It’s pop music, not classical, that’s the art form of late capitalism

Taylor Swift in concert at the Allianz Stadium, Sydney in 2013. '[Pop] has become today the new music establishment, while other kinds of music, and classical music in particular, have to struggle to make their mark and to get noticed,' writes David Halpin. Photograph: Attila Szilvasi/Newspix/Rex

Huw Kyffin (Letters, 7 December) is right to highly praise Ian Bostridge’s book on Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise – Schubert’s Winter Journey – and to wish it had got a special mention in Richard Williams’ survey of the year’s best music books (Review, 5 December). But he shouldn’t have been too surprised that books about and by pop music artists were prominently featured. As Ian Bostridge reminds us in another of his books – A Singer’s Notebook – pop “is the art form of late capitalism. It is not a utopian alternative to or a protest against it”. As a result, it has become today the new music establishment, while other kinds of music, and classical music in particular, have to struggle to make their mark and to get noticed.
David Halpin
Leeds

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