List of the 50 most popular songs of all time
There has always been a tendency to distinguish between good and bad. Historically, when categorizing “high” types of culture, popular culture was automatically excluded.
Although there are authors who argue that this judgment is always dependent on the socio-cultural context and even the personal taste of the viewer / consumer, there are others who advocate a series of criteria that can help to divide the high cultural forms of the casualties. One of the most remote thoughts refers to the existence of an “artistic soul” that produces its “artistic object“, which must always be authentic, complex and provoke in the spectator a genuine aesthetic experience that adds something to it.
Popular culture can be divided into two broad categories, traditional culture and mass culture. The first one reflects a sociocultural context of a community and is produced by the individuals who live in it, reflecting customs. On the other hand, mass culture is manipulative, because it is produced by an entity whose main objective is to sell, and for that, to have content that can appeal to as many people as possible, from different contexts, and so ends up be less authentic and not enrich individuals.
These ideas are supported by conservative critics such as Leavis and, in general, by the Frankfurt School. Adorno and Horkheimer. They point out that mass culture builds standards and keeps us in all its productions, and is therefore not innovative and diversified. Quoting Adorno, «it impresses the same stamp on everything. Films, radio and magazines make up a system which is uniform as a whole in every part.»
Adorno criticizes pop music, saying it is not original and does not stimulate its audience. It is easy to hear, repeats the same patterns and is therefore “weak.”
— DC III / IV 2018/19 — 
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