That is all from me.

I don't think there's a very reliable link between popularity and greatness, since we can all think of hundreds of records that should've been huge and weren't, and corresponding countless thousands that were hugely popular and shite.

People who automatically acclaim things on the grounds of popularity should probably have a bit of a think about that. But by the same token, people who write off the tastes of the masses equally automatically should probably have a word with themselves too.

That said, I think if a song is very popular for a long time, it's worth thinking about why that is, and giving it its due, even if we don't like it too much.

is an argument often encountered.

It's crap - it means Eastenders is better than Shakespeare, Baked Beans on toast is the best food ever, and Shuttup-you-face is better than....well a hell of a lot of good stuff. The best car of the last 30 years was the Ford Fiesta. Titanic is the best film ever made - Avatar the second best.

Elitist ? If you want to call it that, I don't care - you take S-Club 7, I'll have the Byrds.

the ratings would be huge. More outrageously, Waterloo Road is watched by about four times more people than The Killing. The general public are pretty good at being wrong about most things.

As Kent Brockman said, democracy doesn't work.

...that our good taste is in the minority. Do "they" agonise over whether, although "they" are in the majority, what "they" like is a pile of shit? Do "they" think, "I know this is not very good, but I really like it and so do most people"? Or do "they" just think it's good. Yeah, I guess they just think it's good. Which is why I, like Jon W, find the great, continuing success of "The Sun" depressing. What's worse, it's written and edited by intelligent journalists who know damned well what they're doing. And it's apparently what "they" want. "We" must face it - 95% of us are "them".

*mentally pours XXXL vodka and Ovaltine to deaden pain"

Necessarily the best but it's not necessarily worst either.

Popular equalling best doesn't always work at the macro level. As referenced above, that means shit television is better than The Bard.

However, at the micro level, I think it's more viable. There's an argument - particularly with the less populist acts - that the people rating the music are a little more informed and cognoscenti. There may be a better correlation between popularity and quality there.

Of course, the popularity and quality is a) subjective and b) reflects the opinions of a large number of people. A and B do not always sync.

.

Westlife
The Beatles

One good AND popular, the other popular but not good. I'll leave you to work out which is which. No correlation whatsoever.