Music Question - What Ever Happened To Superstars?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Superstars, as in - really huge artists who sell tens of millions of albums.

Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, ect.

It seems that even the best artists now only sell about 4 or 5 million albums.

Those guys I listed above sold tons upon tons. It seemed like a large segment of America was tuned into that artist and made their music THE THING to listen to.

Now it seems the biggest people in music are just selling okay album-wise, and the music industry seems ready to move on to the next no-name thing that will be hot for a few years then fizzle away.

Will there ever be a HUGE group or solo artist that will come out again?

Or have Americans become so diverse in their musical tastes that it'll be impossible to have one artist from a particular genre dominate the market?

Who will be the next Michael Jackson? Will there be another one?

Would any musician WANT to be as big as Michael Jackson was, seeing as how he turned out after baking under the media spotlight for 20 years?

[Dookus]

1. Well

Eminem's last album sold well over 7 million copies.

Remember that a lot of the all-time top sellers were due to people buying the vinyl repeatedly, then finally buying the CD. How else can we explain The Eagle's Greatest Hits being the top-selling album of all-time?

edit: A Shania Twain album from'97 sold 19 million copies. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill also sold close to 20 million.

[NashVegas]

2. Niche-Marketing Formats

It started in the mid-late 60s when underground FM emphasized rock, and AM stressed a varied (but often cheesy) top 40.

It got a kick when Rick Dees marketed his anti-disco rebellion (a crime, IMO. For the first time, we had an intra-generational dispute where a group of people told their peers (as opposed to their children), "you're stupid if you enjoy this shit").

Next breach came when Lee Abrams started the (wildly successful) "superstars" format that brought us a dominant AOR.

From there we got country radio, adult contempory, CHR, urban, urban contempory, alternative, etc, etc.

The only way we'll ever see an icon of that status in the music world again is when format controllers stop trying to divide people for the sake of ratings, or, more likely, when radio is supplanted altogether as the place people go to to hear music.

[mac56]

5. Great answer.

I think you summed it up perfectly. The industries - and I blame both recording and broadcasting - have so fragmented the market that it's impossible to have a hit anymore.

My one quibble, and it's minor, is with your contention that the anti-disco backlash was the first such intra-generational dispute about music. That's been going on forever. Rock fans had been dissing young country fans since the early 60s. And when the British Invasion came about, R&B fans severely chastised fans of the new groups for "ripping off their music". Not the first example, though probably the first well-organized example.

[NashVegas]

6. Well-Organized, Yah

Good point. I wasn't around for the 60s fights, but I'm guessing "Quadrophenia" provides a good example? There may have been someone around to take advantage of the splits then, but I'm not aware of it. What Dees did was he specifically promoted the division, to gain in ratings/status, etc.

On edit:

I like to blame rock purveyors a lot, but the fact is while AM played a great variety even in the early 70s, what they weren't playing was stuff like Derek & the Dominos & Joe Walsh & Yes and all the other prog-rock stuff that people wanted to hear, but could only get on FM. At least where I grew up it was that way. If AM hadn't been so restrictive about that stuff, who's to say how it would be now?

[johnnie]

3. The industry

The music industry has gone to shit. I think there are quite a few reasons why records don't sell like they used to. I don't necessarily think it is lack of talent. And I will also be the first to say that I have no problem with people like Britney Spears, Nsync and other commercial mainstream music. These types of people have been there forever and there is room for everyone.
As for the record industry, it is there to make money. To think that some record exec. who wouldn't know a G chord if it crawled up his ass and bit him is making the choices of who will have the money backing them and who won't is one of the problems. They put one good cut on a CD and expect kids to spend 20 bucks for that one song and 13 other crappy fillers. Many bands/artists don't get the money to back them to make great albums anymore either. It is one maybe two good songs and they are rushed to complete the record.
I can go on forever with this whole thing, but I do think there will be some great stars eventually. Rock/pop music is 50 years old and that is what seems to be the taste of the mainstream listeners. I think someone will come along and either provide listeners with something completely new that is enjoyable, or some will come along with some great music and ideas and hit it big. I personally don't think it is lack of talent from the artists, I think it is lack of support from the listeners.
And I have no idea if I make sense either.

[Loonman]

4. Record labels

They diluted the industry.