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Is it possible for a singer/band to ever be as popular as the Beatles or Michael Jackson?

It seems that every so often a musician or group comes along that becomes a global phenomenon. Elvis .. The Beatles .. Michael Jackson (in the 80's). But since Michael, we really haven't seen anything like that. Music and musicians today seem more disposable and completely interchangeable. The pop folks all dress, dance, and sing alike. All of the "rock" musicians are interchangeable .. they all play the same 3 chords and sing alike.


Just wondering if anyone else will come along with that "megastar" aura and change the way we look at music.
 
yes
Elvis is the other one in the top 3, he is #2, beatles #1 and MJ #3
ABBA is #4 and Queen is #5

all of those have been around 30+ years, so other "greats" need some time to catch up
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
yes
Elvis is the other one in the top 3, he is #2, beatles #1 and MJ #3
ABBA is #4 and Queen is #5

all of those have been around 30+ years, so other "greats" need some time to catch up
Click to expand...

ABBA?

...Really? Am I just too young to understand, being in my mid 30s?
 
I think that music has been segmented out into so many different areas that by pure dilution of listeners you will never have that big of a following for any one band.

Plus the media exposure is much more flash in a pan given the immediate access to stuff through digital distribution, online videos, social networking, content dilution through billions of cable channels,ect.

You don't have 3 TV stations that everyone gathers around the one TV in the house to watch the Ed Sullivan Show.

It's just a different industry now.
 
Originally posted by: vi edit
I think that music has been segmented out into so many different areas that by pure dilution of listeners you will never have that big of a following for any one band.

Plus the media exposure is much more flash in a pan given the immediate access to stuff through digital distribution, online videos, social networking, content dilution through billions of cable channels,ect.

You don't have 3 TV stations that everyone gathers around the one TV in the house to watch the Ed Sullivan Show.

It's just a different industry now.
Click to expand...

that's the way i'm looking at it. i just don't think it's possible any more.
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
yes
Elvis is the other one in the top 3, he is #2, beatles #1 and MJ #3
ABBA is #4 and Queen is #5

all of those have been around 30+ years, so other "greats" need some time to catch up
Click to expand...

i would have put the Stones above ABBA and Queen, but that's just my opinion.
 
Madonna
Bruce Springstein
Eminem

Regardless of whether you like them or not, i'd say you'd have a hard time finding someone who hasn't at least heard of them...
 
Originally posted by: JDub02
It seems that every so often a musician or group comes along that becomes a global phenomenon. Elvis .. The Beatles .. Michael Jackson (in the 80's). But since Michael, we really haven't seen anything like that. Music and musicians today seem more disposable and completely interchangeable. The pop folks all dress, dance, and sing alike. All of the "rock" musicians are interchangeable .. they all play the same 3 chords and sing alike.


Just wondering if anyone else will come along with that "megastar" aura and change the way we look at music.
Click to expand...


You really ahve to go abroad to really consider the global impact.

Let's put it like this...the top 3, if you go to a 3rd world country and you showed them caricatures of them, EVERYONE would know who they are. Everyone. Not music fans. Not fans of said artist. Everyone knows who they are.

Queen and Abba? They may have a huge following and impact but not even on the same planet in terms of recognition.
 
Originally posted by: Bu B3ar
Madonna
Bruce Springstein
Eminem

Regardless of whether you like them or not, i'd say you'd have a hard time finding someone who hasn't at least heard of them...
Click to expand...

The true test was in my previous post. Go to a 3rd world country or somewhere that isn't plugged into the Western world. Madonna on that list is probably the one of those three I agree with. Travel abroad my friend, that's the best test.
 
Any time someone says something along the lines of "We've come as far as we can in the field of _______," they have never, ever been correct. Will there be more popular acts than MJ, The Beatles or Elvis? Of course. As the population of the world grows, and globalization becomes more and more prevalent, artists and bands are going to have access to an audience larger than any that's been envisioned before. 50 years down the road, when we have two billion more people on the planet and India has streaming audio, do you really think it's going to take long for any random pop star to log a billion listeners?
 
Originally posted by: KevinH
Originally posted by: Bu B3ar
Madonna
Bruce Springstein
Eminem

Regardless of whether you like them or not, i'd say you'd have a hard time finding someone who hasn't at least heard of them...
Click to expand...

The true test was in my previous post. Go to a 3rd world country or somewhere that isn't plugged into the Western world. Madonna on that list is probably the one of those three I agree with. Travel abroad my friend, that's the best test.
Click to expand...

I agree...but if that is your test then i would say there is no artist that fits that bill...
 
Originally posted by: rivan

ABBA?

...Really? Am I just too young to understand, being in my mid 30s?
Click to expand...

ABBA was a lot more popular in the rest of the world (e.g. Australia & Canada) than in the U.S.A.

 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
yes
Elvis is the other one in the top 3, he is #2, beatles #1 and MJ #3
ABBA is #4 and Queen is #5

all of those have been around 30+ years, so other "greats" need some time to catch up
Click to expand...

Yet you forget to post the #2 artist of all time, Mariah Carey.
 
i'm thinking of all of the hype, hysteria, fanatacism that was "Beatle-mania" in the mid-60's ... and that followed MJ from the end of the Jackson 5 through the 80's. i have a hard time seeing that happen again.

i think celebrities are over-saturating their fans. we can find out when they're dropping a duece via twitter. we can find out what they had for dinner last night from hundreds of celebrity gossip sites and various tv shows. i think the mystique is gone.
 
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