“Good” is the epitome of subjective criticism. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t change. What’s good now is bad in 10 years, and good in 10,000 just because it survived.
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Saying all art is merely subjective and therefore the opinions of those more expert on the topic are irrelevant just basically completely shuts down any discussion at all.
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All art is merely subjective, and cow-towing to the masses or to critics shuts down all discussion at all, and stagnates art.
This thread reads as one giant “Get off my lawn” and I say that as someone who’s old. Yes, a lot of music is crap but not all of it is. A lot of it was crap when you were young too.
No argument that tastes vary, thus my IMHO qualifier, but, megastar does not equal musical talent. You seem to think those two terms are the same. So, to be clear, I’m not saying these people are not megastars. I’m just saying that musically I find them lacking.
I am serious. Take away the self promoting behavior of Gaga and I dont’t think anyone would have ever heard of her. And Prince has produced about 10x more dreck than good content in his career.
It’s an opinion, I don’t have to back it up. But, to be fair, i was unaware of his “producer” work. And honestly, don’t care. I don’t see behind the scenes stuff in the same way I see the actual performer. So, yes, I clicked on your link, and checked out some of the songs he is credited with writing or producing. Didn’t see anything there to change my opinion. So, I guess I’m doubling down on this one. He has a few “popular” songs to his credit. Popular does not equal good.
No argument here.
Of course, telling us what you consider not good is all useless until you tell us what artists you do consider good.
Honestly, this just sounds like someone who hasn’t read enough bad poetry. 
So “behind the scenes” stuff like songwriting isn’t important? Because earlier in the thread you said it made a big difference in how you saw a performer.
I’m guessing you just like acoustic singer/songwriters, who only ever play original material. Live.
By behind the scenes I mean producing, which is what the article you linked to discussed as a major claim to fame for Pharrell. And as for his songwriting for others, I don’t see any song listed in that article that strikes me as a masterpiece.
But you are right, I much prefer someone who writes and then performs their own music. If they do so in a way that they can reproduce it in front of a live audience without resorting to sound mixing slight of hand, then all the better. I’m perfectly willing to admit that I’m probably not the target demographic of any of the artists in my list, so naturally I don’t see the redeeming artistic value in them. And yes, LIVE music is awesome.
None of this has anything to do with the debate on is Beyonce a megastar or not, so I’ll just go back to running those damn kids off my lawn.
And I think that’s a problematic position. If all art is merely subjective, why argue about it at all? Just say, “that’s just your opinion, man” and walk away.
I don’t think this is a necessary step. I’m not the target demographic for lots of things that I can still appreciate and see value in. I can also dislike something and still think it’s well made and took talent.
True. 
And yet, it probably says something that the two artists that keep finding their way to the top of my recent playlist fall into the category of “How is this guy not more popular/not made it big/not a household name?”. This guy and this guy. Not saying they deserve to be megastars, but they are, again IMHO, very musically talented.
And there are artists that I don’t care for their music that I can see the talent in. Stevie Wonder is supremely talented, although I can’t say I can think of a single song I would want to hear. A little more current, I would put John Legend in that category.
Honestly though, I’m just not all that hip anymore. I’m okay with that. I look at this list, and I can find maybe 5 songs that I would bother to download if they were all FREE.
Back to monitoring the lawn, that neighbor kid looks like he wants to try it.
She looks good, sings Ok and is promoted so heavily that neutron stars gasp in disbelief. What I dont like is the fake sexiness. So fake so artificial.
Mila Kunis is another star who is over promoted, even going so far as to buy her way into sexiest woman in one poll. Dont get me wrong, she’s kinda hot and great in certain roles- but the sexiest woman in show biz?
I’m going to guess, without even clicking on your links, that your two links will feature hispterish white dudes with acoustic guitars 
Why are you cyber-bullying these women?
You know you clicked first. :D:D
So? I like what I like. Both guys write their own music, play their own instruments, and do fantastic live shows.
But, no not megastars. And that’s okay. Different strokes, etc.
Anyone who doesn’t understand how amazingly talented Prince and Pharrell are clearly not involved in music creation, production or performance. Everyone is welcome to their opinions on likes and dislikes - totally cool. But as musicians? Please.
It makes reading this thread and the dismissive comments about Beyoncé hard to process. “She’s like Kim Kardashian!” “She’s just like Prince and Pharrell - a ‘meh’ talent.” I am not a huge Beyoncé fan, but would invest a helluva a lot of time to make an informed decision before I would pop off with some statement like those.
“I hate it when my Ferrari pulls a bit to the right!” “Yeah, man, Ferrari’s suck!”
:smack:
:dubious:
I like both of them, except that Prince is too stuck up to let Weird Al make one of his songs into a parody.
And Beyonce is a genuine talent, just that she’s way over hyped. I wish she has stayed with her group.
Let’s not drag in issues from other threads.
No warning issued.
Again: it is cool that you “like Prince even if he is a poopie-head with Weird Al” - Heck, I think Prince is a total jerk for destroying Captain Kirk’s guitar (the guitarist from the Roots, Jimmy Fallon’s house band, and a great band all around; Prince borrowed it for a performance and tossed it up a the end and let it hit the ground and break.)
But that doesn’t change the fact that Prince is one of the best musicians of the past 50 years. Heck, Captain Kirk shrugged his shoulders and said “What am I gonna do? He’s Prince - the baddest cat around.”
Then your reading comprehension is terrible.
I don’t know. I’ve listened to the trance dance station on Sirius XM before, and 99% of the songs don’t stand out. Pleasant enough, but they are generic. I couldn’t name titles. “Partition” is kindof the same kind of thing to me. Rap-y, beat-focused R&B that doesn’t stand out.
This doesn’t seem to be some specially elite status. Yeah, you found a positive critical quote. I would have to understand more about the context of that.
The thing about critics is that they need to have content to critique, and they sell themselves by liking some stuff and disliking other stuff. They also have to make the choice between backing up the CW and being contrarian. If Bey is big, most critics are going to choose to sell themselves by liking some stuff and disliking other stuff, instead of dismissing it all. (I’m not saying Bey would deserve it all dismissed, but the self-interest of critics is to ride the excitement.)
I like reading critics because they can give additional information, perspective, insight if they know their stuff. I don’t have to agree with them to get something out of what they say. If I like something, I will often read negative reviews, and vice versa.
It depends, plenty of crap has been accepted by critics as great. There is a kind of ratchet effect when the music of an era is not as good as the music of another era: critiques still have to like something. There is not a singular American-written play of the 19th century that is considered good today, but I’m sure one can go back and read rave reviews for plays being put on then.
I don’t think music in 2015 is bad. I think it’s much more fragmented than in the past, and fewer acts are as big, and the big acts are not necessarily great a la Michael Jackson. But there will still be the incentive of critics to treat something as big and important.
That said, I stand by my original point that Bey doesn’t seem to have “event” songs in the same way as Taylor Swift, etc.