What happened to live performances and why do they mean so little now?

Aside from a handful of great performances at the VMAs last night (Madonna, Sienna Spiro, Raye, Gener8tion) everyone else was just...

Between entirely pre-recorded (Bruno Mars), pre-recorded live vocals (Kacey Musgraves), or a messy medley (George Michael), the overall performances fell flat. Where was the impact? The shock value? The glitz? It's sad how the GP don't curr if a performance is half assed. I know we on ATRL have a high standard since most of us came from a time where this award show was relevant and exciting... but still.

Do most artists pass up performing bc it doesn't make a difference in promoting their music? It's weird to me bc you can still get a viral moment (Tate McRae last year) or simply network on the red carpet. We literally had FLO, Pinkpantheress, JoJo, Slayyyter, Bebe Rexha, Tyla and more in the audience just sitting pretty.

A good performance can gain attention on social media and give a boost to a song's performance. They are still useful but their effect is not as instant as they used to be, more spread out over a few days.

Its more of a viral moment for the performance than the performance itself

Streaming killed the visual star

The new gen artists lack the IT factor. You could just stare at Britney during her prime, everything she did was effortless. Same goes for Madonna.

Most viral-ready efforts go to tours now cause of the most recent trends and social media engagement

Because there's a high chance you get clowned to death and back if social media find your performance cringe, so it's easier to stay in the seat and smile

22 minutes ago, Solaria said:

Streaming killed the visual star

Streaming killed the music industry.

I can't relate, live performances have always done wonders for my fave and her career

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by unclefloprry

chasing virality over quality. Influencers ruined everything about pop culture.

I blame everyone using pitch-correction Even my b*tch Zara is doing it now, ugh

Nothing really sounds "live" anymore.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by magazine

Live performances have little on immediate chart positions unless a performance goes viral. That performance either needs to be amazing or horrible to go viral, and the number of artists who are capable of putting on an amazing performance is dwindling. Even artists that technically can pull off something great might prefer to just... attend and sit.

Depends.

Justin Coachella, Gagacabana, Shakira Dai Dai made massive noise and catalog boost. But overall yes, live performances have become irrelevant and uneventful.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by charot

because there's nothing "live" to them.

I feel like executives are not seeing the potential with the new generation, and with the ratings going down they don't want to invest in performances anymore.

From this year VMA, we should have FLO, Tinashe, PP with Zara, Bebe, Tyla, Adela, Katseye, and many others.

And I also blame some artists that probably feel entitled, as if they are above performing at the VMAs if they don't get an award.

49 minutes ago, KaledKalil said:

From this year VMA, we should have FLO, Tinashe, PP with Zara, Bebe, Tyla, Adela, Katseye, and many others.

Lets add Chole, Oliva, Rebecca Black etc all there yet not asked to perform. People are exhausted with only the same 8 Ppl being asked to do things.

Honesty, when i seen the line up i didn't even bother to watch. It's BORING.

1 hour ago, unclefloprry said:

I can't relate, live performances have always done wonders for my fave and her career

you forgot to include the most iconic one

1 hour ago, magazine said:

I blame everyone using pitch-correction Even my b*tch Zara is doing it now, ugh

Nothing really sounds "live" anymore.

Honestly this - nothing is really "live" any more so what is there to get excited about.

1 hour ago, unclefloprry said:

I can't relate, live performances have always done wonders for my fave and her career

Truly iconic

I miss live performances so much - none of these artists want to get up and work these days

22 minutes ago, Edu said:

you forgot to include the most iconic one

13 minutes ago, LesFleur said:

Truly iconic

And you are right bc that changed the trajectory of her career