What Sells Pop Music: The Music or the Sex?

Pop music baffles me. It’s overly simplistic, it requires little to no talent, most pop singers don’t truly do a thing, and it all sounds the same. These are the artists selling out arena’s and topping the charts. I realize that not everyone is capable of multiple talentsi.e. writing the music, playing an instrument, having a band, constructing decent songs and I realize it’s really hard to do choreographed songs if you possess any of the aforementioned talent. All of this I understand. Hell, if I had the chance to do essentially nothing and get rich and famous off of it, I would. Wouldn’t you?

None of this is what bothers me. The world needs simplistic music to keep the equilibrium going. All of this I understand. My problem, however, lies with the fact that “music” doesn’t sell the music. Pop music is a product conceived and controlled by some man in an office. The only way he sees music selling is by selling the female body.

Sex sells. So, why not glamorize it, throw on some lip syncing, a dance or two, and call it music. Watching music videos is very similar to watching soft core porn. It’s not men who are objectifying these women, it’s the women objectifying themselves. For example, in Leighton Meester’s video for, “Somebody To Love Me.” She is wearing a sparkly cut out top with her boobs falling out, dancing around a limo touching herself. In the next scene, she’s grinding and thrusting as if she’s having sex with a man in an invisibility cloak. This relates to music how?

Sex is awesome and embracing your sexuality is even better, but the new generation of music is a far cry from embracing ones sexuality. Real girls don’t look, dress, and (hopefully) don’t act like these celebrities. But how are young impressionable girls supposed to know the difference? How are young boys supposed to understand that women aren’t objects, when women are the objectifiers?

Singers these days are new wave porn stars and no one seems to mind. If the music doesn’t sell itself and requires a gimmick or naked body, than what’s the point? Skip the music, the dancing, and just sell the goddamn sex. At least then no one is being misled and the target audience is “regulated”.

If pop stars don’t respect themselves or their craft than why should the audience? When did music turn into an overly sexual joke and when and who will save it? Somebody’s got to, right?