#YEAR10PROBLEMS

The irony of ‘mainstream’ trends

Last year brought the uprising of The 1975 and bands of the same genre. At the time, these bands were classed as ‘unknown’ and not mainstream – apparently that was one of the main attractions. Because of bands like The 1975, All Time Low, Pierce the Veil and some other scarily-named groups of men, liking mainstream pop music is a deadly sin when you’re in Year 10.

There is no room for anything on the radio because ‘mainstream’ music is toxic for us. If you like Beyonce, One Direction, Katy Perry, Lady Ga Ga or anyone considered more popular than the bands I previously referred to, you’re now basic.

But wait, there’s a whole load of irony in this ready to turn on those girls who think that by liking anything popular enough to be played on the radio means you’re boring and just as mainstream, let’s look at all of you. The Topshop chokers you all wear around your neck, along with the all-black outfits plastered on Facebook and Instagram are now mainstream. The 1975 are mainstream now because many of the people who like these bands convince themselves that liking artists like these makes them ‘stand out’. It doesn’t.

Shaming those who like ‘mainstream’ pop music and dress in colour is seriously pathetic. We are the different ones because we haven’t converted to this new perception of ‘cool’. Feel free to dress how you want and listen to what you want, but it is not acceptable to make people feel bad for liking things that you perceive as too mainstream when, in actual fact, the people who are mainstream are closer than you think.