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Yes, there is a difference between 'pop' and popular music, and indeed there are many great pieces of popular music that have been written.
I still believe pop has a detrimental effect on music. Firstly, pop music has lowered the standards of popular music. Therefore there are more people writing popular music. Therefore the chances of anybody succeeding in the world of popular music are much lower. Secondly, since the standard has become so low and yet so profitable, big companies have started churning out rubbish simply to make money. The problem is, the same thing has happened in the media music industry. I was told yesterday by a company that they can get all the music they need for just £195 from a music library. These music libraries are in competition with each other, and their prices will drop. Soon, I guarantee that one music library will attempt to monopolize the industry by undercutting everybody else's prices. This could be compared to Tesco selling everything under the sun so cheaply, that businesses such as book shops go out of business.
Essentially, the pop machine is starting to take over the media industry, and it's going to be very hard to make a living from music in the media, unless you get lucky enough to write for a tv drama, or film.
Not only this, but film and tv music is becoming increasingly similar to popular music. Chord progressions with a melody, are replacing more intelligent musical ideas. I've heard many films that use the same chord progression that is found in nearly every pop song ever written. That in itself is not a crime, but to use the same chord progression over and over is just cheap. On top of this, the music in film and tv is becoming so tonally centred that nobody seems to be willing to actually modulate to another key, or even write a chord that isn't just an extension of the 'home chord'. And finally! Nobody on TV is writing thematic material anymore, and indeed many film composers seem to be unaware of the power of a theme!
The last paragraph is naturally incredibly general, and in no way is meant to imply that everything out there is rubbish, because that's not true. But there's probably more 'rubbish' about than ever before, and it's going to get worse before it gets better!
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