Very nice idea for a video but the music and the "story" are typically superflous modern pop.I miss the days of which I can only remember the good pop music that had to say something. That probably means that I am getting old, but this song is so "08/15" as we say in Germany. And if you look up this figure of speech you will have learned something intersting about German/s/y. My job is done.

and this is yet another reason why pop music/top 40 sucks balls.

I know this is probably the most insipid possible point to raise over an interesting video, but why is everyone always telling us George Orwell's real name? Other authors don't seem to get the same treatment. In the world of pop music it's Elton John (whose original name was actually Walter Sloppycock or whatever it was), in literature it's George Orwell. Or they'll casually mention some fact about a certain Eric Blair and then pause to not so subtly observe your reaction.

It doesn't seem to me to be a very important thing to know. Like the occasional debate over who actually wrote Shakespeare's plays - probably this bloke called William Shakespeare, but maybe not, who knows - someone did it, and a jolly good job they did of it, and that person we call Shakespeare. The body of work is what counts, and good lord but Orwell had a hell of a body of work. Sometimes the bodies of actual fascists.

I didn't realize how much I enjoyed pop music and boy bands until this amazing video!

Chilly Gonzales Pop Music Masterclass ("Shake It Off") has been added as a related post - related requested by ChaosEngine.

Yeah, I think it's pretty clear the Chilly isn't saying this is a bad thing, just a choice.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Chilly-Gonzales-Pop-Music-Masterclass-Shake-It-Off

Music needs more people like Chilly, actively labeling that the Emperor has no clothes on. Maybe Pop music would try a little harder to create music a little less insultingly, elementary and simple.

Most pop music completely passes me by. I don't listen to music on the radio or tv, so the only way I hear about new music is word of mouth or things like itunes genius and spotify discover.

So I'd never heard this song (I thought Taylor Swift was a country artist or something?).

The song itself is admittedly catchy, but I think I prefer the piano version.

Yeah, when I wrote that I did think it was slightly unfair to the Monkees, but they were just the earliest example I could think of.

My point still stands that "pop" music has always been about image and manipulation over music.

yawn, pop music is poop music

Whole thing gets a giant "meh" from me. Pop music is fake? Wow, we only found that out 50 years ago with the Monkees.

If you want real music, there's plenty out there, it's just not in the charts.

The music posted here on the sift is a good antidote to that There is a little pop music, but also a wide array of different and interesting pieces.

NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts are a really good example.

My buddy Mike Garfield, over at globalish says about this video:

"t’s that time of the year again: since 2008 (a million years ago!), DJ Earworm’s mashup mania crescendos once a year to form an epic audio collage that features Billboard’s favorite 25, all woven into one symphonic DJ mix. It’s like a Google Earth view of the musical identity of young Americans – by zooming out until a year of singles happens in four minutes, culture seems like nature, and the spirit of the times shines through the often-mediocre music Earworm brings together. Seeing Earth from space, we found a new identity beyond the nation states; a similar escape into low orbit around Pop reveals the flavor of the age with more appeal and sentiment than year-end news reviews.
It isn’t merely that “United States of Pop” resamples factory-assembled dross to offer tunes more interesting than their gathered parts. “Do What You Wanna Do” sings volumes about how and who we are right now, the character of mainstream culture we can’t see until it’s past, the air that we’ve been breathing without paying much attention. The cynical might say it demonstrates how all this music sounds the same, how easily it’s recombined – and while that’s definitely true, it’s also and more deeply true that we’re in this together, and will be remembered sharing space on stage as actors in a common play of history. Here is a window into how this moment will be seen, in digest form, the way we now look back on 1969. But go back and look at the mixes from 2008 – 2013, and a trend is obvious: even lousy music’s getting better. It’s an optimistic sign that we are getting deeper as a culture. Let’s hope.
Earworm’s genius lies not only in up-cycling tracks I’d rather never hear again as standalone recordings, but also in transforming the familiar and mundane into a damn-near magical homage to each year’s zeitgeist. This must be what an end-of-life review feels like: everything remembered and forgotten rushes back for one last joyous and nostalgic celebration.
Here’s to the change we all seek in 2015."

Maybe it's the production value. ERB is now super-high production, making it much closer to pop music.

Na, sorry... Saw a clip once - just uhg. Can't vote for this. This is what is wrong with Pop music. It's important it's here. We need to see what not to do in Pop. But..., um... ya.