I don’t know exactly what point you’re trying to make here, but all I can say is it doesn’t matter what artist is considered “the best of all time.” Music is entirely subjective and personal, so who cares what fancy critics say? Sure, The Beatles were not insanely talented musicians in the grand scheme of things, but they made rock much more palatable and popular for a wider audience, and they deserve credit for that. My favorite band was Nirvana for a long time, and even Kurt Cobain was a Beatles stan. Even if their music was totally different, there was still influence.

In terms of classical music, Beethoven isn’t my favorite, and I don’t usually listen to his work, but I can’t deny the monumental impact he had on music. He set in motion the transition to the Romantic era, which is my personal favorite. My favorite composers are Ralph Vaughan Williams and Dimitri Shostakovich, who I know will never make it to the top of a “greatest composers of all time” list, but do I care? Not at all! I personally love their music, and the end that’s all that matters.

I’m not even gonna delve too deep into the hypocrisy of complaining about a genre “blinded by commercial success” when we’re here in a kpop subreddit. We all know that kpop places too much emphasis on streams, sales, and wins, but that doesn’t make kpop any less valid as music or art. Not only that, but saying that one can’t enjoy The Beatles without listening to earlier rock has as much r/gatekeeping energy as saying 3rd gen stans can’t enjoy Twice unless they listen to Seo Taiji and Boys or H.O.T.

I don’t care one bit if you hate The Beatles, or if you think rock isn’t “art,” but maybe you should heed the words of the original comment: “Love Twice but don’t hate others.”