Why, oh why

One big problem I have with modern pop music--other than that it sucks--is that virtually every big song is someone featuring someone else.

I'm not against collaborative efforts at all. There've been some great duos in music history, such as Marvin Gaye & Tammi Tarell (probably spelled wrong but too lazy to look up) and Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash. In both cases, Gaye and Johnny were already tremendously successful musicians but they duoed up to make their music (arguably) better. Nowadays it's just done out of obligation. It's really annoying. Here's a few examples of huge songs in the last 20 years by an artist featuring another artist (or perhaps more):
E.T. by Katy Perry feat. Kanye West
Hips Don't Lie by Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean
Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
Nuthin' but a G Thang by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
I Need a Doctor by Dr. Dre feat. Eminem and Skylar Grey
Stan by Eminem feat. Dido
California Gurls by Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
Run This Town by Jay-Z feat. Rihanna and Kanye West
Love the Way You Lie by Eminem feat. Rihanna
Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
Right Round by Flo Rida feat. Ke$ha

It's really gotten annoying. Some of these songs (I Need a Doctor, Empire State of Mind) are actually taken over by the featured artists. For example, if you type "I Need a Doctor" into YouTube, Eminem will come up before Dre does.

That's not to say these are bad songs. I actually like a good deal of them. But it's just annoying how these musicians sell out to try to get more and more people to buy their songs. Katy Perry doesn't feature Snoop Dogg in her song so Katy Perry songs will like it that much more; she's doing it to hopefully pick up new fans. Many times the featured artists distract from the song. For instance, on the album Teenage Dream, E.T. was a great song, and then it comes out as a single and there's some awkward rapping about alien sex from Kanye West that...well...sucks.

Classic music doesn't have all this feat. stuff. And can I just point out how stupid the word "feat." looks? I mean, come on. There was never a Doors feat. Syd Barrett, a Pink Floyd feat. Freddie Mercury, Nirvana feat. Notorious B.I.G. (God, that'd be weird). And even though Eric Clapton did the solo on The Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps, they didn't shove it in the damn title or whatever, same with The Doors using Ronnie Lott on guitar and bass in Roadhouse Blues. And when you couldn't ignore the additional artist, it was always someone AND someone else. Like Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash or Queen & David Bowie.

So it probably sounds like I'm just complaining about the state of modern music, which to some degree is true, but I do believe I have a point. Stop being sell-outs, musicians. It's annoying.

P.S. Kanye, stay out of Katy Perry songs. Seriously, that whole rapping thing is just disturbing in E.T.