Originally posted by Semáforo

I don't automatically label everything mainstream crap. I think a sizeable portion of it is crap. But not everything. We all have our guilty pleasures.

That being said, there's fair evidence for fans of lots of genres to harbor a strong hatred for the mainstream. Remember the charts pre-2000, when there was a clear variety? When country, rock, rap, r&b and pop all had their time to shine, but not for too long? Fast forward to today, where when the average listener thinks country, they think Taylor Swift. When they think rock, they think 3OH!3. When they think rap, they think of Kanye/T.I./Weezy/Drake/Jay-Z, depending on who has a hot single out at the time. When they think r&b, they think of Beyonce. And when they think of pop, about 100 cookie-cutter acts come to mind.

That's the problem. Mainstream, at least in my opinion, is about someone having one great moment of ingenuity, and then everyone else latches onto that same idea until the radio is filled with it. I'd rather expand my horizons and hear something different. And I know that's a vague statement. But how can you describe a song you haven't heard yet? With mainstream music, you can.

Let's say that, for simplicity's sake, 10 more songs become Hot 100 #1s by the end of the year and none of them have leaked yet. Who would bet that at least 7 of those songs have one or more of the following?

- Dance/electro beat
- Autotuned vocals
- Overly repetitive chorus
- Is sung by/features an already established artist

This is my problem. It's too predictable.

Originally posted by piepje3

Well said

This is why I dislike the American way of 'mainstream'... All songs get a rapper or a feature with an established artist. It makes the songs poop.