8 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

Well I’d say most of that above list are singer/songwriters that lean more pop, in the sense that they tend to release quite commercial and generic radio friendly songs. To me that is “pop” music, which I feel Damien isn’t.

Aye agreed. Also sticking pop after a completely different genre, doesn’t make the act pop 🤣

9 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

Well I’d say most of that above list are singer/songwriters that lean more pop, in the sense that they tend to release quite commercial and generic radio friendly songs. To me that is “pop” music, which I feel Damien isn’t.

I don’t really have an opinion on the old man as I don’t know if his music at the time was the “in” pop sound or not.

From memory his debut was a word of mouth success - spent ages in the charts and spawned a few hits

His music was used in a lot of tv shows of the time and he was covered a lot in X Factor (Diana Vickers, some random teacher and then Little Mix).

2 minutes ago, ElectroBoy said:

Aye agreed. Also sticking pop after a completely different genre, doesn’t make the act pop 🤣

Slipknot to enter Pop Factor 4 with their Death Metal-Pop

I’m getting the feeling some of the act choices have really hit a nerve with people!

I am intrigued though as to why none of you are referencing the group category - donde esta la pop in that group?!

Just now, Herbs said:

I’m getting the feeling some of the act choices have really hit a nerve with people!

I am intrigued though as to why none of you are referencing the group category - donde esta la pop in that group?!

The general mood of the groups seems to be no reaction - even when who was announced who got through the last round

Just now, Herbs said:

I’m getting the feeling some of the act choices have really hit a nerve with people!

I am intrigued though as to why none of you are referencing the group category - donde esta la pop in that group?!

The groups category is so dead on arrival that I can’t even muster up any energy to even have an opinion about it

2 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

The groups category is so dead on arrival that I can’t even muster up any energy to even have an opinion about it

Lol! And you don’t get any enjoyment from exploring music that is outside of your comfort zone?

3 minutes ago, Herbs said:

Lol! And you don’t get any enjoyment from exploring music that is outside of your comfort zone?

Yes and no really. If I don’t particularly like a genre of music, I’m unlikely to suddenly start enjoying it because its in this competition 😂

That isn’t to say a few songs haven’t vaguely pleasantly surprised me along the way though. But they probably aren’t songs that I’ll ever return to.

I think it’s clear there will always be two factions - those that love all out pop and will always be more inclined to gravitate towards it with the same going for those that do have more alt-leaning tastes and will go for that. That said, it does feel that on both sides there’s perhaps appearing to be a slight unwillingness to be open-minded to what you aren’t already familiar with, or come in with some preconceived opinions. It’s all just fun and games!

As Rob alluded to, I don’t police the artists chosen much because at the end of the day whether we had 36 modern all out pop artists, or the mix that we do have, it means nothing when it’s the votes that determine the outcomes. Both winners so far have been pop and have been a pretty accurate representation of the seasons on the whole (albeit with more of a journey from ABBA).

All I will say is that no matter what everyone thinks of specific artists, or categories overall let’s try and keep things as respectful as possible. Every artist has an equal, rightful place in the competition, and there’s someone behind each of the artists playing the same game you are and probably feeling the pressure each time to make the right calls in the moment.

I think it is positive that it is now more widespread. Maybe it should be "The Buzzjack Factor" the next time and everyone could send what he/she/they want. We might have four categories then: Male/Female/Group/ Dance Project or DJ. I like that it becomes more diverse.

I just think that when each round goes live try and go in with an open mind as possible instead of being like this act is too alt or this act is too pop for me, they might surprise you.

4 minutes ago, DaTilt said:

I think it is positive that it is now more widespread. Maybe it should be "The Buzzjack Factor" the next time and everyone could send what he/she/they want. We might have four categories then: Male/Female/Group/ Dance Project or DJ. I like that it becomes more diverse.

The Buzzjack Factor sounds a little corny ngl.

57 minutes ago, Scene said:

Tbf I doubt an Alt Factor or Dance Factor would have the same pull as this contest so I think it makes sense to include non-Pop acts. Also a reminder G4 came second on X Factor lmao!

G4 or Rhydian could have shaken this competition to its core

2 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

G4 or Rhydian could have shaken this competition to its core

Rhydian can just turn up to sing Get The Party Started at the start of each round.

Just now, Scene said:

Rhydian can just turn up to sing Get The Party Started at the start of each round.

It is a good POP song after all

Just now, ElectroBoy said:

It is a good POP song after all

It would appease Lee at least.

12 minutes ago, Scene said:

It would appease Lee at least.

I’m not entirely sure it would 😂

20 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

I’m not entirely sure it would 😂

Dressed up as Zara?

10 minutes ago, Scene said:

Dressed up as Zara?

1 hour ago, RobBot said:

It’s all very… hard to categorise and I’m glad Calum doesn’t really police it, as much as some categories might not be the most to my taste, I think pretty much every act straddles pop in some sense.

I think you could call Damien folk-pop, Calvin dance-pop, Gary Numan synth-pop etc. I do feel Fontaines DC are possibly the act that have the least crossover to pop, pretty much any descriptor of them would be rock or alternative, but I agree that it’s unlikely that replicating this contest in another forum would gain much traction, so I don’t really argue with them being here and I don’t think any poster should feel shoved out of such a popular contest/face negativity because their taste doesn’t quite fit inside a narrow box.

Ultimately, it’s just a fun competition and I’d agree with Rich that there’s a good enough balance of people voting and when push comes to shove - our finalists to date have been Avril Lavigne, Pet Shop Boys, Christina Aguilera, ABBA, Lily Allen and Kelly Clarkson who are all undeniably pop so it’s not like the inclusion of these acts often threatens the pop fans in any way.

Totally agree - I think what we have is pop first but straddling other areas enough to keep most of Buzzjack interested, which is the right balance in my view.