Sasha Frere-Jones blogs music at the New Yorker online, and he provides interesting details about about Britney Spears’ latest album.

Perhaps to offset consumer anxiety generated by Spears’s well-documented personal struggles, she and her advisory committee have spared no expense and have exhibited exceptionally good taste in hiring. The songwriters and producers who contributed to “Blackout” are as close to an all-star team as pop has right now: the producer Nate “Danja” Hills, a protégé of Timbaland who co-produced many of Timbaland’s recent hits; the proven songwriters Sean Garrett and Kara DioGuardi, as well as the up-and-coming and increasingly reliable songwriter Keri Hilson; the once dominant, now dormant super-producers the Neptunes; and, best of all, the Swedish production duo Bloodshy & Avant, responsible for older songs such as “Toxic” and “Me Against the Music,” which made Spears as deservedly ubiquitous as she wanted to be.

Frere-Jones’ list of people who made this latest album lends proper nouns to a thought I’ve had in my head for a while. See, those who rail against Britney Spears’s music are making an error. Now, don’t miss my point: Spears is not a pop musician — her skills are non-existent and infinitesimally small compared to pop music greats like the Beatles; but Britney Spears is a pop brand. Look at the situation more closely: the Beatles were the musicians and the brand. When you think of the Beatles, you think of Paul, John, George, and Ringo — they did the singing, much of the writing, had input on the production/engineering of their music, and guided the musical direction of the group. When you heard them, you knew that behind that music was a band composed of real musicians who were writing, rehearsing, and performing music. Spears, on the other hand, is simply a brand, ultimately representing a cynical corporate strategy (that, I must add, is not new — look at the Monkees):

1. Hide real musicians in the studio.
2. Front the resulting sound with a model.
3. Bend that model to the ever-changing mold of a powerful publicity machine.

So, Spears puts the face on a group of extraordinarily talented individuals, individuals whose amazing achievements include making Britney sound like she’s singing and not warbling out random tones. These folks behind the scenes are the pop musicians, who are crafting melodies and pushing the envelope on the popular rhythms and production values of the day. Their achievements (especially considering the awful raw materials they must begin with) are what you should compare with a group like the Beatles. So, when you say Spears herself is crap, you are correct — but if you are to do an actual analysis of the music, you must fully understand the meaning of and the people behind a corporate music brand.

• Music
• Pop music
• Sasha Frere-Jones

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