I probably shouldn't be bumping this thread or stirring the pot any further than it has been already but I think the easiest way for you to find peace of mind here is by simply focusing more on music that truly matters to you, sharing it with people that are enthusiastic about exploring music (example: here), and just forgetting about pop music altogether. I understand it frustrates you that these artists are showered in awards and praise in the media and you don't think genuinely creative musicians are getting the compensation they deserve, but it really is just business, and it really has been this way since the birth of mainstream music.
Mainstream music has always come down to designing a product that appeals to the largest number of consumers, the reason we don't see any Led Zeppelins or Pink Floyds anymore is because the masses don't eat that up anymore, we're not in a social revolution anymore, we're not putting flowers in rifle barrels like we used to. Mainstream music will always reflect the attitudes of the largest consumer audience. The reason we're seeing a saturation of artists writing about extremely trivial subject matter is because we're living in a very peaceful time (at least here in the Western world). We can be confident that next time we find ourselves in a time of great turmoil or some sort of massive social revolution or whatever the mainstream media will play to that, once again we'll see a wave of political pop music.
If musicians and artists want mass recognition they'll gear their music towards the masses, they'll stir the mob, that's what sells albums, that's what the major record companies tell their clients to do, that's what the band manager pushes for. It worked for the great rock bands of the 60s and 70s because that was the time they lived in, that's what happened to get people going at the time, it's not that time anymore.
But it's okay, because everything outside of mainstream music doesn't really give a **** about mainstream music, they'll just go ahead and continue being creative musicians writing fantastic albums, regardless of Nicki Minaj writing trivial songs about the statistical improbability of her booty genes. There is still a colossal amount of incredible music being released every year, there are still massive festivals all over the place that do give small time acts a giant stage to perform on, even Rolling Stone is still offering positive headlines to new experimental artists (example:
Pharmakon's new album). The music community is very alive and well, regardless of who's getting awards on TV. It's ok, Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj aren't ruining anything, they're completely irrelevant to the evolution of music as a whole.