Gotta say I wholeheartedly agree with the article on many levels. The difference, let's say chasm, between writing a cool pop song, or even an intricate, multi-level pop/rock classic, and composing in a formal musical context (let's avoid the word classical) is so huge as to be pretty much untraversable. It generally goes in only one direction (pop can't do formal), though, and I think the article got this right too, there aren't any notable instances of formally trained composers writing a fantastic little hip hop number, or some such thing.

In my view, pop music, that THING which we obsess over, mirror our lives through, and (to a degree) live each day to re-discover, is the output almost exclusively of musical lightweights. And yes, I would include most of our guitar and drum heroes in there too. That doesn't make the music any less important for me, though, might even make it more relevant.