What It Means to be an Artist

I've been quite cruel towards a manufactured pop duo that will go unnamed, and I keep getting the comment that I should just ignore them if I dislike their music. I'm afraid I just can't do that. I take the label "artist" very seriously, and it's about time that I define what that word means to me.

But first, a little background. Even our Neanderthal cousins developed music and pottery. Animals such as birds and whales are known to sing complex songs. So why did artists evolve in human society?

The reason why singers developed in the animal world is simple: SEX. The best artists, as subjectively judged by the female, will procreate and therefore carry their genes to the next generation. Therefore, at the most primal level, artists compete with each other over a deep desire to impress females.

But then technology came along. Now great works of art can be imitated and mass produced. Singers can be auto-tuned in order to fake real talent. Songs can be so processed by sound engineers that they lose any kind of human imperfection.

Big music labels have hijacked the primal instinct of falling in love with a talented artist. If you feel a connection towards a pop musician with no discernible talent, it's because people that are smarter than you have essentially trick you into it.

See the fakery for what it is. If you really like a musician, listen to him live in concert and make sure he has real talent.