Pop critics are elitists

The daily De Morgen responds to the British newspaper The Independent's harsh attack against the popular British pop band Coldplay: "The outrageous elitism it conveys ... is out of touch with the tastes of the wider audience. Why does rock music have to be against something? Why can a song only be worthwhile when it expresses apathy or protests against something or everything? Why do feelings only count when they are shouted out to the accompaniment of screeching, nasty-sounding guitars? ... Whenever a great little band becomes a great big band, the critics turn against it - as if it were impossible to be big and good, or popular and relevant, at the same time. Precisely this kind of elitism and hypocrisy often causes pop journalists to miss the mark and make the gap between mainstream and alternative culture even wider instead of closing it."

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