Why Classic Pop Artists Fizzle

Elton John, Cher, Aerosmith and Madonna’s careers each expand almost forty years, but why do they suddenly dry up? These artists continue to release new material but it no longer makes an impact. Is the fact that we are now a single based society rather a than a album based one?

In the past you bought an artists’ album and listened to it from back to front. Todays trend is to just download an artist’s biggest single and move on to the next one. I think it’s proven that this trend has hurt the popularity of artists that rely on the full album listening experience like the musicians mentioned above. Yes a single is a gateway into the full album of the artist but today’s mentality is about creating a good playlist aka mix not about downloading the entire album. Elton John just collaborated with Leon Russell and a single off that album is ranked high on iTunes charts, but the rest of the tracks are ranked low.

Is the new culture causing a commotion for classic pop artists? Watch this video by Henry Rollins are he describes how bands succeed today.