celeb news Music execs "depressed" about not being able to break new popstars: Billboard

[Pop Art]

It's nice to get confirmation from an industry staple like Billboard of what a lot of us have been saying here for years, and it's validating hearing that a lot of people in the industry are also noticing this and it's not just us getting "old and out of touch" like some people claim on here.  I know people from every generation tend to look down on the next one's music, but it's clear that's not exactly what's happening here.

[imabadkid]

2 minutes ago, Achilles. said:

In order to become a proper STAR, you need to be a relatively household name who most people recognize on sight and can list at least 2-3 facts about. It’s really ******* hard to make that happen. Part of it is generational—lots of people will always prefer to continue supporting the stars they came of age with, and show only nominal interest in younger stars. A lot of it is due to the various changes that have happened in the industry. 
 

 

The amount of FACTS in this statement -- yes! I think that's the biggest problem nowadays EVEN someone like Billie or Olivia, I don't really see them meeting this threshold - my parents (both my mom and dad) could probably tell you who Britney Spears, Beyonce, Taylor, Gaga or who Christina Aguilera is even if they don't know much about their music, that's when you've reached A-List mega pop stardom... I feel like for them and people in their age range none would know anything about Olivia, Dua and some of the newer girls, they're only known to a small audience of people who follow pop music, you can't become a huge star through that.

 

We'really suffering from the fact that there is no monoculture anymore... people live in their own algorithms and you have to have monoculture to break a massive pop star.

[ontherocks]

Just now, JayG said:

This is the problem though - LABELS ARE NOT WILLING TO INVEST IN ARTISTS LONG TERM ANYMORE, they are the problem

For the most part, yes. Having talent is one thing, but having the drive is up to the artist.

 

Labels have played shady games since forever.

 

I once watched a Shirley Manson interview and she explained how labels have exploited artists thirty years ago.

 

A member of another band told her that the record label ppl informed them that they have a record release party in a hotel, set up by the label. Champagne is flowing, models and drugs are there and then when it's paycheck time, they really put that party on the list of expenses the band had no knowledge of until the very last minute.

 

360 deals are also another thing.

 

 

[youreyesgocold]

The entire first page being people screaming about kpop 

 

When will you understand that no matter how hard you shove it down the gp’s throats, they aren’t going to consume artists who aren’t singing in their native tongue in the same amount that they will consume western acts? Being able to immediately understand and connect with the lyrics and also just the factor of racism are too powerful. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by youreyesgocold

[popularmoonlight]

Your brain can't be thinking straight if you really believe this **** talk "the label is giving them their time" while not making them release because, like I said before, you actually need to invest not only money, but also time, substance and experiencie into artists if you want them to excel. The labels are not really doing it anymore. They'd rather put the artists on a shelf instead of doing THEIR JOB and assisting them to release stuff!! There's obviously lots of different cases out there but it all comes to down to a "formula" that does work. That being: A&R helping set up an album/singleS releaseS, label and management figuring out marketing strategies and the artists themselves going out there to promote somehow. You can't say an artist is stopping themselves from releasing when the FIRST STEP should actually come from a signed label. That's literally their job, and artists depend on that to EXCEL.

 

You see labels not doing promo anymore because they literally want TikTok to push the song and they want the song to go viral BEFORE it's actually released so they don't need to invest in ANYTHING else 

[harwee]

Its just a lot harder now, but i attribute that mostly to social media. There's a consumption happening in social media that is unaccounted for. Its watered down the metrics. No one's collecting monies from tiktok, clips, amateur covers, and millions of images and videos being freely shared on social media other than the creators. By the time the artist returns, people are sick of them. There's no period to reboot or go away and disappear, even if they try.

 

Streaming makes things worse.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by harwee

[FreeXone]

20 minutes ago, Beyonnaise said:

This is really interesting, I had no idea. Thanks for bringing it up. I think this just speaks to the much, much wider problem of oversaturation, like the BB article said.

 

Catalog sales (of older artists) have also ballooned in popularity since the pandemic, and I think this ties into people not coalescing around younger acts.

 

Only tangentially related but I think this makes the success of Flowers earlier this year make more sense. Even as a fan of Miley I was stunned by her ability to book such a massive smash after like 8 years of middling success. I think having a household name matters more than ever because there’s less and less of them in the new generation.

I said this is going to happen. I think we will return to like the 70s and 80s you will see more middle aged Pop stars. I’m kind of hear for it. They made the best music lol

[NEX]

30 minutes ago, JoJo said:

But none of Ice Spice’s solo songs are big hits. She’s a bigger celebrity than she is an artist.

Aren't they complaining that you can have a one billion song but still not able to break through because no one recognises you on the streets? Ice Spice actually made it

[LustSpell]

3 minutes ago, FreeXone said:

And the labels don’t invest!!! 

!!!. They don't invest because they are trying to keep costs as low as possible but doing that isn't going to give you the breakout star you need. As everyone has already said, monoculture is deader than Azealia Banks' career - everyone has their own content and aren't forced to watch a new superstar take over the world and have everyone talk about them. Even the most recent attempt at Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish... barely anyone over the age of like 30 knows who they are. It's truly a shame.

[Armani?]

4 minutes ago, =NEX= said:

Aren't they complaining that you can have a one billion song but still not able to break through because no one recognises you on the streets? Ice Spice actually made it

Yeah, ppl recognize her but she's in danger of being a fad. 

[Slap]

Let people release a ******* album, this is entirely created by labels. If they can’t learn to keep up with the times and think they can just lazily capture the market with whatever artist ticks a bunch of metrics for them they’re deluded. 

[blueberries]

 k poop fans to forcing their music down everyone's throats in the first page lmao

 

[Onyxmage]

This is a good thing. Idol worship is ridiculous and regardless of record labels people will still be making music.  I for one will celebrate the death of record labels.

[Pop Art]

42 minutes ago, Darkgalord said:

Labels aren't making the same profit from new artists in the streaming era. This is something that needs to be taken into consideration. They can't push new artists with the same force and budget they used to. 

It's getting bad bad. 

I'm not saying you're entirely wrong, but I find this a bit difficult to believe when the industry's revenue as a whole has been at a historic high point since 2021.

 

 

It's sort of giving those Hollywood execs saying they can't afford to meet the striking actor's and writer's demands after boasting the past 1-2 years about having record profits.

[Johnny Jacobs]

I mean.. The latest one was Olivia almost three years ago 

 

That can't be good for them. A decade ago they popped new MPGs every month 

[Darkgalord]

2 minutes ago, Pop Art said:

I'm not saying you're entirely wrong, but I find this a bit difficult to believe when the industry's revenue as a whole has been at a historic high point since 2021.

 

 

It's sort of giving those Hollywood execs saying they can't afford to meet the striking actor's and writer's demands after boasting the past 1-2 years about having record profits.

Oh points were made tbh. 

I guess it's just the lack of flavor and social media that killed the Pop superstar. 

[bad guy]

They’re complaining about a problem they created. What do they expect when they no longer invest time into helping craft an artist? It’s just singing nobodies after going viral, paying for airplay, milk as much money as they can from a hit, then move on to another artist. Labels are no longer patient enough in cultivating a fanbase for their artists. The last phenomena was Billie and for good reason. They put time, effort, and trust in her vision to propel her to stardom and is probably the last household name we’ll have for awhile.

 

Olivia came close but she’s very Gen Z/Alpha centered and has yet to really create a real image for herself, let alone gain fans of all ages like Dua, Billie, etc.

 

It doesn’t help that anytime a label does put out a new artist the internet cries “industry plant” despite their favorite artists from the past being even less organic when they debuted  

[Proseductice]

Like others have said, social media plays a big part of this. People get overexposure ick from the constant push they get from celebrities and tune out. They don't care about the people behind the music, but oversaturation plays a big part in it as well. We can listen to whoever we want, whenever we want. When there's millions online trying to make it big, it's much harder to stand out. You don't need a label to discover you much anymore. Music from anyone can go viral. Labels will sign and push whatever charts high regardless of if the artist even has enough talent to keep the general public's attention. It's a multitude of things, really. 

[Bethenny Frankel]

Dua and Billie are the only newer pop stars

[Arrows]

It’s a crime the new artists just don’t release albums anymore. Where is Cardi‘s sophomore album? Where is Ice Spice’s debut album that should’ve been out this summer?

[Taylena]

We're all too busy stanning 80 different kpop groups to care about these new western artists with barely any talent and generic songs. 

[DonnaSpring]

because most new pop stars can't sing live, they don't dance wither, they make ringtones rather than songs and they have such boring voices.

 

Also far too many are releasing a load of singles and no albums

 

Dua is killing it because she has talent, skill and is making timless music

 

what execs need to do is

 

Stop making sub 2 min songs

Stop using samples all the time

Come up with something original

Go back to the church and find singers with amazing voices who can SING

 

Where are the ballad singers like whitney/celine/mariah

 

People are bored of these whisper vocals 2 min songs with a sample and no instrument who can't sing live, not worth spending money on ,

Look whos tours are doing well, Beyonce, Pink , madonna , gaga, Dua

 

Real artists with skill 

 

Too many features as well, if an artist cant have a solo hit they aren't going to have a success tour

 

look at ice spice, every song solo is a huge flop, yet she is pushed constantly , people are bored of this, we want solo hits

[DonnaSpring]

3 minutes ago, Arrows said:

It’s a crime the new artists just don’t release albums anymore. Where is Cardi‘s sophomore album? Where is Ice Spice’s debut album that should’ve been out this summer?

This is the biggest sign if someone can tour or not, if they dont put out enough albums early on you won be able to grow a fanbase

[DonnaSpring]

35 minutes ago, LustSpell said:

!!!. They don't invest because they are trying to keep costs as low as possible but doing that isn't going to give you the breakout star you need. As everyone has already said, monoculture is deader than Azealia Banks' career - everyone has their own content and aren't forced to watch a new superstar take over the world and have everyone talk about them. Even the most recent attempt at Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish... barely anyone over the age of like 30 knows who they are. It's truly a shame.

but neither of those can sing live or dance or create anything fresh, compare them to the Gagas, Marah , Celines of the world and they have nothing to stan

[Nashe]

the fact that everyone thought social media would make it easier for ppl in the music industry

 

we need a female pure pop renaissance. pour the money into talented pretty girls immediately