Response to Artists beware: Fans can take work much too literally

This is my response to Jackie's post "Artists beware: Fans can take work much too literally" which can be viewed at http://jackiejesusblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/artists-beware-fans-can-take-work-much.html

I agree with Jackie's point that artists should be wary of the messages they put in their songs; however, this puts most musicians in a Catch-22 of sorts. On one hand, some fans may take their messages too literally and may do something stupid (as pointed out in Eminem's song Stan); but at the same time, if these artists do not create something meaningful, they may be criticized for "selling out" or for being uncreative. Most artists strive to create something meaningful, with a handful of exceptions such as souljaboy and Ke$ha, most artists are creative, which is one of the reasons we listen to them. With Eminem, where most of his music deals with his rough upbringing, should his creativity be stifled? I think it is up to the listeners to distil the messages in the lyrics and make correct decisions in their lives. Furthermore, musicians with the most meaningful messages are the ones who are most idolized by their fans. I rarely see any young girls strive to be Girlicious, or any other label-made artists. This is quite the opposite problem for Christian artists. Christian artists try to get their message out to the masses, but it seems to me that most listeners of Christian music are Christians. The Christian messages in popular, mainstream Christian bands are very subtle, and for casual fans such as myself, the Christian tones of the music are easy to miss (I had no idea that Switchfoot was a Christian band). Perhaps contemporary Christian music need to overtly make their lyrics more Christian for the public to take notice.