In 2003, Moby co-wrote and produced a track for Britney Spears's fourth album, In the Zone. At the time, he was ridiculously popular following the success of his albums Play and 18, while Britney was still more famous for her pop songs than her personal life (well ... almost).
It seems, however, that their working relationship has soured somewhat. Earlier this month Moby, while trying to defend her to The Quietus, ended up calling her "a broken-down shell of a human being" and in a new interview with Spinner he claims her songs, and those of the majority of current chart pop, are "fun, but I don't think of it as music". He goes on: "It's manufactured. I appreciate it as a pop culture phenomenon and some of the songs I like if I hear them in a shopping mall or something, but it doesn't function as music for me."
For Moby, a song can only be classed as "music" if it has "integrity in a really interesting, direct way" and though he claims to not be criticising the likes of Rihanna, Britney and Ke$ha directly, he goes on to refer to their output as "hyper-produced corporate product" and, the old classic, "advertising for ringtones".
Setting aside his blatant hypocrisy – licensing your entire album to commercials, as Moby did with Play, makes you guilty of producing "advertising for Vauxhall Corsas", if not ringtones – it's an argument that seems to follow most pop music around these days. At the heart of it is the theory that all music needs to have been wrenched from the emotional core of a tortured soul, ideally recorded in a basement toilet and augmented only by the scratching of fingers on guitar strings and tears, ACTUAL TEARS. It forgets that music can be fun and instantaneous, or that great pop stars are often used as a front for great pop songs, often written by great songwriters (Max Martin, Cathy Dennis, Stargate). It also hints at another old adage: that pop is for children who lap it up without giving it a second thought.
Yes, Britney doesn't write that many of her songs, but would ... Baby One More Time or Toxic have worked as well if someone else had sung them? Or if it's genuine emotion you're after, have a listen to Cold Case Love from Rihanna's Rated R or Britney's own Everytime, performed in the aftermath of her break-up with Justin Timberlake.
Let's not get carried away – there is a lot of bad pop out there (Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Olly Murs, I'm looking at you). But to tar it all with this incredibly patronising brush doesn't do anyone any favours. If Moby's idea of "proper music" is somehow linked to longevity (his ringtone comment degrades it as something throwaway), it will be interesting to see whose music stands the test of time. Personally, I'd rather Umbrella was remembered over We Are All Made of Stars. [source]
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