There comes a certain point in an artist's career where it is clear they have peaked artistically and no new albums will be even remotely close to being their best. At this stage, should they just stop making new music? Athletes retire once they know they are passed their prime, so why not singers? They can still tour off their old music and live fairly lavishly.

 

For sake of preventing stan wars, I won't name names but it is clear that there are MANY older pop girls whose new material is nowhere close to their previous artistic peaks (artistic peaks may be subjective, but I am sure [insert pop girl] is well aware that her newest album is nowhere close in quality to the one she made 20 or so years ago), so why do they even bother?

 

To keep releasing albums that add nothing to your artistry, in fact can lessen it, seems like a waste to me. Why dilute your solid 6 or so album-run with a slew of new medicore releases? 

So should artists start gracefully bowing out?

Discuss.

 

 

NOTE: I am not talking at all about commercial success. Hell, if you're still commercially successful, keep going! If you're a commercial tank but in the midst of your artistic peak, keep going! But both commercially and artistically peaked? Hang it up... 

 

I don't think so tbh because I think that everyone has it in them to unexpectedly rebound. There've been several artists who everyone thought had reached that moment they could never top and yet they down the line find a way to climb back up again. 

No, you never know when someone is going to have another artistic or commercial peak. Mariah delivered Caution almost three decades into her career, Cher got the biggest hit of her career in her fifties and plenty of fans want new music from artists even if it won’t top their peak. 

Sometimes you wanna make music for the fun of it, though. Even if no one listens to it (look at XTina and JLo for instance). 

Some people are true artist. They can never stop creating…..

 

It would be stupid to say you must stop now that you aren’t selling like you did at your peak. 

Kylie was able to bounce back amazingly well after the near career-ending garbage Stream Me Once.

 

Golden and Disco are strong additions to her discography, and each album has at least one song that is quintessential Kylie. 

 

so not sure I agree with the OP. it all depends on the pop girl and her team 

Some people need money...

No . They should retire when they want to. Quality of artistry is so subjective. What you consider an artist’s best may not be what they consider their best and vice versa.
 

Plus, many artists only release new material just to tour anyway. If you don’t like an artist’s newer material, that shouldn’t take away from the legacy of their older music. Idg why fans sometimes suggest their faves should retire just because their newer efforts aren’t exactly like something they’ve done in the past. That’s such a toxic way to experience music 

You might as well give an example OP.

Stan wars will happen no matter what on ATRL

People who are passionate about their own music career will likely believe the album they are putting out at any given moment is of the best quality. If it lives up to past glories or not is up to the fans to decide!

Yeah, Gaga should’ve stopped after Born This Way.

the thing with artists and arts and craft in general is that it never knows when to bow out...

 

art is subjective by nature and is driven by experiences and emotions, when an artist produces a magnum opus regardless of art form (dance, painting, books, films, etc.) in their 20s because of emotional trauma and baggage they felt in their personal life at that time (e.g. michaela coel with i may destroy you), they may heal and therefore lose all that artistic spirit simply because their art is a reflection of the darkness/sadness in their life. maybe another traumatic event hits them in their 50s which leads to them seeking out art once again to create catharsis and its the best art they've done ever, that CAN be possible.

 

im not saying grief and trauma are the only sources of art, it could be out of sheer joy and excitement, and then they lose that for a few decades, coast off of it then find something to be truly inspired by once again and bounce back in their 50s/60s/70s. who knows?

 

thats why for all of mariah's wacky shenanigans, im never counting her out, especially not in the age of TikTok where Gen Z basically hates underaged artists and will support and and everyone who can release a bop.

 

EDIT: the fuel in the tank will ALWAYS run out, its a matter of turning to a different source for inspiration to create amazing creative art

Edited January 5, 20233 yr by MingYouToo

if they feel like to

4 minutes ago, JonginBey said:

Yeah, Gaga should’ve stopped after Born This Way.

but then what would you have been posting about incessantly on ATRL for the past decade 

idk i feel like retiring at your peak is kinda cowardly. even if you flop but continue to release you're gonna be more relevant than if you stop releasing after a huge project cause eventually people are just gonna give up on waiting or stop reminiscing about you.

Harry

19 minutes ago, FreeXone said:

Some people are true artist. They can never stop creating…..

 

It would be stupid to say you must stop now that you aren’t selling like you did at your peak. 

Yup. There’s tons of music artists that are more like visual artists than athletes.
 

Artists of all sorts can hit new creative peaks at any age. People usually just think it’s less exciting when it’s someone older. 

2 minutes ago, HonourableVomit said:

but then what would you have been posting about incessantly on ATRL for the past decade 

These. You?

 

Who decides that they're ready for that though? A lot of people here would probably say Gaga should have stopped after Born This Way, but A Star Is Born and Chromatica both saw commercial and critical success, more so than the two albums before that. If she had listened to ATRL, she would have missed out on so many achievements.

 

A lot of people think Metallica went to **** after Cliff Burton died, but in my opinion, The Black Album is one of their best albums, despite many people hating it for being their "sell out" album.

43 minutes ago, Bhabylon said:

Sometimes you wanna make music for the fun of it, though. Even if no one listens to it (look at XTina and JLo for instance). 

Speak for yourself. Xtina makes music that she cares about and she continues to get recognition for it. Aguilera won a Latin Grammy and has a Grammy nomination. Liberation also got several Grammy nods & she toured to reconnect with her fans, which was successful for her. 

No, even if they don't sell well, even if the material is not that good, they should release if they can and feel like it. Your example with athletes isn't comparable, they are forced to retire because they can't run or perform like before even if they want to, the human body is bound to get tired and injure easily after certain age, for example footballers are deemed old at the age 32 already, while for artists they're barely reaching their mature age to create better material or just have fun. 

 

 

I see where you coming from but disagree.

 

Most artists realize their job being apart of the entertainment industry is a huge gamble. Real artists who are passionate about their art will continue to release new music regardless of commercial success. 
 

+ music is so subjective and trend hopping, so anyone has a chance to repeak and have a Cher or Emancipation of Mimi moment.

You don't know when an artist is gonna re-peak artistically. Just look at Lana, after LFL everyone thought she was past her prime years but then she released NFR. Or Bjork, Vulnicura was released two decades into her career and became an acclaimed fan favorite.

I'm under the impression that true artists create "l'art pour l'art" rather than to set the charts ablaze in their 50s or 60s. I can only speak for artists I personally care about, but I wouldn't wanna live in a timeline where Madonna never released Madame X and Rebel Heart (or even Confessions, if we consider Ray Of Light her artistic peak). 

Because it’s the music business. If there is still profit to be had, the music will keep coming. It’s that simple.