Justin Bieber's fine by me.
Let me explain. Here's a kid who posted a youtube video on a whim, got a lot of recognition from it (even from respected artists!), and managed to make a lucrative career out of it. True, he did very little of this himself, but if I were his age, I wouldn't be asking any questions--I would be charging full speed ahead with whatever style of music got me recognition. I guarantee you a vast majority of people would do the same thing. He was just a kid when this all started, and why give up everything he has now just because some people are all butthurt and jealous of his popularity?
Do I like his music? Personally, I can't stand it. It's the same obnoxious R&B/pop/dance/whateverthehellelse style, with the same poppy style of singing, that's dominated the whole music industry for the past couple decades. But he's got success--good for him. Look, I enjoy telling jokes as much as anyone else, and I can have a good laugh at his music. But the more blind, pointless hatred I see piled on the kid, the more likely I am to defend him. He's a product of the music industry, and he can either write something of high quality (or, given the state of our music industry, popularity) when he gets older or fade into obscurity like so many child stars. Or, hell, he could just go to a good college and make something of his life, which I hope ends up happening because I wish no ill upon the kid.
If you want to criticize something, criticize Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Kesha, etc. They're fair targets, and since they're adults who want to be taken seriously as musicians, there's plenty of legitimate criticism to go around. They're also responsible (along with the critics and, hey, newsflash, audiences) for the godawful state of the industry. If their vapid music weren't so popular, maybe Bieber would be aping Rush or Johnny Cash or, hell, Luciano Pavarotti. Or if you like those artists, fine, then he's just another product. The real point is that he's not the cause, he's an effect.
But you know what? It's not even that serious, because his music is written for children who are personally responsible for what types of music they explore when they get older. Let the poor kid have his 15 minutes of fame.