All too often is Lady GaGa compared to the likes of Britney Spears or Madonna. These comparisons are not completely unfounded; they are, after all, incredibly popular pop stars, and ears unfamiliar to pop might very well mistake their music for identical. Based on these similarities, the three are all subjected to the same criticism: they are not artists, they aren’t musicians, they are manufactured, they have no clue about what they’re doing—they are the music industry’s cash cows. I cannot make a case for Madonna, a good performer at best, or Spears, a teen idol gone out of control, nor do I want to. Their music has no heart or meaning, it is not the work of an artists but of a team of songwriters put together by financially motivated record labels. Some would argue the same for Lady GaGa. I won’t.