Removing Subjective Tastes, the Beatles Were the Greatest Band/ Artist/ Musicians of All Time

It has been an enjoyable experience, and I have learned much about musical theory. That being said, I would like to begin my final argument. My opponent forms her debate around the subject of aesthetics, a branch of philosophy I admit to knowing little about. While it is true that there may be an objective difference between popular music and art music, this does not affect the fact that the musicians themselves were the greatest of all time. Making the assumption that since the Beatles music is on a lower scale they must be inferior musicians is equivalent to stating that Aaron Rodgers is a better athlete than Tiger Woods simply because football is a more difficult sport to play than golf. I am not necessarily arguing that the Beatles music was the greatest per se, but merely that they were the greatest musicians. (Using the sports analogy, we could conclude with my opponent's logic that Aaron Rodgers is the superior athlete merely because he plays a more difficult sport- it would not matter how poorly he threw the football or how well Woods putted on the greens as the mere fact of one's sport being more difficult would render the former the greater athlete. ) Indeed, we must not look at what type of music they played, but how well they played it. 1. ) Accomplishments- While it is true that a band's accomplishments are not based on the quality of their music alone, the outside factors which my opponent brings up (such as marketing ability) do not vary greatly from artist to artist. It is also true that the rise of the Beatles coincided with the British Invasion and the invention of television, but few artists at the time other than the Beatles and Rolling Stones were able to generate a significant and long lasting amount of success from said factors despite there being a flood of other bands attempting to do so. (Freddie and the Dreamers, anyone? ) My opponent also states that their fame was due to them being controversial (I don't really get this argument- until Lennon's whole Jesus comment their image was essentially four clean cut boys from Liverpool) but fails to provide any logical basis for said claim. Finally, the revolutions in the music industry should make it easier for artists to achieve the level of fame enjoyed by the Beatles as it is now possible for them to promote and sell their music to expanding markets at a more rapid pace- the fact that none have only proves how special the Beatles were in doing this. 2. ) Individuality- Music cannot be stolen from any group of people, because it does not belong to any group of people. Music belongs to the world- anyone who has ever made their own music was first inspired by someone else's music, and so on. While it is true that the Beatles were inspired by many artists before them, it is also true that they have inspired a greater number of artists after them and will continue to do so for many years. (How many up and coming rock artists do you see paying homage to Dylan or Elvis? ) Finally, the claim that the Beatles introduced foreign music to the American mainstream is valid because of how risky it was at the time- had it not been a hit with American audiences, they could have easily slid into obscurity. (A lesser known artist, on the other hand, does not face such a dilemma and as such possesses more creative freedom. ) The fact that the Beatles were able to not only get away with it but actually become even more popular as a result is further testimony to their greatness. 3. ) Appeal- Once again, my opponent claims that their widespread appeal is based on image alone and not on talent but fails to back this claim up. Unless she can provide some solid evidence for it in the final round, it must be discarded. I would like to conclude that although a certain aesthetic difference does exist between the artists my opponent listed and the Beatles and that, for the most part, the quality of the former's music was objectively superior, this does nothing to prove that they were superior musicians. Once again reverting to the sports analogy, we cannot conclude that Andy Murray is better at what he does than, say, LeBron James simply because tennis is a harder sport than basketball. We must look at the impact each athlete has on their sport, and how well they succeed in it. As far as popular music, no single artist has had a greater impact than the Beatles, which is why I consider them to be the greatest musicians of all time.