ISSUE TOPIC The real talent of a popular musician cannot accurately be assessed until the musician has been dead for several generations so that his or her fame does not interfere with honest assessment

The author claims that to assess the real talent of a popular musician, one has to wait for his death and also several generations. He avers that the assessment won't be an honest one if conducted during the popular tenure of the musician. This is solely because the fame shouldn't interfere with the assessment procedure. I strongly disagree with the claim and find it illogical due to the below mentioned reasons:

Firstly, what kind of assessment the author wants to conduct for which he has to wait for the musician to die and also for several generations? The best way to assess something is to observe while it is being performed live. After the death of the musician, the only possible ways to assess him are: either by watching his videos or hearing his audios which could have been done when he was alive or by taking an opinion poll or a survey where in again the 'popularity' factor will come into play which the author wants to keep aloof.

Secondly, the difference between the popularity of an actor and a musician is that the fame of the latter is a genuine one and coagulated by his mere talent. Where as the reason behind the fame of the former can be a mixed one; due to his good or bad deeds both. Thus for a musician, his real talent will own him his fame and hence the practice of assessment after his demise doesn't make any sense.

Also, if the above claim is practiced, then the musician won't be there to witness the results of his assessment. Just like Galileo was severely criticized for his experiments when he was alive, nevertheless he won the noble prize for his experiment years after his death. Imagine how delighted would he be had he been there to experience it? The famous hockey player Dhyanchand from India is crowned the player of the century around 50 years after his death. Thus, the above practice seems implausible and inconvincing.

The author claims for the above procedure because Darwin's theory states that the toughest survive. Analogous to this, a musician's true talent will be visible only if it survives the test of time and is played and watched by his fans for generations to come. However, today the world is rapidly advancing. The genre which was followed yesterday becomes obsolete today. For e.g: our parents grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Mohammad Rafi, etc. and we today are fans of Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Honey Singh etc. Hence, it is wiser to assess the real talent of a musician during his era rather than waiting for generations to do the same.