How big was Britney really without MTV or Cable?

[vixdean 1,061]

4 hours ago, Sepsami said:

Britney Spears is the most iconic name in pop music and I don't think anyone will be able to top that, not even Madonna..

Britney is the image you get in your head when you imagine what a popstar is

MadonnaMania in the 80s/early 90s took the world by storm. I would say only her and MJ as solo performing artists achieved that kind of megastardom in the pop world - they are named the Queen and King of Pop for some reason. I don't think anyone has experienced that level of megastardom and popularity ever again.

Not even Britney. She was everywhere for sure, but not the same. Gaga was again someone that achieved a level of stardom pretty close to that. I would actually place Gaga's and Britney's popularity at their peak around the same level.

The world is a very different place now than it was in those decades, so it will become increasingly difficult so see new pop artists reach that magnitude.

[Joschua 532]

Britney was all over magazines, TV, and Radio. Websites, like Yahoo Music, existed where you could listen to music online. Some music videos were on there back then too.

[vyniildisk 12,689]

15 minutes ago, KNJ said:

Go backwards: If there was no twitter, fb, ig, youtube, no smartphones, no social media of any kind, no streaming service of any kind, and you had max 90 min of internet a day (to likely talk on forums like this), music would be promoted to you basically how it was  to 90s/00s teens ?

You could definitely be overexposed! It takes more effort now because the internet has democratized who determines who and what is "popular" but before this, the gate keepers reigned. You were basically told what to like because there wasn't oxygen for much else in widespread media.

1) You cannot take MTV out of the equation! Everyone had MTV in the same way that everyone has or has access to Netflix. These were it's last great years but it was arguably still "King". Year after year they catered more and more to just pop as pop princesses and boy bands dominated. TRL started as soon as school ended and was your source for everything. You had top ten revealed, you had call-in request, big interviews, call-in questions, big video premieres,big live performances, music news,the spectacle of Times Square takeovers, the screaming...so.much. Screaming. There were no online services or outlets to give this content. There was nowhere else to crown or see reigning pop royalty. Britney et al. held down TRL like it was a second home.

2) Like you said, performances only aired once. It's called event television. "Can't miss TV" was how it's advertised. You'd clear the calender for award shows. My family knew to be off the tv at t-minus 5 minutes to showtime so I could set up the VCR to record. Don't speak to me until commercial break, pass in front of the tv you die.  These are where cultural resets were born. If you missed these, you'd be out of the conversation for weeks if not years. 

3)Payola and Top 40 radio would make your fave a god. Just like today, their song could play 2-3 times an hour all day. Britney and them followed you ALL day: in the stores, in the delis, in the cabs, pouring out of headphones, in waiting rooms, bumping from cars. 

4) Branding. Shameless branding made sure that Britney and them we're plastered on every object and product your little bedroom could hold. I don't know how it is today; seems like it's ridiculously easy to just custom make, and even sell, the fanware you want, no matter your age or wallet. But to go into a store and be bombarded with their faces reproduced on everything from paper plates to shoelaces to school supplies to cheap questionably tasting candy, and then have your children scream and beg for it, is another way to secure your popularity into ppls minds.

5) There were many more magazines then today. Each a little billboard. To me it seemed like the promo back then was more aggressive.Like someone would be on 5 covers at the same time or back to back months.

...I could go on but you shouldn't think that  just because there were less diverse avenues of getting mainstream content in the past, that that equates to less people must've been exposed, that Britney wasnt that popular. No. If there are only so many outlets and there is one person constantly present in those outlets, that is high exposure. Britney and them (Christina, Nsync, Backstreet etc) very high exposure, they were inescapable and were overexposed to those who did not care to be bombarded with all the above.I

EDit: hope this makes sense. I'm tired

that was a great analysis, i love reading this stuff, i should study something like this.

5 minutes ago, SevenWonder said:

Britney was never my thing, but she was HUGE. As big as it gets after Madonna. I'd say even bigger than Gaga. I put Gaga third (and yes I stan Gaga).

Why she was not your thing?

[SevenWonder 4,371]

Other than Piece of Me (which I love) I never connected to her songs the way I do to Gaga's. Or Madonna's. Or Riri's. 

[Rio 5,088]

4 hours ago, KeepItCool said:

Britney was everywhere....magazines, tv specials, daytime and nighttime tv shows, special concert events, sold out world tours, everybody knew her hits even if you didn’t pay attention to pop music - they were inescapable.  Britney was and is a household name from 1999 .

Not so much anymore though. Her star power has faded massively and she can barely scrape together 500k-1M worldwide for an album now. Katy’s seems to be going down a similar route

[KeepItCool 140]

12 minutes ago, Rio said:

Not so much anymore though. Her star power has faded massively and she can barely scrape together 500k-1M worldwide for an album now. Katy’s seems to be going down a similar route

I don’t disagree with her lower sales.  She had such a massive impact there really was no where else to go but down after a certain point.  Every pop star reaches that moment at some point in their career.  I’d say her very successful 4 year residency in Vegas and her last quick sell out small tour were a testament to the star power she still has left.

Britney could absolutely have another big album if she’d put in the work to make it happen - but she’s at a point now where she doesn’t want that exposure anymore.  I do still think there’s a market and demand for new material from Britney.  It’s almost impossible to stay on top forever though but I wouldn’t say she’s forgotten.

[PUKKIE 457]

Guys uf u are younger that u dont get how big Britney was at her peak. JB, billie and them are really big. But NOTHing can compare to the hurricane that was Britney at her peak. Having loved thru all these artists post Britney peak, u can trust that. It was insane!!! 🗣 

[Kitana 1,824]

britney was everywhere, every step she took was talked about, the whole world was obsessed with her and no one could escape. the only thing that stopped her was herself.  she was so big that after 5 years she could do whatever she wanted and still be a big seller in the industry

[nathantj594 901]

16 hours ago, KeepItCool said:

Exactly.  You can have a hit song now and only your fans know it - or a lot of people know it but you have no face, image and possibly aren’t even known by name.  

This! I have heard that garbage “Sunday Best” song 50,000 times on my local top 40 station just this morning. One day I finally decided to look it up and it turns out it’s two twinky looking white boys??? I’m still shook. 

[Celloo Deng 55,070]

@Heracross why all the LMAOs? 

[Gimme More 35,381]

9 minutes ago, Cello said:

@Heracross why all the LMAOs? 

Delusional fan, I think they got offended so easily, he needs to realise no-one was criticising Gaga, it's just a massive fact that Britney was bigger than Gaga and she was EVERYWHERE.

[youandi 2,110]

I'm not sure I get it because wouldn't that now be like 'How big would X be without Spotify etc' 

I get they do different things but when that was perhaps the biggest platform back then, it seems like an unfair question. I might have misunderstood though 

[Gracious Gaga 17,163]

22 hours ago, Gimme More said:

there was britney pens, pencils, pencil cases, lunch boxes, you name it Britney's face was on it

every girl wanted to be her and every straight guy wanted to be with her, she was literally sold as the American Dream

Don’t forget about the gay community lol the majority of her dedicated fan base 

[vyniildisk 12,689]

18 hours ago, KeepItCool said:

I don’t disagree with her lower sales.  She had such a massive impact there really was no where else to go but down after a certain point.  Every pop star reaches that moment at some point in their career.  I’d say her very successful 4 year residency in Vegas and her last quick sell out small tour were a testament to the star power she still has left.

Britney could absolutely have another big album if she’d put in the work to make it happen - but she’s at a point now where she doesn’t want that exposure anymore.  I do still think there’s a market and demand for new material from Britney.  It’s almost impossible to stay on top forever though but I wouldn’t say she’s forgotten.

This is very interesting, artists nowadays seem to grow slowly, lookm at Tay and Ariana, and Britney was like BOOM, first single, it must be hard to top that, but hey Gaga is having another renaissance with ASIB and Chromatica so everything can happen i guess, but Britney is really a fascinating case to study, me being obsssed with Marilyn i feel that Britney have that same aura, and the fact that she is alive and she is kinda weird make her very interesting, i wish her the best

[boyerased 2,886]

Big enough to have her Pepsi posters on the mountain villages in my (3rd world) hometown.