Clones! Clones! Musical Clones!

Has anyone else noticed the striking similarities between Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Ke$ha? Besides the fact that one is a Christian, one is Zooey Deschanel's doppelganger and the other is a trashbag, there is a resemblance that seems glaringly obvious to me. Earlier this evening I was doing my systematic pop-chart checkup on www.billboard.com, when I noticed that "Your Love is my Drug" by Ke$ha, "Can't Be Tamed" by Miley Cyrus and "California Gurls" by Katy Perry (which are all currently in the Top 10) sound EXACTLY.THE.SAME. Could it be the fact that the majority of these girls' hits (as well as those of Britney, Avril, Pink and Lady Sovereign to name a few) are actually written and produced by American songwriter and record producer Lukasz Gottwald, a.k.a. Dr. Luke? I don't know, maybe it's that I just don't get pop music nuance these days.

Perhaps the real issue here isn't Dr. Luke. Dr. Luke is a genius. The problem is, Dr. Luke knows what to do to sell tracks. What people are buying now is inane lyrics about going out on the town or falling in love for 10 seconds, put to a trashy, over-compressed electro beat. And as long as people are buying it, Dr. Luke will be selling it.

I do not hate pop music. In fact, I really really love it. There is a lot to be said for Drake at the moment just btw. What I hate is the subsequent self-perpetuating herd mentality that divides and multiplies, divides and multiplies, both within the industry and amongst the consumers. Dr. Luke is a cog in the wheel - it's about supply and demand, and the demand for this shit is there. The light at the end of the tunnel, for me anyway, is GaGa. Say what you will about her, at least she's not a coward hiding amongst the hipster electro-fluff.