Plastic Pop

“plastic pop” is an umbrella term for a band/musician/genre of so called “popular music” that lacks any real depth or merit, and instead emphasizes things like money, partying, booze, promiscuity or other mindless ‘middle school’ riffraff to gain an audience. these bands are often only successful because they appeal to young, impressionable demographics that are very high in number.

the use of the word “plastic” in the saying is meant to be a statement about the fakeness/artificiality of both these musicians and bands themselves, and also the music they create, which is often filtered through programs like “auto-tune” to achieve an even more fake, “plastic” sound.

these bands, despite selling records and gaining popularity, almost always lack any actual talent and often overshadow less ‘glamorous’ bands who might actually be much better but don’t have a ‘gimmick’. plastic pop instead relies on strong marketing and very exploitable audiences to stay afloat.
“the beatles are finally on itunes! maybe now kids will listen to music that’s actually good instead of all the plastic pop they’re pushing these days.”

some bands/musicians that might be considered plastic pop include but are not limited to: ke$ha, katy perry, miley cyrus, rihanna, taio cruz, etc.

oftentimes “plastic pop” songs are put out by flash in the pan groups.