Snobbery has its place in music journalism, but pop should still have room to shine

I didn’t used to like pop music. At university, I had a friend who was completely obsessed with One Direction, and I didn’t get it. “You’re 20 years old,” I said. “This music is for kids.”

Reader, I was a music snob. I was obsessed with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Patti Smith, Radiohead, Joy Division, Nirvana, Kate Bush, The Clash and The Kinks.

Not that my love for any of those artists has diminished. But over the years my taste has become far more wide-ranging. So too has my appreciation of pop’s appeal.

In 2019, music that makes you feel joy is essential. With Theresa May having just announced her resignation amid ongoing (if not worsening) Brexit chaos, I find myself turning more and more to the music that helps me escape – just for a little while – the often overwhelming feelings of despair at the state of the world.

There’s still an element of snobbery that lingers in parts of the music press. Part of it is necessary – when you have to sift through thousands of artists and millions of songs to find something that feels like it could be worth your reader’s attention, it’s easy to become dismissive of certain things.

When you see an artist rise to the top, despite not being as talented as many others, there’s a sense of resentment that your opinion has been disregarded.

It’s strange that certain pop acts have been given a stamp of approval by critics, as though they get to decide who’s “cool” in pop and who has to suffer the wrath of the press.

Is some of it deserved? Of course. But a lot of it tends to be targeted at music that lacks weight – the songs that don’t address current affairs or social issues, the songs that exist solely to make listeners feel good about themselves.

Right now, finding things that make you happy seems more important than ever.

Yours,

Roisin O’Connor

Music correspondent