Blur

It is but they'll never admit it. By the way, "Criminal", a 2011 unpromoted, flop single that didn't sound like anything in the radio when it was released, is currently outstreaming most of the biggest hits of that year. Not bad for someone whose career ended in 2004, according to some people in here (waiting what they'll pivot on when 2008's SOLO smash "Womanizer" will reach 1 billion streams, in a few months). Speaking of 2004, "Toxic" will soon be closing in 2 billions streams, an AMAZING feat for a pre-2000 teen artist that peaked with her record breaking first album, yet kept on beating the odds till this very day.

Britney was ranking with veterans in the 00s as one of the biggest touring force WW. Touring was not what it has become but she was still killing it (even with her 2002 tour not going to Europe or Onyx being cut short). Most people didn't know she was setting merch records, before it was really a thing, for example! Circus was the biggest female tour in the US in 2009. And even with FF tour, and 12 millions boxscore unreported, she was beating Katy and was not far from Rihanna, both coming from blockbuster eras (LOUD and Teenage Dream). Also, residency is accounted in touring and she completely changed the game with Piece of Me's success (100 % rejuvenating Vegas, as said by their local press, ushering a spike in tourism). Leading the way, with all her peers following, as usual. I remember her 2017-2018 European tour being successful when most people in here saying she'd flop because she had no demands (which, of course, was untrue). Fast forward to now and her legacy+streaming+the mystery around her (being the ultimate celebrity but not acting the part) being WAY bigger than in 2018, it doesn't take a scientist to know she would sell out her concerts WW, would she announced a tour tomorrow. So yeah, you can say Britney, with her evergreen pop catalogue and bulletproof iconicity, has had touring success for almost 20 years and could add to that if she wanted to. The demand is there, especially with the Y2K revival.

No matter how you slice it, this is very, VERY impressive when you know how streaming and the entertainment industry works. She's killing it effortlessly (with a complicated, PR nightmare image) and proving everyone here wrong on the enduring impact of her reign, nearly 30 years after her debut. She has strong potential for becoming number one for pre-00s female, all credits included, with the incoming biopic, one of her song going viral or releasing new material. If everything happens all at once, she'll be unstoppable.

You mean the revenue generated by the music that is highly inferior to Britney's + the merchandising (which she was the ultimate player, especially if we factor her perfume empire) ?

By the way, I hope y'all realize that Britney's first underperformance (Britney, 2001) was in the same range, sales wise, as Pink Misundaztood, Christina Stripped and Beyoncé's Dangerously In love (all considered commercial highlights). This just reinforces how nuclear Spears was operating for her first two albums. Then, she became "conventionally" successful from 2001 to 2004. Blackout underperformed but was rehabilitated thanks to its impact (so much more important than other successful 2006/2007 albums) + "Gimme More" becoming a classic from the late 00s. Then, with Circus, The Singles Collection, Femme Fatale and "Scream & Shout", her team rightfully focused more on successful single sales with the digital shift (even though Circus was a solid success, especially the tour). Britney Jean flopped hard but still managed a cult classic hit with "Work B*tch". Then, Glory may have had underwhelming sales (like most 90s/early 00s solo veterans had at the time, see Alicia, Avril, Mariah or Jlo) but still 500 000 millions streams (Gold eligible), critical return to form + a platinum, top 20 hit, not too bad really. She's never had a Nelly Furtado or Christina sized bomb, for example. Honestly, knowing what we know about her career post 2004 (minimal promo, conservatorship limitations, only FF having a real era exploitation with 4 new singles, almost no interviews, stressful environment), I find her career pretty well rounded (astronomic album sales when it mattered then shift to the digital, singles era, when it mattered). What's even better is that thanks to the Y2K revival, The Woman In Me smashing,"Hold Me Closer" + "Toxic Pony" being successful (and gen Alpha LOVING her catalogue), she's becoming a streaming legacy artist without even trying ! Spotify - 2026/06/02 (24 years between "BOMT" and "HMC", and people will swear she's had no longevity ) Toxic 1,946,378,424 975,194 ...Baby One More Time 1,364,201,418 957,113 Gimme More 1,244,961,173 860,929 Oops!...I Did It Again 1,204,369,649 641,448 Womanizer 883,033,453 567,132 * Scream & Shout 1,056,931,357 520,377 Circus 653,736,670 396,150 Criminal 425,687,827 327,890 I Wanna Go 265,104,230 247,083 Lucky 247,506,147 183,853 If U Seek Amy 312,693,374 182,617 Sometimes 278,942,643 169,453 * Hold Me Closer 554,669,797 161,375

Honestly, sales don't paint the whole picture when it comes to Britney. She'll remain the last female to have crossed the 100 millions thresold in pure sales WW and the biggest female artist of the 00s. That is set in stone and will not be changed by units merging or other forms of free comsumption "counting" the industry invents to blur the fact money is in touring/merch and not in, actually, recording and releasing music (except if you are Taylor Swift but that last album has probably made more of a dent in the machine that we realize...). Britney's impact: Changing the pop archetype in the late 90s (before Britney, pop singer in movies were modeled after Madonna, this changed to Spears right when she debuted). Baby voice/vocal fry (from Katy to Halsey to Camilla to Billie to Tate or Pinkpantheress, it's everywhere because it creates intimacy with the listeners). Reviving Vegas in 2013 and paving the road for relevant, maximalist popstars to have successful residencies there (far from the Cher, Celine or Elton A/C crowd). Offering a template for teen popstars to become adult, bankable popstars (look at Debbie Gibson or Tiffany's "transition", if you thought this was an easy feat for Britney to be the first to seamlessly pull off). Changing paparazzi and conservatorships laws (changing the world, literally, after going through hell). Having each country throughout the globe with their local Britney Spears (and yes, Alizée was one of the best, if not the best, at that game). Not a fashionista but the ultimate Y2K influencer (so many are trying that route now with the revival). Be the first to smash the records that every females have been breaking (or trying to break) in the 21 st century. Being number one for an entire decade in the google seach celebrity list (except in 2009, because of MJ's death). Not only, that but the magazines with her on the cover saw a 30% spike in sale. Showing you can take a ten years break (while being a PR disaster) and still be somewhat relevant because your catalogue and iconicity are bulletproof (see the weekly pop culture references to her and her ever growing streaming datas). @slw84 You turn

Where to begin with that one ? First the biggest popstars of the 21st century, all owe Britney A LOT (the credits, the aesthetics, the videos, the branding...). I can't listen to GGGB Rihanna or debut Gaga without immediately thinking about Britney's template (same for Teenage Dream, a modern variation on Oops/Britney... where Britney was the actual teenage dream! ). Miley, herself, wouldn't be a generational icon without Spears. Then, you have the Max Martin of it all which was instrumental in Ariana and Taylor's musical evolution (let's not even get into Joseph Khan or Reputation). Not saying Taylor doesn't have her own impact , of course, (rejuvenated confessional songwriting, successfully rebooting your own career + pushing touring to its extreme, not too shaby!) but it's just not on the same scale as Brit, which is ok since it's unattainable NOW for many reasons. I saw someone mentioning Sabrina but most people will think Britney when hearing "Expresso" (whose video is reminiscent of that iconic pepsi commercial) or seeing her at the VMA's doing literal "DWAD" tribute. Blonde, pin up popstar with tongue in cheek, sexy lyrics and carefully constructed, high budget videos ? Who could THAT be a nod to ? And that's without even mentioning Addison or Tate (only the latter has had a few hits, for now, but the former is here to stay, mark my words). Sometimes, I wish a little banner about Britney's astronomical impact would be plastered in every Britney thread because I'm getting tired of repeating myself ! lol All in all I think ATRL, which is mostly comprised of Millenials, with a bit of gen Z sprinkled in (even if most of the latter are too busy lashing at each other on X/Tik Tok etc), have internalized the misogyny that Britney was presented with ever since she turned the music industry upside down with "...BOMT" (creating a new archetype that is still prevalent today). Always using the "go to" critics she's been faced since the beginning (talentless, bimbo, can't sing, can't write, puppet, rinse and repeat, with a few disgusting personal attacks thrown in when not knowing what to respond to people they disagree with). Fortunately, new generations (gen Alpha and a lot of later gen Z too) are so much more welcoming and understanding of Britney's sound, unique talent/midas touch and the natural evolution of her music (especially her first 6 eras + FF having its defenders too now, with hyperpop entering the mainstream). They're even rehabilitating Crossroads (seeing it as a cute, harmless coming of age, teen flick, not the disaster we were spoonfed it had to be, at the time, because "Britney = not good") ! Like look at that TENSE interview and be grateful this wouldn't fly in the 10s and 20s : So yeah, regurgitating the awful male chauvinist takes we we were raised with + generational conflict + diminishing/ignoring B's impact (not an easy feat, we love the dedication and efforts ) to boost the new contenders to the "throne" (there's no throne, only "legacy endurance", catalogue and iconicity btw). The "Lucky"/"Wildest Dreams" link... I get it now ("Lucky"/"The Lucky One"/"TLOAS" I didn't forget about y'all either).

"Dreams" is shaping up to be bigger than both FM and ABBA, if we're being honest. Honestly, I can't choose, they're both top tier and complete one another. It's too bad some of their fans are perpetuating rockism (FM fans, don't act surprised) or "narrow minded" pop fans that freezes as soon as the bpm slows down a little (Little abbas, I'm looking at you).

Britney's growth in streams is not talked about nearly enough! Only two collabs in her top 10 most streamed songs and 6 eras covered (from 98 to 2011, if we only count solo). That's really spread out and consistent for someone always attacked in here for her lack of "longevity" ( well, her catalogue ALONE stands the test of time, endurance beats "temporal" longevity, see Rihanna also, but this is a whole other debate). Also, all her nearest milestones ("Toxic" to 2 billions and "Womanizer" to 1 billion) are 100% solo + Let's give it up for Blackout who will soon be the 2nd most streamed female pop album of 2007 (if you were alive during that time with Alicia, Avril and Leona killing it, you would know how crazy impressive that feat is). It's only been top 5 since 2023, by the way. Spotify - 2026/05/22 Toxic 1,935,578,114 1,094,992 ...Baby One More Time 1,353,773,268 1,029,722 Gimme More 1,235,847,458 899,775 Oops!...I Did It Again 1,197,185,742 731,675 * Scream & Shout 1,051,049,559 615,004 Womanizer 877,151,034 551,390 Circus 649,554,592 402,771 Criminal 422,118,701 355,376 I Wanna Go 262,641,157 233,565 If U Seek Amy 310,727,996 189,668 * Hold Me Closer 552,912,319 182,524

It's between "Glamorous" and "You Know I'm No Good", subjectively speaking. "Gimme More" is a solid second but probably the most impactiful one, tied with "Umbrella" (another Britney song that never was, funny how life works in mysterious ways).

Not really. There's a video where you can see she's uncomfortable and emphasizes "Outrageous" is not among her favourite (while promoting the very record the song is on!). It was the first and only time she did that as she's quite gracious to her producers/writers. As for Bush, the Dixie Chicks lost their career because of them speaking out, Madonna had to change her "American Life" music video last minute (something she's never done before) because of death threats and was blacklisted on American radio (+ her US stature was never the same, come to think ot it, because of that album)... People were scared shitless so it's really important to know the context before blasting her (Miss American Dream, one of the most successful representant of the US, speaking against the president ? Unfortunately, this wasn't very likely given the panic and hyper paranoid post 9/11 era). Even P!nk waited til 2006 to say something. If you knew anything about PR, you would know her response is mostly to quickly toss the subject to the side without making waves. Ten seconds of tense gum chewing, with a closed off body language kinda say everything about her "so called" endorsement. As for the rest of your post, it's ad hominem attacks after ad hominem attacks (something ATRL is built on, unfortunately), to justify your visceral hatred against her so it doesn't warrant any serious responses. I get that no one is perfect (me, you or her) but this post is ... A LOT!

Too many to count (even if "Expresso" is a nice song). All Saints - Pure Shores Vika Jigulina & Edward Maya - Stereolove Shakira - La Tortura Janet - Someone to call My Lover Modjo - Lady Aaliyah - More Than A Woman etc

By the way, for those in that thread saying that's she's completley forgotten, how do you explain her streaming that is growing more and more, years after years, all the movies/tv show currently using her song to reflect the late 90s or the entire decade of the 00s, and mostly, how do you explain that just last year:

First and foremost, the chemistry between the music and her, a real student of pop music. Also, the humily to know how to take directions (during her first two eras, notably) while also ALWAYS putting her spin on things + keeping her head on the pulse of pop music (Michael was famous for that, too). (Still remember how ruthless people were with those performances online when most current popstars won't do 1/4 of that, right now, with barely 1/10 of the natural charisma she's always had, even at her worst). It's not just that she is an AMAZING popstar (even in diminished states during the conservatorship, the sparkle still lingered on, proving the strenght of her natural AURA), it's how she elevated every song she got her hands on while also having pristine pop instinct (even during the con years, "Criminal" that she's pushed as a single is now one of her most memorable song or Glory becoming one of her most interesting, versatile album). What's funny is that it's always put into question by a certain type of millenials but Gen Z and Gen Alpha are so much more in tune with her artistic merits + basically every professional who has ever worked with her (from Max Martin to Keri Hilson, Justin Tranter and many, many more) Finally, one of my favourite trait of her is seeing what's missing. When they made her listen to Robyn, she right away said "why isn't she dancing?" as in why isn't she interpreting the song with her body. That would become her visual signature and I can't imagine anyone ever pulling something like "Slave" as seamlessly, with perfect instinct and coordination, while locked in to the camera (and thus, the viewers/fans) at 19! (Listen to the vocal layering in the last vid I posted, the musicality, the MJ of it all, she wasn't playing when she recorded this!)

So poised, polite and patient. Also, A+ emotional intelligence at such a young age. The last time we had the biggest star in the world feel like someone genuinely NICE and humble you could have met on the street, by chance.