seriously outside the commercial sphere having their skills and talents finally appreciated. The traditional ideas of the cool and hip faded, and the stuffy air was cleared. A genre unfairly reduced to mass-produced and derivative slop was, at last, being dealt with on its own terms and given a seriousness it had never experienced before.
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And there was plenty to shout about during poptimism’s ascendency in the 2010s: the uncompromising theatricality of Lady Gaga, the performing powerhouse that is Beyoncé, the accessible relatability of Taylor Swift. Past icons such as Madonna and Janet Jackson turned listeners into students of their craft and grand visions. Historic perspectives were being corrected.
The culture surrounding poptimism allowed these kinds of aspects to be recognised and not immediately dismissed. The ‘guilty pleasure’ was erased and replaced with a stubborn pride. There was, on the surface, finally open dialogue between the queer and black cultures that pop music has so shamelessly pilfered from and relied on for support.
But the direction of travel has gone too far the other way. Our approach towards pop music has long past matching what is worthy of respect and serious consideration. The critical eye has progressed into tunnel vision. Pop music is no longer seen for what it is, it’s always something grander, to be protected from the naysayers. To be a fan of Beyoncé or Taylor Swift means something much more – morally, politically, and culturally. It’s a communal statement of anti-pretension.
This has been much to the hindrance of a balanced musical landscape, where independent and non-commercially minded artists have lost the little reach they had, and pushback of widely successful discourse-hogging popstars is tantamount to elitism and snobbery.
There is only so much pushed through the pop machine, and pop music still remains foremost and primarily a commercial one with its decisions based on trends and market environments. The scope and imagination of our cultural appetites is being wilfully reduced, controlled even, and we seem more than happy to let it happen. Taylor Swift just by herself is now some sort of Gesamtkunstwerk for the masses. There’s no need to look beyond any horizons or gain any new perspectives when someone like Swift already fulfils all cultural desire.
It highlights why alternatives to the music mainstream have been passionately built and forced into existence. If the poptimist mindset is now the default then we risk solidifying a bland monoculture, where interest in popular music leans on the parasocial instead of the rational, and where its discourse becomes limited and personal instead of critical and contextual. We’ve already seen the effects of this, with alternatives being pushed into niche and music scenes dying without the little support that they once cultivated and held onto.
Poptimism once sought to create an open-mindedness towards pop music, where concepts like authenticity turned to myth in the cultural streams. The door has been closed on criticism of pop music, and a blind and twisting devotion has set in that outcasts those with differing opinions. It’s really not that serious, yet it’s also the most serious thing in the world.
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The defensive nature surrounding the pop world tends to fall into the personal. If you don’t like Beyoncé, maybe there’s just something wrong with your character. After all, it’s easier to be dismissive towards someone criticising Beyoncé than it is to break away from the well-executed narrative of an otherworldly perfect being that’s been cemented by the singer’s marketing and fanbase. Why seriously engage with the idea that perhaps Beyoncé is not an artistic genius as told when they’re probably just being ignorant and a hater?
It is a mindset not fit for purpose in the world we see today. Poptimism has been the main mode of thinking in spite of the times, and perhaps authenticity, integrity, and rigorous consideration need to be prioritised again. Anything less will only further cede ground to the commercial music industry and turn our cultural landscape into a fantasy fairyland where we can’t bear to face realities. It has provided an incredible numbing effect for our modern circumstances, at least.
This is not to discount the value and significance of pop music, of the pop song format, and the contributions of popstars and their devotees to popular culture. Pop music is not and has never been a victim, despite the historic critical lambasting. But the scales have tipped, and our approach to pop music badly needs to be re-calibrated.
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