You’re my hero.
I would say, though, that “pop” simply means “popular” - which means it could be anything. In truth, “pop” means nothing musically.
Otherwise, there sure are alot of snobs puffing up some music as superior, often just because it’s “different” or rebellious.
You could paraphrase for this Lincoln’s wise remark that people often call progress what is nothing more than change. People often call superior what is nothing more than different.
“I would say, though, that ‘pop’ simply means ‘popular’ - which means it could be anything. In truth, ‘pop’ means nothing musically”
Very true. For instance, one of the reasons they dubbed Michael Jackson the “king of pop,” aside from the fact that he was popular, is that he so mixed various styles—soul, r&b, funk, disco, rock—that it was impossible to tease them out and pin him down. I would argue, however, that at different times there are dominant styles. Therefore when you said “pop” in 1977 it more than anything else meant disco, and to say it today largely means hip-hop.
That’s not to say pop and hip-hop, or pop and disco, or pop and rocknroll, or pop and jazz, or pop and whatever will ever be synonymous.
By that definition President Obama is pop. At least according to the dominant media culture.
People I talk with don’t find him to be “popular” at all.
Your mileage may vary.