---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No surprise here: Pop music is by far the…"
description: "\"No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.\" — Russell Smith"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg"
---

#  No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most…

![“No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.” quote by Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg)

> “No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.”

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Pop music tends to preserve traditional structures, making it a conservative art form.

**In simple terms:** Pop music often sticks to familiar patterns.

Key Takeaway

Explore diverse musical styles.

Themes

culture music conservatism

Mood

analytical curious

Type

critical inspirational

When to use this quote

- listening habits
- music education
- creative composition

Key Concepts

genre dynamics audience expectations

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a song feel fresh?
- How can pop evolve without losing appeal?

A Different Perspective

Innovation exists within pop; not all pop is conservative.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-form/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop/) [Pop music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop-music/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/)

## Related quotes

> [Film is the most liberal of arts and, at the same time, it can be a very conservative art. Money that is involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmila-zbanic/film-is-the-most-liberal-of-arts-and-at-the-same-time-it-can-be-a/)

[Jasmila Zbanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmila-zbanic/)

> [Even the art of quoting is a conservative art most of the time, in order to propel the same ideas and the same self-congratulatory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fady-joudah/even-the-art-of-quoting-is-a-conservative-art-most-of-the-time-in/)

[Fady Joudah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fady-joudah/)

> [Keep in mind that Eric Alterman is media critic for The Nation-a hysterically left-wing magazine dedicated to the proposition that corporate America, U.S. foreign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/keep-in-mind-that-eric-alterman-is-media-critic-for-the-nation-a/)

[Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/)

> [A radical is one of whom people say ''He goes too far.'' A conservative, on the other hand, is one who ''doesn't go far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/a-radical-is-one-of-whom-people-say-he-goes-too-far-a-conservative-on/)

[Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/)

> [By 'radical,' I understand one who goes too far; by 'conservative,' one who does not go far enough; by 'reactionary,' one who won't go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/by-radical-i-understand-one-who-goes-too-far-by-conservative-one-who/)

[Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/)

> [Pence is far too conservative for me, but by all accounts, he's an intelligent, experienced, decent man with no skeletons in his closet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-tilson/pence-is-far-too-conservative-for-me-but-by-all-accounts-he-s-an/)

[Whitney Tilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-tilson/)

> [And the music, as far as a type of music, it's still pretty viable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-forbert/and-the-music-as-far-as-a-type-of-music-it-s-still-pretty-viable/)

[Steve Forbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-forbert/)

> [Music is far more than numbers to me - it's where I find peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldie/music-is-far-more-than-numbers-to-me-it-s-where-i-find-peace/)

[Goldie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldie/)

> [ I was really a big fan of Loveless. At \[the time it came out\], I made music that was not too far away from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-fennesz/i-was-really-a-big-fan-of-loveless-at-the-time-it-came-out-i-made/)

[Christian Fennesz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-fennesz/)

> [God and Music are by far the most high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wanda-miranda/god-and-music-are-by-far-the-most-high/)

Wanda Miranda

> [Disco music can only take you so far because it's plastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-pickett/disco-music-can-only-take-you-so-far-because-it-s-plastic/)

[Wilson Pickett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-pickett/)

> [There is still some art in pop music. But it can't happen if you're not inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-folds/there-is-still-some-art-in-pop-music-but-it-can-t-happen-if-you-re/)

[Ben Folds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-folds/)

> [I have come to terms with the fact that it's called pop music - that's what I play, and that is what I write.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-have-come-to-terms-with-the-fact-that-it-s-called-pop-music-that-s/)

[Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/)

> [There are all these safety nets in pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-mael/there-are-all-these-safety-nets-in-pop-music/)

[Russell Mael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-mael/)

> [Die Antwoord is super pop. It's a pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watkin-tudor-jones/die-antwoord-is-super-pop-it-s-a-pop-music/)

[Watkin Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watkin-tudor-jones/)

## More by Russell Smith

> [If you tell your husband or boyfriend for his whole life that he needn't worry about his clothes, that he couldn't possibly understand them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/if-you-tell-your-husband-or-boyfriend-for-his-whole-life-that-he/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Canadian writers don't live in gated mansions; you can just talk to them when you see them lining up at the Second Cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/canadian-writers-don-t-live-in-gated-mansions-you-can-just-talk-to/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [I was given a thick paperback copy of the 'Guinness Book of Records' when I was 11 years old, and I read it gluttonously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/i-was-given-a-thick-paperback-copy-of-the-guinness-book-of-records/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [I would rather be nuts than unattractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/i-would-rather-be-nuts-than-unattractive/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [What I would love to see is art that explicitly addresses not personal intimacies but anonymous intimacies: the vast collections of facts about you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/what-i-would-love-to-see-is-art-that-explicitly-addresses-not/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Indeed, the whole point of the man bun, I have surmised, is to assert a high proficiency at yoga. There are no yoga-achievement badges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/indeed-the-whole-point-of-the-man-bun-i-have-surmised-is-to-assert-a/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Anything that encourages a boy to open a book, in a world of more violent and therefore more compelling video games, is something I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/anything-that-encourages-a-boy-to-open-a-book-in-a-world-of-more/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Verisimilitude is something I am constantly seeking in fiction. I am looking for surface detail that makes something seem real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/verisimilitude-is-something-i-am-constantly-seeking-in-fiction-i-am/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Increasingly, to dismiss any popular artistic style is seen as the worst kind of snobbery. And snobbery, it goes without saying, is unacceptable in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/increasingly-to-dismiss-any-popular-artistic-style-is-seen-as-the/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [What I don't understand is why men have decided that they like wearing hats indoors. It makes no sense to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/what-i-don-t-understand-is-why-men-have-decided-that-they-like/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [I am indeed completely nuts, but that doesn't mean I don't care about how I look. Sometimes, I admit, I will privilege appearance over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/i-am-indeed-completely-nuts-but-that-doesn-t-mean-i-don-t-care-about/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [Everyone likes to hear that their eccentricities and their addictions are simply evidence of their sensitive artistic nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/everyone-likes-to-hear-that-their-eccentricities-and-their-addictions/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [There is actually no such thing as an Artist type. 'Artist' is just an economic designation, a box you tick on a form. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/there-is-actually-no-such-thing-as-an-artist-type-artist-is-just-an/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [One of the qualities essential to writing exciting stories, whether for page or screen, is an ability to abandon one's morality. We simply cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/one-of-the-qualities-essential-to-writing-exciting-stories-whether/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [I have never, ever, not once, met a writer who said he or she would never read a mystery or a story set in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/i-have-never-ever-not-once-met-a-writer-who-said-he-or-she-would/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

[Explore all 69 Russell Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

## More Art quotes

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

Taf Teh

> [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/)

[Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/)

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

[Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Russell Smith"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the-most-conservative-art-form/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the-most-conservative-art-form/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e9/russell-smith-9877_art_no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the_2712287.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“No surprise here: Pop music is by far the most conservative art form there is.” — Russell Smith",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Russell Smith",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "No surprise here: Pop music is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the-most-conservative-art-form/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/no-surprise-here-pop-music-is-by-far-the-most-conservative-art-form/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
