I don't like that people are turning on Gotye just because the music has become popular.
So it goes with most artists that strike a patch of mainstream form, the masses tend to turn against them in some fit of counter-culture. Yes, it's annoying when every moron is singing along to a band you have been listening to alone in your bedroom since before cool, but that shouldn't taint the music.
A perfect example of popularity affecting an artist is of course the Kings of Leon fanfare sensation. These guys had been great (arguably greater) for some time, but with one album became a mega mainstream record company monster. Unfortunately in this case, the songs did deteriorate and yes we all got bullshit sick of 'Sex on Fire' but old fans begun to shutter at the thought of a band they once loved because of new admirers. I won't argue that I didn't roll my eyes at girls quoting "Whoooaaaaa! Your sex is on fiiiirrreeeee!" on my facebook feed. It's science, those people are annoying as fuck, that's not the point.
I have similar feelings towards MUSE. I used to stay up late listening to their B-sides and downloading bootlegs on the Internet (given I was 17) and would see them all the time in Sydney. However after Black Holes and Revelations I felt the music had changed and the average MUSE fan had changed too, finding the band a whole other demographic. Yes, it bothered me that every other MUSE fan was now a Ute driving tradie (pretentious, I know) but the main point here was the music had changed. It was not their popularity that deterred me. MUSE's songs were no longer raw like 'Hyper Music' or classical like 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' -- songs were now strange power-rock electronic shitstorms that I could no longer relate to. Bringing us back to KOL, its the same, the music had become more simple and more commercial. I like to think it's the shift in sound that loses us old fans, not the fact it's become popular.
What I'm saying is I hate to think I live in a world where being a Gotye fan is deemed "uncool" or relegates you to a moronic pack of Nova loving drones. Everyone can enjoy 'Somebody That I Used To Know' because it's a good song, plain and simple. The music hasn't changed -- if you listen to the record, all those Like Drawing Blood elements remain, only they've improved and grown. Also, maybe these new fans won't like the whole Making Mirrors record? But does it really matter to you and what you listen to in your private time?
I really don't want to believe that just because an artist produces a good song that everyone loves they become generic.
