Under the culture industry the concept of taste has become obsolete.

Evidence

The concept of taste is itself outmoded. Responsible art adjusts itself to criteria which approximate judgements: the harmonious and the inharmonious, the correct and incorrect. But otherwise, no more choices are made; the question is no longer put, and no one demands the subjective justification of the conventions. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 68

Categorization

• DEFINE: Taste, for Adorno, presupposes a choosing subject; its obsolescence names the disappearance of that subject.
• XREF: connects to: Eclecticism of contemporary culture signals a general slackening of taste — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 486; Standards of taste are relative to an era and society, not universal criteria; Awareness of culture’s mechanisms destroys the ability to hold earnest taste. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 751 (+2 more)