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Digi-flection: Hahaha... your first sentence has me chuckling a lot. It's a good opener, and yes, now the horse has returned to life as a ZOMBIE and we're still beating it.
I do not agree with all your points but I thank you and my respects to you for backing up your points with why you believe what you believe.
I think the whole thing of "talent" in singular form obviously must be combined with other components in order to form a complete package in the music business. It is no surprise to me that both Tiesto and Britney need heavy marketing push, as well as glossy shots of them in action and numerous other tactics. I regard it as an AND situation as opposed to an OR situation, i.e. "you need this and that and that..."
Of note, there are many electronic musicians who cannot really "play an instrument" in the realtime, traditional sense of the word but they are definitely masterful programmers. Yet, the old guard regards this as *not* being musical talent. So it's relative, and you get perspectives.
It's difficult to define "talent", as a masterful star from the Peking Opera would definitely be called "out of tune" and "sings like a cat being strangled" here. (William Hung is laughed at in part because of cultural differences. I just hope he's happy with himself.) And yet, over there, it is an honorable, theatrical artform. Bollywood movies seem "wacky" and "a forced mix of styles" to Western audiences. There are cultural sensitivities and differences. Obviously the Japanese have their IDORU worship without so much derision as over here, and the Swedish have contributed an immense lot to pop music over the years. I am always grateful to see what things are like on the other side of the world, especially poor countries who do not have any Britneys and must make do with folk troubadours who are native masters of their craft nonetheless. People's tastes change. At times, it's difficult to say what will succeed in the market, and at others, people miss the obvious. That's life on Planet Earth.
Also, consider the live show. Often, you need visuals -- even many DJ performances will attest to this. An energetic crowd, perhaps featured dancers, lasers, trippy visuals, etc. It takes talent for those too. And if the performer is moving about and dancing, as Britney does, well, that's another sort of artistic talent. As well as the many people who help put the show on by designing costumes, setting up the gear, all the tech's who are consulted... there are many types of creative talent important to the music business, and the music cannot stand alone, just like a musician without listeners is not communicating.
People on the whole are not as impressed with classical and jazz virtuosos as they were in previous decades -- album sales confirm a declining market share -- and they are among the most talented of ALL. So YES, along the lines of what you said, talent and success are not the same thing. An artist can have "da maddest skillz" and be broke and suffering. Many historical precedents of this. However, I appreciate it when talented artists have success. Tiesto's friend, BT is also a fine, fine example of this.
There are so many luxurious choices of music for us to choose from. It truly is a smorgasbord of sounds and a grand buffet. I am reminded to be grateful of this many times, especially when I think of less fortunate places in the world that do not have such prominent Internet access, nor iPods or other MP3 players, nor even some basic essentials required for living like clean water and nutritious food.
We have so much to be thankful for -- the music you don't like, you can just move on, and leave it for someone else.
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Hi, my name's Torley. I'm here at TA to learn, share, and have fun! 
get hooked, click here to listen to "The_Autistic_World_of_Torley.mp3" | dialup version
more @ torley's techno music and anti-techno music blog 
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PHAMILY PHOREVER
yet so horrible to listen to 
) is something that goes without saying around these boards, its just common knowledge.
