Can Anyone Achieve Longevity Anymore?

[migamiga 12,101]

I've actually thought about this for awhile and now that we've completely transitioned into the streaming era, I wonder how that'll affect artist's careers in the long run. It's already affected the way albums are promoted- heavy promotion before the album drops (with 2-3 singles leading to release date) and then completely abandoned because everyone already has access to all the songs (at least for major releases). Streaming has also introduced new listening habits and people can easily discover new artists/music on their own and on the flipside to that new artists can reach new listeners easier. Everything has become so saturated and sometimes I feel overwhelmed because there's so much music and it seems like every week there's a couple big releases and then there's viral songs so you end up not being able to live with songs and albums as long you use to because you have to constantly keep up with everything. 

Also newer artists don't seem to be driving impact, as ms gaga would say. Everyone just seems to be making music by following trends and not really having much meaning or intention behind it. So how can an audience stay loyal to an artist is there's no substance behind it? It'll be cool for a minute (1-2 years) and then listeners will move on to the next artist doing something exciting. The marketing behind these artists have change because they're no longer trying to sell an album, they're just trying to give you something that's easy to listen to. There's no investment in the art or the artist. 

As for the pop girls, Ariana is the last one who was ushered in pre-full on streaming era and I believe she will have a long, successful career but for those who debuted/blew up within the last 5 years haven't shown any signs that it's going in that direction. I don't mean any shade by it, but it's just an observation on how we've entered a new phase of pop culture. Artists like Halsey and Camila have had huge success, but does it look like they're on track to maintain it? I mean, look at Romance  Halsey is interesting to me because she's big on paper (when you just look at the numbers) but where is the impact? What is getting people to continually stream Halsey aside from her name? Billie will be interesting to watch because she's the only one whose success sort of replicates artists in the past (tapping into a zeitgeist moment, being able to sell records and concerts, public interest, recognition from veteran artists, etc). I know it's still too early to say for any of them but it's just weird cause pop stars aren't really household names anymore. I can say that about any celebrity nowadays, actually. So was Warhol right? Is everyone only famous for 15 minutes now? (I heard that he didn't even really stay that lol)

I've kind of rambled and not sure if that made sense but just wanted to see what other people think.

[thet1234 86]

I 100% agree. Most artists cannot maintain their popularity after their peak on the charts nowadays. Examples of this are Lil Nas X, and more who have had one major hit and no popularity after. Ariana was lucky, because she became popular just before the streaming era which allowed her to reap the benefits of full album streamers, and built a fanbase who would continue to stream her music, and listen to it. 

[Karl 3,413]

Your post has a lot of good points to be honest. Like Halsey has the numbers of a major pop star player but in 30 years are we gonna be looking back at Now or Never or Without Me as super impactful hits? Or is she just someone people listen to because she's cool to listen to right now. I just feel like music is going the same way as a lot of things, more about trends, challenges, Instagram hack type things, kids aren't here for a body of work. 

[Economy 49,714]

It makes everything more front loaded for sure

 

For new artists trying to get established and have hits, it might make sense to release shorter albums but more frequently

 

16 track albums every 2-3 years commercially makes no sense now

 

I know Gaga did that with Chromatica but since she's an established artist she can do that if she chooses

[PartySick 159,998]

6 minutes ago, Karl said:

Like Halsey has the numbers of a major pop star player but in 30 years are we gonna be looking back at Now or Never or Without Me as super impactful hits?

To me she's just a feature on my favorite Bieber song and also a Gaga stan if I remember correctly

A lot of the new pop people are flash in the pan types and really blend together. Longevity is achieved with an identity. If a non-fan can't tell you apart from 20 other people on the radio then you're going no where

[Guest]

I think Billie Eillish is one of the few new artists that are going to stay for longer than 15 mins, because she is doing something different and refreshing not only musically but in a fashion sense as well, she created a lot of room for herself where she can reinvent herself and still grab peoples attention, if she wants it and is driven to have a long and succsesfull career she will have it.

[StrawberryBlond 14,849]

The problem is not so much a lack of promotion or abandoning the album after release, it's that so many of these new acts just...aren't that good. The last truly phenomenal artist I saw debut was Lana Del Rey in 2012. I've never seen anyone after that time that matches her level of music quality album after album. Maybe they'd have longevity if they actually made albums that were worth listening to and could create more than one good album in their career.