I'm 100% on board with the first paragraph. There has to be some mid- or late- century philosopher who described the phenomenon, how pop music creates a dependency or need out of thin air, and then half-fills it. Like how junk food is just salty and fatty enough to keep you wanting more. It overpromises, building up a flattering epic narrative.

Ends up nudging value systems towards vapid, shallow, needy modes of being.