Looking back on the sixties pop scene, it was simply commercialism writ large; the American influenced music, the "dance" crazes, the pop fashion scene, all a huge commercial exercise in the manipulation of youth.....folk music and its aficionados were like a breath of fresh air they really cared about the music, its history and the sense that they were participating in something important, not just regarding the music , but society as a whole.
Most of the people I knew then who developed an interest have turned out to be more thoughtful and aware than those who followed the pied piper of pop.
In short Mr Gnome's important musically comment encompassed a genre manufactured in the pursuit of money and tainted by association.
I have a friend who was in partnership with George Martin in those heady days and he tells the reality of the exploitation, sexual and financial. The pop music industry was a heap of crap in its conception and has gone steadily down hill ever since.