If something becomes "popular" that does not mean that it has diminished in meaning or value. I would tend to argue the opposite, in fact. If a work becomes "popular" that means that it’s meaning has been spread to the masses, but just because it’s meaning has become more accessible, does not mean it’s true meaning has been changed at all. Ironically, these days, if something is "popular" it has become cool for certain groups of people to diminish the meaning strictly for the purpose of staying out of the mainstream culture. ("My favorite band is more obscure than your favorite band!")
In my opinion, the artist is never really in control of the context in which people use or receive art. For some, "Hotel California" is just a hotel someplace in California. For others, it's a reference to drug rehab. Whether or not it’s actually about either one of those things is unclear, but for the listener to extract meaning, it depends on the context.
These days, it is difficult to tell what is "original." Almost everything in mainstream media is in some way a copy of something that has been done before. People can only come up with a certain amount of ideas before things start to become unoriginal. The entire concept of reality TV is to take an idea, put a twist on it and create a new show, then take that idea and put another twist on it and create a new show, and on and on and on. Not only does that concept apply to reality TV, but to pop culture in general. Eventually, nothing is authentic anymore.
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