Says you, the self described music elitist. Believe it or not there is an area in between "thought & exploration" and "background noise." It's not as black and white as you make it sound. There's nothing wrong with someone using music as a means of escape for example. They can relate to the band, the lyrics, all the other kids in the crowd at the concert that are just like them, forgetting about their crappy job/school/parents/whatever for a couple of hours. The lyrics to "Photograph" for example, corny as they are, evoke a certain time and place for a whole lot of people. I'm not going to begrudge someone for that and somehow claim that they're misusing music and they should be ashamed of themselves because they're not critically analying the lyrics and the chord progression. I never once said that my opinion was unquestionable, so I'm not quite sure where your tone is coming from. That said, I'll explain to you why I feel the way I feel. I have put a lot of time...A LOT of time...into my music. I went crazy trying to learn the ins and outs of music through 6 years of music theory and music history, and now a group of guys pick up some guitars and a microphone and their "contribution" is worth millions of dollars? That doesn't sit right with me.