Where's the pretence, though? I don't see anything in that article about anyone pretending anything; just some details about pop music production which the author - presumably because he isn't very interested in pop music - didn't know.
Because authenticity is a highly valued cultural currency. Fans of pop singers are invested in the idea of an emotional or erotic connection with the object of their affections, and this fantasy depends on the idea of some kind of mutual understanding between the fan and the idol - much as the intensity of religious faith depends on the notion that prayers are heard by a deity. Considering that pop stars can attract hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, maintaining the fantasy that the performer is expressing their own feelings rather than those of someone else is probably a lucrative strategy.
I'm a fan of pop music. I've always liked some pop. It's manufactured to be liked - rather like sweets: not nutritious but many of them will do when you want a sugar fix.
I've never been a fan of a "pop singer" particularly but isn't that type of fandom more the preserve of teenagers [girls particularly?]?
OT Aside:
>"the intensity of religious faith depends on the notion that prayers are heard by a deity" //
You're clearly off the mark here as some religions don't have a deity but nonetheless have fervent and intense followers.
Saying that people who listen to pop music listen to it for it's authenticity is like saying that people who eat at McDonald's do it for health reasons.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
From the O.E.D.:
Charade (2). In extended use: something (esp. a dramatic entertainment) regarded as resembling a charade in some way, esp. in lacking sophistication. Later more usually: an (obvious) deception; an absurd, shallow pretence; a travesty.
I think one would be better off improving one's grasp of English through sources such as The Atlantic than by pretending to have a superior grasp of it.
