But there is psychology at play. It's become too fine-tuned for profiteering. There's a lot of science behind pop music. Basically, studies have found that certain chords and chord progressions give humans pleasure. Corporate labels understand this and exploit this science for maximum profit. This means that everything sounds so freaking similar. I like variety and envelope-pushing. You don't get that with pop. Also, the celebrity and fame of pop musicians bugs me a bit when I know that most are like 5% responsible for their popularity and brand, while there's a team of song-writers, choreographers, branding experts, etc. that deserve a lions share of the credit. It irritated me when people freaked out that Beck won album of the year over Beyonce. Beck was approximately 10,000 times more deserving of that award than Beyonce.