Is pop music "art"?

[kochman]

I like that.

But logically I'm not so sure it holds up. It holds if you are discussing perceived simplicity or if you are discussing a subjective take on the quality of both. But the degree of practice, expertise, state of the art tools, teamwork, and immense subtlety that goes into pop music puts it at the opposite end of a person brand new to an artistic endeavor, working solo with no audience in mind, using the most basic entry level tools, with absolutely no subtlety whatsoever.

Being good or having an intended audience outside of yourself is not a requirement for art.
If I draw something, just for me, it is still art.

The bottom line is, there is no accounting for taste. Pop music is art, in the loose sense of the term. It may be crappy, but, it is art, nonetheless.

 

[Hygro]

Being good or having an intended audience outside of yourself is not a requirement for art.
If I draw something, just for me, it is still art.

The bottom line is, there is no accounting for taste. Pop music is art, in the loose sense of the term. It may be crappy, but, it is art, nonetheless.

Yeah I'm down with that assessment, although I disagree that it's crappy. But you did pick out the more minor differences. The major ones of course is that, let's assume both are art, one is created by a team of practiced artists who know what tools to use why with both a shared and individual vision, while the other one is created by a solo newbie using the simplest tools and not particularly knowing why to use those tools over others (colored pencils for example, markers, etc).

In that regard, they are opposite, and that's how I think of those two things in an analogy.

 

[azzaman333]

Ok, but two questions:
1) what distinguishes one as art and the other as not art?

2) what do you consider "Nicki Minaj"? Are you referring to the woman herself, or to the music that bears her name? If the former, then why does it matter if she is or is not an artist (and what distinguishes that?) and if the latter, referring back to question one, what makes a Nicki Minaj named recording not art?

I didn't mean to say that she/her music isn't necessarily art, nor that she isn't necessarily an artist, just that it's more questionable in my mind whether it's art compared to someone like Gotye.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Suum cuique.

Spoiler :

To each his own. Art is a relative term by any definition.

As for me? Yes, it is art. Decorative swords are art, and they can also make my ears bleed.

 

[Leoreth]

A lot of the counter arguments I have read or heard or discussed have said that pop music is entertainment, not art.

I have never understood why it's always assumed there's a dichotomy between entertainment and art. Forms of art I like always entertain me in one way or another.

I think the general problem with this discussion is that many people consider "art" to be a judgment of value, as if "art" automatically makes something good and "not art" automatically makes something bad.

I don't like the average top 40 song or cliched love song lyrics either, but that's not because it isn't art, but because it's (subjectively) bad art.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

I consider all music to be art in one way or another.